Customer Reviews

A Midsummer Night's Dream

5 star:		(84)
4 star:		(38)
3 star:		(19)
2 star:		(15)
1 star:		(15)

 

 

A quick scroll through the reviews shows a sharp divide. Some like this Hollywood-style rendition of Midsummer's Night while others, (to be polite) do not. To make matters more confusing, several reviews are deceptive because the reviewer seriously misjudges his/her depth of experience with this kind thing. To find out your probable reaction in less than 20 seconds, just answer these questions:

Do you see live Shakespeare every year or two? Do you know who Iago is? Who Prospero is? Do you know what the Queen Mab speech is? Have you seen a film with Ian McClellan in a Shakespearean role?

If you mostly answered "yes," you are likely to squirm in pain throughout this movie. (See Category B below.) On the other hand, if you are not particularly conversant with Shakespeare (if you answered "no" to more than a couple questions above, you're not, something many reviewers both in the newspapers and here fail to fathom), chances actually become much higher that you will be okay with this. (See Category A.)

Category A: If you enjoy movies and have read a few of the Bard's plays here and there, perhaps back in school, you might be enjoy this. The Hollywood actors provide familiar faces, and a couple give respectable performances--Kevin Kline, for instance. If you find Shakespeare too long, the play here has been lopped roughly in half. If you find Elizabethan dialogue goes by too fast, several visuals have been inserted, generally slowing the pace.

The problem is this: When you finish watching, you might be tempted to think this story is just a lark and that Shakespeare was just writing wierd stuff about faeries. But that's just this movie's hacked-up version of the story, not Shakespeare's actual play. If you're curious, watch the BBC version. You will see just how much dramatic weight has been cut, and how the play is exponentially more poetic and thought-provoking than what this pedestrian movie would lead you to think.

Category B: If you could answer most of the questions above (or have recently read this play), you will likely roll your eyes throughout this movie. Despite its cagey marketing, this is NOT a Kenneth Branagh-type affair where Hollywood actors are tossed into minor roles for financial reasons. This movie is Hollywood through and through, meaning inane special effects and actors, for the most part, way out of their league. (The exceptions, like Bernard Hill, appear to have been cast to give the movie at least a veneer of authenticity.)

Worst of all, the director, in typical Hollywood fashion, does not trust the viewer and does not trust the Bard. So he has inserted several ponderous minutes of Hollywood-style back story for Bottom. Silly sight gags, with no relation to the text, abound. It's as if the director doesn't think the Bard is actually funny. All the while, some of the most humorous lines are cut or, worse, delivered with no understanding of their meaning. Stick with the BBC version for real Shakespeare.

By the way, many reviewers have scratched their heads at why they shot this as 19th Century Tuscany. Just follow the Hollywood thinking. Branagh's Much Ado had just come out, set in 19th Century Tuscany just the year before....

This film is a truly enchanting portrayal of Shakespeare's finest and most magical comedy. It is a richly woven tapestry of laughter and love with a generous sprinkling of fairy dust. This film version of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" appears to follow word for word Shakespeare's original masterpiece, only exchanging the time and place of the story from classical Athens to what appeared to be late nineteenth century Italy. The film's scenery, from the mysterious and evocative depths of the enchanted wood to Theseus' richly appointed palace, was magnificent. And the actors themselves were both delightful and compelling. Michelle Pfeiffer was enchantingly beautiful as Titania, the Queen of the Fairies, and Rupert Everett was in his element as her darkly handsome and commanding consort, Oberon. But it was Kevine Kline in his portrayal of Bottom, the enchanted ass, who truly stole the show. I can honestly say that this was one of the most truly beautiful and delightful films I have ever seen.

