Midsummer Night's Dream

Theatrical Release Date: 1999 05 14 (USA)

UPC: 086162123085

Studio: 20th Century Fox

MPAA Rating: PG13   Contains:[Nudity, Sexual Situations]

Summary: With William Shakespeare now a hot commodity at the box office (and his body of work conveniently out of copyright), the usual trickle of film adaptations of the Bard's work is becoming a small flood, and director Michael Hoffman has assembled a cast of leading stage and screen actors for this whimsical film version of one of Shakespeare's most popular comedies. This interpretation of A Midsummer Night's Dream moves the action to Tuscany near the turn of the 20th century, as both mortals and enchanted creatures deal with romantic problems. Among the flesh-and-blood crowd, Duke Theseus (played by David Strathairn) is preparing for his wedding to Hippolyta (Sophie Marceau), while having to counsel Egeus (Bernard Hill), who has promised the hand of his daughter Hermia (Anna Friel) to Demetrius (Christian Bale). Hermia, however, wants to elope with her true love, Lysander (Dominic West), while her best friend Helena (Calista Flockhart) is mad about Demetrius. Meanwhile, fairies living in the forest are watching these romantic misadventures. Puck (Stanley Tucci) serves up love potions that mix and match the already confused lovers, while the Queen of Fairies, Titania (Michelle Pfeiffer), and her King, Oberon (Rupert Everett), have to deal with a group of hapless actors rehearsing a play in the forest -- one of whom, Bottom (Kevin Kline), has fallen under Puck's spell and becomes Titania's new lover. Will anyone end up with the person they really love? Who will get hurt riding their bicycles in the woods? Will Helena sit down and eat a square meal? Director Hoffman, a longtime Shakespeare buff, appeared as Lysander in a production of the play while a college student, and has since spearheaded a campaign to build a new $3 million theatre for his alma mater in Boise, ID. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Category: Comedy

Features: Widescreen format [aspect ratio 2.35:1]
Interactive menus, scene selection
Original theatrical trailer
Languages: English Dolby Surround, English 5.1 Surround
Subtitles: English and Spanish

Midsummer Night's Dream

Format: DVD

Release Date: 04/15/2003

Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Cinemascope

Audio: DD5.1 Dolby Digital 5.1, DDS Dolby Digital Surround

Runtime: 120 Minutes

Sides: 1

Number of Discs: 1

Language(s) English

Subtitles: English,Spanish

Region: USA & territories, Canada

Chapters: Scene Selections
0. Scene Selections
0. Menu Group #1 with 24 chapter(s) covering 02:00:30
1. Main Titles. [4:09]
2. Wedding Preparations. [6:03]
3. The Course Of True Love. [3:41]
4. Casting A Play. [9:37]
5. Fairies. [:30]
6. Puck's Errand. [7:28]
7. Helena And Demetrius. [1:58]
8. The Flower. [3:27]
9. Titania's Bower. [1:37]
10. Lysander And Helena. [3:06]
11. Helena Enters. [5:29]
12. The Rehersal Place. [2:53]
13. Puck's Trick. [:29]
14. Puck's Mistake. [3:39]
15. A Donkey And A Queen. [1:03]
16. Helena's Lovers. [5:31]
17. The Cure. [2:38]
18. The Wood Nymphs. [2:06]
19. Bottom's Dream. [3:09]
20. A Wedding Celebration. [4:04]
21. Pyramus And Thisbe. [8:17]
22. Fairy Time. [1:01]
23. Puck's Speech. [4:12]
24. End Titles. [5:37]

Tracie Cooper

Brimming with fairies, sex, love potions, transformations, and slightly malevolent forays into matchmaking, A Midsummer Night's Dream leaves its interpreters with much to work with. Its already preposterous nature allows for quite a bit of tweaking, and the play has often fallen victim to ill-fated flights of directorial whimsy. Michael Hoffman, in an effort to showcase the decadent nature of A Midsummer Night's Dream, changed its original location in ancient Greece to a more sensual 19th century Italy, accomplishing little save for providing some gorgeous scenery and low-cut period costumes. Otherwise, the play was left to speak for itself by means of a stellar cast and its legendary playwright, William Shakespeare. Rupert Everett gives a delightfully brooding performance as Oberon, the fairy king, who sets the chaos in motion when he enchants his wife into falling in love with Nick Bottom (Kevin Kline), the aspiring thespian-turned-mule via one nasty potion. Kline, a Shakespearean veteran, shamelessly hams it up as the melodramatic Nick, while simultaneously imparting a buffoonish vulnerability. The forest setting is frenzied, wildly sexual, and arguably more hallucinatory than director Baz Luhrmann's modernized version of Romeo + Juliet. The best thing about Hoffman's take on A Midsummer Night's Dream, however, is his expert interweaving of the conventional and the outlandish. Though the film is traditional enough in its approach to use Felix Mendelssohn's classical compositions, as did director Max Reinhardt in his 1935 Hollywood version, it portrayed fairies as they were believed to be by Elizabethans: humorous, mischievous, sexual, and oftentimes up to no good. The surreal, sweaty atmosphere combined with giddy Elizabethan dialogue and one seriously lowbrow plot makes for a visually stimulating adventure and an irresistibly happy ending. ~ Tracie Cooper, Rovi

Cast and Crew: Simon Boswell  Composer (Music Score) 
Michael Hoffman  Director 
Michael Hoffman  Producer 
Michael Hoffman  Screenwriter 
Arnon Milchan  Executive Producer 
Leslie Urdang  Producer 
Kevin Kline  Actor 
Michelle Pfeiffer  Actor 
Rupert Everett  Actor 
Stanley Tucci  Actor 
Calista Flockhart  Actor 
Anna Friel  Actor 
Christian Bale  Actor 
Dominic West  Actor 
David Strathairn  Actor 
Sophie Marceau  Actor 
Roger Rees  Actor 
Bernard Hill  Actor 
Bill Irwin  Actor 
Sam Rockwell  Actor 

Country: Italy,UK,USA