/A Midsummer Night's Dream (1999).jpg)
/A Midsummer Night's Dream (1999)2.jpg)
Midsummer Night's Dream (A)
- Director: Michael Hoffman
- Writer: William Shakespeare; Michael Hoffman
- Producer: Nigel Goldsack; Michael Hoffman
CGiii Comment
Hoffman gives himself a writing credit - now, that's a little cheeky.
He does manage to savage the comedy and salvage little else from the Bards' original intention.
Serious mis-casting (Tucci and Everett especially), an unimaginative re-setting (with bicycles in Italy) - Hoffman does his usual; quantity rather than quality.
This is a director who gets opportunities thrust upon him and, consistently, fails to deliver - why is he still working?
A Shakespearean mess from start to finish.
Trailer...
The(ir) Blurb...
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.
Cast & Characters
Kevin Kline as Nick Bottom;
Michelle Pfeiffer as Titania;
Rupert Everett as Oberon;
Stanley Tucci as Puck;
Calista Flockhart as Helena;
Anna Friel as Hermia;
Christian Bale as Demetrius;
Dominic West as Lysander;
David Strathairn as Theseus;
Sophie Marceau as Hippolyta;
Roger Rees as Peter Quince;
Max Wright as Robin Starveling;
Gregory Jbara as Snug;
Bill Irwin as Tom Snout;
Sam Rockwell as Francis Flute