The village of Monte Athena, Italy, at the turn of the Nineteenth Century is the setting for this delightful version of William Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream," directed by Michael Hoffman. Bustles are in decline, and a new invention, the bicycle, is rising in popularity; and on this one particular night in the forest, mortals and fairies come together for a mirthful interlude rife with mischief, unsolicited intercession and the pursuit of love. This is a most engaging production, highlighted by a number of outstanding performances, beautiful photography and a wonderful score by Simon Boswell which features the talents of Cecilia Bartoli, Luciano Pavarotti, Renee Fleming and Roberto Alagna. Kevin kline gives an especially noteworthy performance as bottom, while Rupert Everett (Oberon), Dominic West (Lysander), Anna Friel (Hermia) and Sam Rockwell (Flute) are also exemplary. Michelle Pfeiffer is absolutely stunning as Titania, Queen of the Fairies, and Stanley Tucci delivers a nimble Puck. There are some wonderful moments in this movie, and one especially memorable scene in which Bottom and his troop perform "Pyramus and Thisbe" for the Duke (David Strathairn) and Hippolyta (Sophie Marceau); it is hysterical. Rounding out this superb cast are Calista Flockhart (Helena), Christian Bale (Demetrius), Roger Rees (Quince), Max Wright (Starveling), Gregory Jbara (Snug), Bill Irwin (Snout), Bernard Hill (Egeus) and John Sessions (Philostrate). Extremely well done, "A Midsummer Night's Dream" is a comedy that will lift your spirits and keep you smiling for hours. A great addition to anyone's video collection, this one is not to be missed.

It always amazes me that people think that a Shakespeare "purist," a true lover of Shakespeare, won't like any new version. I teach a Shakespeare course, I've studied Shakespeare at Oxford, I've seen 30 or so productions by the Royal Shakespeare Company, and I've got news for you. This video is just fine! True Shakespeare buffs are theater people, not dusty curmudgeons so old they fart dust. I have seen about 15 versions of AMND, and this certainly holds its own. The setting is a fantasy world anyway, so putting it in Tuscany does not violate any "rule." There are some niggling complaints: Kline's Bottom is a little too sad, and Callista Flockhart is supposed to be playing the ugly one. She is not convincing. There are many gems as well, Rupert Everett's lithe,sensuous Oberon foremost among them. A bit of trivia: one of Christian Bale's earliest roles was as the boy in Branagh's Henry V, and he continues to delight. You may watch this video, enjoy it, AND consider yourself a Shakespearean. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Enjoy.

This is not the best version of A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM out there. Once again, for some strange reason, it has been decided that Shakespeare didn't know what he was doing, and actually, the setting for the film is Italy, not Athens. And as the film opens we discover that characters like Hippolyta (Queen of the Amazons) and Theseus (Duke of Athens) actually live in a 19th century villa. Rather remarkable, that. Oh, and wait till you hear! Nick Bottom the Weaver has a wife. Where she came from, I guess we'll never know. She even has a speaking part.

There's also the mystery of the bicycles. They're definitely not from Athens or from Greek mythology. And the fairies' haunts in the woods look amazingly pre-Raphaelite.

All that aside, there are some nice performances in this film. Stanley Tucci does a wonderful Puck, Kevin Kline actually manages to do a good job with Bottom once his wife is out of the picture, and the other tradesmen are quite well done. Flockhart does a passable Helena, and Michelle Pfeiffer is ravishing as Titania.

One thing I couldn't get past in this movie is that there are at least four, count 'em, four different accents being employed. Hermia is obviously a long lost sister of Elisa Doolittle, while Lysander sounds a lot more like, oh, James Mason... meanwhile, Hippolyta seems to have gone to the Gina Lolabrigida school of diction and Calista Flockhart... well who knows WHERE she got HER accent.

Oh, while we're at it, is it REALLY necessary to have mud wrestling in bloomers? I mean, we all would have paid just to catch a glimpse of Michelle Pfeiffer and Kevin Kline.

Yes, this video is worth seeing. No, it isn't great Shakespeare. Watch it just for fun. Let's hope Branaugh is over his Hamlet fiasco and back producing SERIOUS performances of the Bard's work.

This film is an able transposition of Shakespeare's comedy from ancient Athens to the tiny Italian village of Monte Atena at the end of the 19th century. The action takes place on an enormous estate run by Duke Theseus (David Strathairn of "Good Night and Good Luck"). The acting troupe led by Kevin Klein's Bottom the clown is made up of locals who love the theater enough to neglect their other work. The forest filled with magical fairy-folk lies just beyond the carefully clipped meadows that signal the boundary between logic and enchantment.

The film is fun. The lovers (with Calista Flockhart as Helena and a pre-"Batman Begins" Christopher Bale) are by turns love-smitten and repelled. They make their way around the forest on bicycles.The fairy-folk present a kaleidoscopic array of shapes, colors and sizes. It's fun to recognize influences -- from paintings by Waterhouse to Hieronymus Bosch -- that were used to depict them.

