A Midsummer Night's Dream (1999)

Come on, carpers! Let Shakespeare be fun!

First, the stars. No, not the astrologer's stars, the movie stars, goofy! Some of those high priced people can act! Of course, I'm in luck in that I see so few Hollywood movies that I don't recognize them, so it's easy to suspend disbelief. The one I did recognize was Stanley Tucci, the star of Big Night. Tucci was spectacular in the role of Puck; he stole every scene he appeared in. That guy Kevin Kline did a similar heist on all his scenes; he made Bottom the prime character of the story, with a little help from the editors and cinematographers, who played on his face - his foolish integrity, his dreams - almost any time when the script allowed. Whichever leading lady it was who played Helena was also "picture" perfect, and her scenes of squalling with Hermia were side-splitting funny. The only flop, as an actress, was Michelle Pfeiffer as the Queen of the fairies; luscious looking, yes, but she delivered her lines more stiffly than a seventh-grade cheerleader in English class.

The setting in Italy was completely convincing; after all, most of the Eizabethan comedies were based on Italian models, with commedia dell'arte roots, and Elizabethans knew rather little about settings in Athens. The little touches of Italian opera - both visual and in the soundtrack - were deft and charming. The whole air of opulence suited the magic of the midsummer night like the smile on a pretty child's face.

Oh yeah, and then there was the script. That Shakespeare guy has a future. [Yes, there were cuts, but the shortening of the play served one very useful purpose. It allowed the actors to defy the current notion that every line of Shakespeare has to be spoken so fast that no one can understand it well enough to be bored. Honestly, it was delightful to be able to follow every word for a change. True, the accents were a hodge-podge of Brit and American, but I for one didn't much mind.]

A film of a play by Shakespeare should be at least as enjoyable for a modern audience as we all assume the Globe Theater production was for the flesh-and-blood Elizabethans.
Bottom's bottom line: What fools these purists be! September 28, 2008

Very Enjoyable

Shakespeare would probably roll over in his grave but we both really enjoy this version of the classic. Funny throughout and well done. September 5, 2008

Great Late Summer Night Mood Movie

I know this version gets panned all the time. And I have seen better versions, (the 1935 version with, of all people, Jimmy Cagney as Bottom was amazingly good). But I love to watch this film. If you love Shakespeare comedies when they go into the woods and things go topsy turvy, then this will be a fun DVD to play on a late Summer night when you can't go to sleep. August 14, 2008

Very fun

It took me a couple of tries to make it through the movie, but once I did, I ended up watching it again the same day. It was just hilarious. Shakespeare on film tends to be very boring, but I think the changes that were made to this play made it enjoyable. As far as the accents go, I would rather all the actors speak in their natural voices than all speak in an English accent since the setting was Italy. I just hate when they do that in movies. I know that it's Shakespeare, but Greeks don't have English accents, and neither do Italians. Calista Flockhart was adorably desperate, Stanley Tucci was great, and Kevin Kline was right on the mark. I think all the actors did a great job making this film worth watching. July 28, 2008

midsummer night's dream dvd

not bad...ther was a skip at the end, it left out a chunk of the film. that sucked. June 23, 2008

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