A Midsummer Night's Dream

Director: Michael Hoffman Michael Hoffman

Overview

"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."

Product Details

Release Date:	04/15/2003
UPC:	0086162123085
Original Release:	1999
Rating:	PG-13
Source:	BUENA VISTA HOME ENTERTAINMENT
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround, Dolby Digital Surround]
Language:	English
Time:	2:00:00

Special 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

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Calista Flockhart	Helena
Kevin Kline	Nick Bottom
Rupert Everett	Oberon
Michelle Pfeiffer	Titania
Christian Bale	Demetrius
Dominic West	Lysander
Anna Friel	Hermia
David Strathairn	Theseus
Stanley Tucci	Puck
Sophie Marceau	Hippolyta
Roger Rees	Actor
Bernard Hill	Actor
Bill Irwin	Actor
Sam Rockwell	Actor
John Sessions	Actor
Max Wright	Robin Starveling
Gregory Jbara	Snug
Deirdre A. Harrison	Hard-Eye Fairy
Heather Elizabeth Parisi	Bottom's Wife
Annalisa Cordone	Cobweb
Paola Pessot	Mustardseed
Solena Nocentini	Moth
Flaminia Fegarotti	Peaseblossom
Velerio Isidori	Master Antonio
Daniele Finizio	Dangerous Boy
Damiano Salvatori	Dangerous Boy
Chomoke Bhuiyan	Changeling Boy

Technical Credits

Michael Hoffman

Michael Hoffman	Director,Screenwriter,Producer
William Shakespeare	Playwright
Antonio Corridori	Special Effects
Lora Kennedy	Casting
Arnon Milchan	Executive Producer
Riccardo Mioni	Stunts
Leslie Urdang	Producer

Editorial Reviews

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.