Special mention goes to the troupe of clowns that prepares a play for the Duke's wedding. Led by Klein/Bottom they are by turns committed thespians and incompetent oafs. Indeed, they are a play *within* the play-within-a-play as the film takes us inside Bottom's pathetic and unhappy marriage to a woman who has no use for his dreams of the stage. This gives the film a bit of a somber tone, but does it no lasting harm.

The all-star cast is generally up to the task. Michelle Pfeiffer is radiant as Titania. Flockhart is appropriately weepy, confused and irate as befuddled Helena. Stanley Tucci's Robin Goodfellow as appropriately ... puckish in his role as Oberon's servant. And Klein, after an enchantment that has turned him into an ass, incorporates a donkey's braying into his laughter and speech. The presentation of "Pyramis and Thisbe" was a high point of the film, played for all its comic pathos.

There are some qualifications to my praise. The musical score often obscured the dialog -- unpardonable when it comes to the Bard! And there was much unchaste behavior in the forest that could just as easily have been left out or dealt with in hints. In the discovery scene toward the end, the lovers are discovered sleeping in naked embrace by their parents and benefactors. The shock of such a discovery in 18-whatever was replaced by unconvincing resignation on the part of the observers. And some of the roles seeme to have been phoned in, notably Rupert Everett's dull, detached Oberon.

But these quibbles aside, "A Midsummer Night's Dream" managed to capture the intensity of the lovers and the whimsical earthiness of the world of magic.

This review refers to the 20th Cent Fox DVD edition of " William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream"(1999).....

Who better to tell you a story than The Bard himself. And in this one he takes you away to a fairytale land of magic potions, fairy dust and "rare visions". Add some lords and ladies, some romance and delicious comedy and you'll be smiling all the way through.

Michael Hoffman who directed and wrote the screenplay updates Shakespeare's romantic comedy to the late 19th century. All the elements for an enjoyable romp are still here. Impish fairies spreading their magic turn the lives of four young lovers upside down with their mystical spells. A bumbling acting troupe finds one of it's members turned into a donkey, yet the object of the fairy queen's affections. All taking place in a beautiful moonlit forest. Will these sprites make everything right for these mere mortals? You'll have a merry time finding out!

A terrific cast takes you on this enchanted journey. Kevin Kline, Michelle Pfeiffer, Calista Flockhart, Rupert Everett. Christian Bale, Sophie Marceau, and David Strathairn will all delight you with their performances, but the one who really shines is Stanley Tucci as "Puck". From Simon Boswell's score to all the great classics including Verdi, Puccini and Mendlesshon's "Wedding March", you'll find yourself caught up in the music as well. I would also be remiss if I did not mention the fine make-up by Ronnie Spector.

If you have already seen this film and are wondering about the DVD, it is a beautiful transfer. It is presented in Widescreen, with a clear and sharp picture and magnificent colors. The sound is in 5.1 or Dolby surround, has English and Spanish subtitles, and the original theatrical trailer. There are no other special features included. If you haven't seen it yet, but like this story, I would suggest renting it first, as there are some other classic versions to be seen as well(i.e. 1935 James Cagney, Mickey Rooney, etc)and you can decide which is your favorite.

For a wonderful fullcast audio boook performance of MSND(original) cechk out:A Midsummer Night's Dream (Naxos AudioBooks)

A delightful way to spend a couple of hours...thanx and..enjoy....Laurie

Saw this movie same day as the Phantom Menace.This is the better story by far.No doubt the critics and purists have all had their say (what fools these mortals be...) but I was enchanted,for want of a better word.I thought at the time that such an original idea could only have come out of Hollywood.But no it just happened to originate in a dingy little flea infested attic room above an amateur London theatre some 400 years ago.Shakespeare,what a guy.His works will live on and on long after we're gone.

As for the movie well for her role as Hermia I can finally forgive Calista Flockhart for all those shenanigans she pulls off in Ally McBeal.Well done girl! I agree with all the praise heaped on Kevin Klines performance but I thought Stanley Tucci also deserved some kudos for his portrayal of Puck.Because it was such a pivotal role I thought he made the movie,even with his broad New York accent.Well he made me laugh a few times.Pfeiffer's sexy Queen Titania was excellent while Rupert Everitt seemed to fit Oberon like a new skin.He never looked so macho! Now I'll definitely have to buy the video but i recommend this film to first time Shakespeare watchers.If the story doesnt grab you the acting and the sets surely will. William take another bow.

