A Midsummer Night's Dream (1999)

User Rating:

6.3/10   

Director:

Michael Hoffman

Writers (WGA):

William Shakespeare (based on the play by)
Michael Hoffman (screenplay)

Release Date:

14 May 1999 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Fantasy | Romance

Tagline:

Hold on to Your Heart. Cupid is Armed and Dangerous.

Plot:

Lovers lives are complicated by city law, feuding faerie royalty, and... love.

Plot Keywords:

Love | Lover | Fairy | Obsession | Mischievousness

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Kevin Kline	...	Nick Bottom
Michelle Pfeiffer	...	Titania
Rupert Everett	...	Oberon
Stanley Tucci	...	Puck
Calista Flockhart	...	Helena
Anna Friel	...	Hermia
Christian Bale	...	Demetrius
Dominic West	...	Lysander
David Strathairn	...	Theseus
Sophie Marceau	...	Hippolyta
Roger Rees	...	Peter Quince
Max Wright	...	Robin Starveling
Gregory Jbara	...	Snug
Bill Irwin	...	Tom Snout
Sam Rockwell	...	Francis Flute

Also Known As:

Sogno di una notte di mezza estate (Italy)
William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream (USA) (complete title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for some sexual content.

Runtime:

116 min

Country:

Italy | UK | USA

Language:

English | Italian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:L | South Korea:12 | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Canada:PG (Canadian Home Video rating) | Finland:S | France:U | Germany:6 (bw) | Ireland:PG | Netherlands:AL | New Zealand:PG | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG | Spain:T | Sweden:Btl | Switzerland:7 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:7 (canton of Vaud) | UK:PG | USA:PG-13 (Approved No. 36060)

Filming Locations:

Caprarola, Viterbo, Lazio, Italy

Company:

Fox Searchlight Pictures

Trivia:

Take a look at what some of the other performers are rehearsing while the Mechanicals are waiting for word from the Duke. One group of players is rehearsing the Greek tragedy Oedipus Rex and another pair of players are rehearsing a scene from Shakespeare's play Othello.

Goofs:

Continuity: The branches that Lysander and Demetrius fight with are swapped later in the fight.

Quotes:

Theseus: The iron tongue of midnight hath told twelve: Lovers, to bed; 'tis almost fairy time.
Oberon: Now, until the break of day / Through this house each fairy stray. / To the best bride-bed will we, / Which by us shall blessed be; / So shall all the couples three / Ever true in loving be; / And the owner of it blest / Ever shall in safety rest. / Trip awa; make no stay; / Meet me all by break of day.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Game K N B: (2006-11-29)" (2006)

Soundtrack:

Wedding March

Excellent Job of a Difficult Task

I'm a professional live theatre stagehand. People who are too centered on movies will have a hard time with this picture. If you could see the original first run performance of this play in Elizabethan England you would think you had stumbled into an over-costumed poetry reading. If the movie is hard to follow try & imagine what viewing that play would be like. It is the measure of Shakespeare's greatness that now 400 years later & in a medium born of photography that this greatest of fantasies still rings true. Try to show some respect; Shakespeare defined modern English. In comparing the lines to the original I thought that the adaptation was sensitive & well thought out. Simplified to fit the film medium but not sacrificing any of the truly great lines that actors drool over. The fairy world sets seemed cramped to me & reminded me of Cocteau's Beauty & the Beast. I personally found the setting of the movie in turn of century Italy kind of fun. Resetting Shakespeare in times & places other than he wrote is pretty much standard practice. The bicycles & the phonographs were amusing to me & generated some fun business for the actors. Kevin Kline was excellent as the ass. He got you to sympathize not pity or deride. In fact the whole amateur troop was memorable. Stanley Tucci was the quintessential Puck. Calista Flockhart threw everything including the kitchen sink into her part. Don't accuse her of overacting though; you'll only give away that you have never been deeply in love. Michelle Pfeiffer was radioactive beautiful, probably fatal closer than ten feet. Rupert Everett maintained perfect believability in a difficult part which is essentially support for Puck. As an answer to anyone who thought that things were a bit oversexed. The Renaissance was all about the rediscovery of the fact that people are noble & beautiful, not sinful & ugly. Shakespeare was one of the greatest products of the Renaissance. The movie is true to those Renaissance ideals. To sum up; a class act & class acts are not for everybody.