A Midwinter's Tale Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.5
Overall		4.0

A Midwinter's Tale Blu-ray Movie Review

William Shakespeare's Flying Circus.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III February 20, 2024

A cheeky send-up of subject matter explored less enjoyably by his simultaneous film adaptation of Hamlet, Kenneth Branagh's A Midwinter's Tale offers a light-hearted look at community theater gone wrong. Starring a group of mostly no-name actors and shot in stark black-and-white, Midwinter's's witty script and enjoyably hammy performances make this quasi-Christmas film a delight that's easy to get lost in. Released to positive reviews but a chilly reception at the 1995 holiday box office, it's nonetheless a modest career highlight for everyone involved, Branagh included.

Originally released under the title In the Bleak Midwinter, either naming convention accurately describes the tone of this satire at first glance. Its somewhat detached and distancing lack of color -- more on that soon enough -- give A Midwinter's Tale the feeling of archival footage as we're introduced to our protagonist, Joe Harper (Michael Maloney, doing his best Branagh impression), who's just asked his agent Margaretta D'Arcy (Joan Collins) for money to fund a small-scale production of Shakespeare's Hamlet in his quaint hometown of Hope, Derbyshire. The purpose? To save his sister's local church from scheming developers, with the potential proceeds going directly towards repairs rather than demolition. He seeks out aspiring actors under the guise of a profit sharing payment system, which may not earn them a shilling for their efforts. Not surprisingly, Joe's financial low-balling attracts only the most desperate of actors, all of whom naively march towards the crumbling church for rehearsals that go about as well as expected.

A further run-through of the plot would undercut the strengths of A Midwinter's Tale, the kind of film that absurdly chugs towards its inevitable conclusion yet still manages to surprise and delight at a few crucial turns. The joy of this film lies mostly in its meta-characters and performances, which include cocky method actor Tom Newman (Nicholas Farrell), fumbling alcoholic Carnforth Greville (Gerard Horan), former child actor Vernon Spatch (Mark Hadfield), oddball costume designer Fadge (Celia Imrie), and others. Their ridiculously over-the-top behavior, when paired with its sharp script, give A Midwinter's Tale inarguable strength... yet for other reasons, it's certainly not for everyone.

More than most films, your enjoyment of A Midwinter's Tale will hinge solely on past life experiences. Do you have fond and/or crippling memories of amateur acting, or any type of of "theater blood" in your veins? It'll likely hit very close to home and should go over like gangbusters. Are you just looking for a cheeky comedy but have no interest or familiarity with the works of William Shakespeare? A Midwinter's Tale probably isn't for you. The main reason is because it doesn't offer an accessible entry point for total outsiders: few (if any) familiar faces are present outside of Joan Collins, and its "straight man" is often just as absurd as the film's most colorful characters. Further down our list is the cold black-and-white cinematography that, if I'm being honest, is more distracting than complimentary to its subject matter and was most likely a result of budget constraints. I normally wouldn't penalize a film for this "shortcoming", but the alternate-universe production of A Midwinter's Tale shot in glorious color probably would have played even better.

It's a fine candidate for Warner Archive's "white glove" Blu-ray treatment: A Midwinter's Tale was only ever released on DVD by the boutique label back in 2011, and its cuit status and potential for rediscovery line up comfortably with WAC's other catalog deep cuts like Joe's Apartment. (I'm only half joking, people). Fans and first-timers should look forward to another rock-solid A/V presentation that's worth the price of admission, even if the extras are predictably slim.

A Midwinter's Tale Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original 1.66:1 aspect ratio, the black-and-white cinematography of A Midwinter's Tale looks uniformly outstanding on Warner Archive's Blu-ray. Built from what's advertised as a "brand-new master", such phrasing would lead me to believe that the original negative was not necessary (or perhaps not available) for this high-quality transfer, whose most likely source candidate was an interpositive. Either way the end result is quite pleasing and maximizes the film's admittedly limited visual appeal -- so many of its locations and other elements would look more interesting in full color, but as-is there's no real room for disappointment here. Fine detail and textures are largely crisp and well-defined, depth and density are quite good in the right conditions, and black levels run deep with no signs of blooming or crush. (No other obvious compression artifacts were spotted either, thanks to Warner Archive's reliably strong Blu-ray disc encoding.) A handful of scenes and isolated shots take a slight dip in clarity, but these are brief, rare, and possibly tied to the source material. With almost no reservations, it's yet another top-tier effort from the boutique label that easily surpasses previous home video releases and possibly even original theatrical showings.

A Midwinter's Tale Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio mix, while not exactly engaging or even robust by design, nonetheless sounds decent with do obvious signs of damage or other age-related defects. Dialogue is generally understandable, although at least one frequently inebriated character -- and of course, those with stronger regional dialects -- may have you reaching for the subtitle button. The fullest audio comes in the form of non-diegetic music cues, sparse as they are, which sound largely rich and dynamic within expected boundaries. Given A Midwinter's Tale's subject matter and budget, this a perfectly capable port of its limited source material with no discernable room for improvement.

Optional English (SDH) subtitles are included during the main feature only.

A Midwinter's Tale Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This one-disc release ships in a keepcase with poster-themed cover artwork (don't worry, they fixed the spelling on Branagh's name) and no inserts. Extras are unfortunately almost nil, in keeping with the earlier DVD edition.

• Trailer (1:43) - This rare promotional piece uses the film's alternate title, In the Bleak Midwinter. Sadly, it's taken from a low-quality digital source with noticeable artifacts such as interlacing and chroma noise.

A Midwinter's Tale Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Kenneth Branagh's overlooked satire A Midwinter's Tale, undoubtedly the more fun period of his Hamlet phase, finds the writer-director in top form with an enjoyably lightweight romp bolstered by fun characters and performances. It'll obviously go down much smoother for those with "theater blood" running through their veins, but is certainly worth a look for fans of mockumentaries and British comedy in general. Warner Archive's Blu-ray features typically strong A/V merits and minimal extras, making this disc a bit more suited for established fans than curious newcomers.