Well, there are mistakes, let's admit it. For example, Roger Rees is wasted in a minor role, when he is the most talented memeber of this cast at performing Shakespeare. Rees steals each scene he's in with Kevin Kline, who just does not quite have the charisma to do Bottom justice. And did we really need to see Bottom's wife (Who? ) and the mud wrestling? Nope.

Fox seems to have thought that the play would not be strong enough to carry its own weight, so they brought in Callista Flockheart and a few other ringers to draw a younger audience. But by the end of the play, you learn to ignore her and the others who need more experience before they try doing the Bard again. I found myself enjoying, instead, the exuberant fun of scenes such as the play-within-the-play, which is carried off reasonably well.

Indeed, there are enough redeeming moments in this production to make it worth a viewing. Michelle Pfeiffer is fabulous as Titania, Stanley Tucci does an unusually low-key, but delightfully cynical Puck, and I greatly enjoyed the relocation of the play to Italy at the turn of the 19th to the 20th century. As a former professor of Shakespearean drama, I would certainly use this film in a class.

One of Shakespeare's most beloved works finally gets a modern cinematic makeover, good news for all of those who'd rather not see Mickey Rooney's Puck again. Unfortunately the latest retelling leaves much to be desired. Though mostly enjoyable, this film could use a good shot of fairy dust.

The story concerns three sets of lovers - Hermia and Lysander, Helena and Demetrius, and fairy royalty Titania and Oberon. The first pair loves each other but cannot marry because Hermia is betrothed to Demetrius, the object of Helena's desperate affection. When Hermia and Lysander steal away, the second couple makes chase and all four end up lost in the woods where our third pair, the quarreling fairy king and queen, reside. Oberon, dissatisfied with all about him, enlists his servant, Puck, to make amends. Puck is to place a spell on Demetrius so that he will fall in love with Helena, but a case of mistaken identity causes Lysander to become smitten with her. Meanwhile, a traveling actors troupe, led by Nick Bottom, stumbles into the woods for a late-night rehearsal. They prepare a play for the Duke's wedding and soon become the object of the fairies' mischief.

With the shell of Shakespeare's original, this movie pulls of adequate amounts of wit and humor; clearly the script is better than most. Despite Puck's much abbreviated role, it remains a light comedy and surreal and magical in every sense. The costuming, makeup, and Italian backdrop add to the enchantment and are some of the most enjoyable aspects of an aesthetically pleasing film. I loved the energy of Monte Athena in turn-of-the-century Italy (punctuated by a soundtrack of renowned operatic talent), although it added little to the understanding of the story or the updated time period.

My main qualm for this otherwise fanciful retelling is the distracted acting, which ranges from inspiring to embarrassing. Shakespeare's language, archaic by our standards, depends on talented actors and directors to lift it and his beautiful stories from obscurity. Kevin Kline proves that you don't need an English accent to perform Shakespeare effectively. His Nick Bottom is the most rounded character in the film, wholly human and rich with emotions thick enough to dip your fingers through. Anna Friel's Hermia acutely defines the play's romance and innocence. Along with Kline, she seems the most comfortable in her role and possesses a grace and naturalness absent from the other female characters. Dominic West gives an amusing and (sometimes) smitten Lysander to Friel's Hermia. I also liked Roger Rees' affectionate Peter Quince. The remainder of the cast spirals downward. Calista Flockhart as Hermia and Michelle Pfieffer as Titania appear uncomfortable and rather unsure of their characters, as if they are too afraid of fouling up the Bard's work to dig deeply into it. Rupert Everett's Oberon is tired and melancholy to a point of boredom. I am still trying to figure out why David Strathrain, who lacks the nobleness of his character, was cast as the Duke. Poor Sophie Marceau should have stuck with Mel Gibson. Though I would not have picked Stanley Tucci for Puck, he provides a slightly amusing if ineffectual performance, as does Christian Bale as Demetrius.

Because of the spotty acting, the film never gels completely. An unfamiliarity with the play by certain actors interrupts otherwise fluid scenes. Those who act well in this film make it worth watching; the others leave us wanting more.