Search - A Midsummer Night's Dream

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, All Movie Guide

Kevin Kline - 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

Michael Hoffman's adaptation of -A Midsummer Night's Dream comes to DVD with a widescreen transfer that preserves the original theatrical aspect ratio of 2.35:1. Closed-captioned English soundtracks are rendered in both Dolby Digital 5.1 and Dolby Digital Surround. English and Spanish subtitles are accessible. Supplemental materials include the original theatrical trailer. This is a fine release from 20th Century Fox that does a great job presenting the film, but offers little else. Fans of the all-star cast (Kevin Kline, Calista Flockhart, Michelle Pfeiffer, and a half dozen other notables) will enjoy this disc, although bios of all those stars would have been a nice touch. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

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