A Midsummer Night's Dream (1999)

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

Director:

Michael Hoffman

Writers:

William Shakespeare (play), Michael Hoffman (screenplay)

Stars:

Kevin Kline, Michelle Pfeiffer, Rupert Everett

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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

Storyline

Shakespeare's intertwined love polygons begin to get complicated from the start--Demetrius and Lysander both want Hermia but she only has eyes for Lysander. Bad news is, Hermia's father wants Demetrius for a son-in-law. On the outside is Helena, whose unreturned love burns hot for Demetrius. Hermia and Lysander plan to flee from the city under cover of darkness but are pursued by an enraged Demetrius (who is himself pursued by an enraptured Helena). In the forest, unbeknownst to the mortals, Oberon and Titania (King and Queen of the faeries) are having a spat over a servant boy. The plot twists up when Oberon's head mischief-maker, Puck, runs loose with a flower which causes people to fall in love with the first thing they see upon waking. Throw in a group of labourers preparing a play for the Duke's wedding (one of whom is given a donkey's head and Titania for a lover by Puck) and the complications become fantastically funny.

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Plot Keywords:

love | lover | fairy | fickleness | victorian era | 

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Taglines:

Love makes fools of us all.

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Genres:

Comedy | Fantasy | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some sexual content

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

Italy UK USA

Language:

English Italian

Release Date:

14 May 1999 (USA)

Also Known As:

William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream

Filming Locations:

Caprarola, Viterbo, Lazio, Italy

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

£310,464 (UK) (24 September 1999)

Gross:

£1,183,531 (UK) (15 October 1999)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Fox Searchlight Pictures, Regency Enterprises, Taurus Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

116 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Some of the orchestral score is from Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy's 1843 incidental music for the play. It has also been used in Frederick Ashton's 1964 ballet adaptation of the play, "The Dream", and in George Balanchine's ballet version of the play. The 1935 film version of Shakespeare's play also used generous chunks of Mendelssohn's music.

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Goofs

In the play within a play scene, Bottom alternates between wearing and not wearing leggings.

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Quotes

Titania: Come, my lord, and in our flight / Tell me how it came this night / That I sleeping here was found / With these mortals on the ground.

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Connections

Version of A Midsummer Night's Dream (1982)

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Soundtracks

"Intermezzo"
(uncredited)
from the opera "Cavalleria Rusticana"
Music by Pietro Mascagni

User Reviews

Visually stunning, a little stilted, but a must see!

A Midsummer Night's Dream is a very complicated play, and can get very silly at times, and this film is surprisingly faithful to the play. Yes, there was an attempt to partially modernise it, therefore the script wasn't as good as it could have been. The film itself is lovingly designed, with lavish costumes, stunning sets(my favourite being the wood set) and handsome cinematography. The music was lovely with clever use of music by the likes of Mendelssohn and Verdi. I thought the acting was very good indeed, Kevin Kline stealing the show as Bottom, most of the time hilarious, especially in the play scene, when we are shown what a bad actor Bottom really is. Michelle Pfeiffer is lovely also, and Rupert Everett is very charming also as Oberon. Callista Flockhart convinces also as Helena, and Stanley Tucci has a ball as Puck. The direction is competent, but my only other criticism is that the film is a little overlong. Overall, I genuinely enjoyed this film, not as good as Much Ado About Nothing(with Kenneth Branagh) or Macbeth (with Jon Finch), so I will happily award it 8/10. Bethany Cox.