A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy
Centred around a weekend party at the home of inventor Andrew Hobbs and his wife Adrian, attended by randy doctor Maxwell Jordan, his nurse Dulcy, renowned philosopher Dr.Leopold Sturgis and his fiancée, this is a light comedy concerning their various emotional, intellectual and sexual entanglements, loosely based on Ingmar Bergman's 'Smiles of a Summer Night' .
The film earned $9.1M at the global box office.
Plot Structure
Story beats plotted across runtime
Narrative Arc
Emotional journey through the story's key moments
Story Circle
Blueprint 15-beat structure
Arcplot Score Breakdown
Weighted: Precision (70%) + Arc (15%) + Theme (15%)
A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy (1982) exemplifies deliberately positioned dramatic framework, characteristic of Woody Allen's storytelling approach. This structural analysis examines how the film's 10-point plot structure maps to proven narrative frameworks across 1 hour and 28 minutes. With an Arcplot score of 6.7, the film balances conventional beats with creative variation.
Characters
Cast & narrative archetypes
Andrew
Adrian
Maxwell
Dulcy
Leopold
Ariel
Main Cast & Characters
Andrew
Played by Woody Allen
A sexually frustrated inventor who hosts friends at his country estate for a weekend of romantic complications.
Adrian
Played by Mary Steenburgen
A beautiful, free-spirited artist engaged to the pompous Leopold, but drawn to Andrew and others.
Maxwell
Played by Tony Roberts
A cynical doctor and Andrew's friend, struggling with his own romantic desires and philosophical views.
Dulcy
Played by Julie Hagerty
Maxwell's sensual, earthy wife who openly pursues physical pleasure and flirtation.
Leopold
Played by Jose Ferrer
An arrogant, pompous philosophy professor engaged to Adrian, who pontificates about rationality while being a hypocrite.
Ariel
Played by Mia Farrow
Andrew's neglected wife, a nurse who feels emotionally and sexually disconnected from her husband.
Structural Analysis
The Status Quo at 1 minutes (1% through the runtime) establishes Andrew and Adrian arrive at their country house for the weekend. Andrew tinkers with his flying bicycle invention while Adrian seems sexually frustrated, establishing the strained marriage at the story's center.. Notably, this early placement immediately immerses viewers in the story world.
The inciting incident occurs at 10 minutes when All three couples arrive at the country house together. The gathering forces Andrew to confront his unresolved feelings for Ariel, now engaged to the insufferable Leopold. The comfortable distance of city life is shattered.. At 12% through the film, this Disruption aligns precisely with traditional story structure. This beat shifts the emotional landscape, launching the protagonist into the central conflict.
The Collapse moment at 64 minutes (73% through) represents the emotional nadir. Here, Leopold suddenly dies of a heart attack during a moment of unexpected passion. The literal "whiff of death" arrives. The magical night turns dark. The pompous rationalist who denied spiritual reality is suddenly confronted with mortality, and the other characters with the seriousness of their choices., illustrates the protagonist at their lowest point. This beat's placement in the final quarter sets up the climactic reversal.
The Synthesis at 69 minutes initiates the final act resolution at 79% of the runtime. The couples sort themselves out in new configurations based on genuine compatibility rather than social expectation or fantasy. Andrew and Adrian reconnect with renewed intimacy. Ariel is freed from Leopold. Maxwell and Dulcy continue their hedonistic ways. Peace and acceptance descend with morning., demonstrating the transformation achieved throughout the journey.
Emotional Journey
A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy's emotional architecture traces a deliberate progression across 10 carefully calibrated beats.
Narrative Framework
This structural analysis employs proven narrative structure principles that track dramatic progression. By mapping A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy against these established plot points, we can identify how Woody Allen utilizes or subverts traditional narrative conventions. The plot point approach reveals not only adherence to structural principles but also creative choices that distinguish A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy within the comedy genre.
Woody Allen's Structural Approach
Among the 42 Woody Allen films analyzed on Arcplot, the average structural score is 7.0, demonstrating varied approaches to story architecture. A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy takes a more unconventional approach compared to the director's typical style. For comparative analysis, explore the complete Woody Allen filmography.
Comparative Analysis
Additional comedy films include The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, The Bad Guys and Lake Placid. For more Woody Allen analyses, see Sleeper, Celebrity and Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex *But Were Afraid to Ask.
Plot Points by Act
Act I
SetupStatus Quo
Andrew and Adrian arrive at their country house for the weekend. Andrew tinkers with his flying bicycle invention while Adrian seems sexually frustrated, establishing the strained marriage at the story's center.
Theme
Andrew discusses his spirit ball invention and philosophizes about the invisible world beyond our senses. The theme: the tension between rational materialism and spiritual/sensual experience, between what we think we know and what we truly feel.
Worldbuilding
Establishment of the three couples: Andrew (inventor) and Adrian (frustrated wife); Leopold (pompous professor) and Ariel (his young fiancée); Maxwell (doctor/philanderer) and Dulcy (free-spirited nurse). Andrew reveals he once loved Ariel, setting up romantic tensions.
Disruption
All three couples arrive at the country house together. The gathering forces Andrew to confront his unresolved feelings for Ariel, now engaged to the insufferable Leopold. The comfortable distance of city life is shattered.
Resistance
The couples settle in and romantic tensions surface. Andrew struggles with seeing Ariel again. Maxwell immediately begins flirting with everyone. Leopold pontificates about logic and reason. The characters debate love, desire, and fidelity over dinner and walks.
Act II
ConfrontationPremise
The "fun and games" of romantic musical chairs. Characters pair off in various combinations through the enchanted night. Andrew pursues Ariel, Maxwell pursues Adrian, Leopold remains oblivious. Comic misunderstandings, philosophical debates, and near-trysts in the moonlit woods.
Opposition
The romantic complications intensify and become painful. Jealousies emerge. Adrian discovers Maxwell's wandering eye. Leopold remains smugly confident in his rational superiority. The magic of the night begins to reveal its costs. Characters must face the consequences of acting on desire.
Collapse
Leopold suddenly dies of a heart attack during a moment of unexpected passion. The literal "whiff of death" arrives. The magical night turns dark. The pompous rationalist who denied spiritual reality is suddenly confronted with mortality, and the other characters with the seriousness of their choices.
Crisis
The characters process Leopold's death and what it means. The night of romantic play suddenly feels frivolous and profound at once. Andrew's spirit ball device seems to detect Leopold's ghost, suggesting the invisible world he sought was real all along.
Act III
ResolutionSynthesis
The couples sort themselves out in new configurations based on genuine compatibility rather than social expectation or fantasy. Andrew and Adrian reconnect with renewed intimacy. Ariel is freed from Leopold. Maxwell and Dulcy continue their hedonistic ways. Peace and acceptance descend with morning.