A Midsummer Night's Dream (1999)

Director:

Michael Hoffman

Writers (WGA):

William Shakespeare (based on the play by)
Michael Hoffman (screenplay)

Release Date:

14 May 1999 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Fantasy | Romance

Tagline:

Hold on to Your Heart. Cupid is Armed and Dangerous.

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Love | Lover | Fairy | William Shakespeare | Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

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

Also Known As:

Sogno di una notte di mezza estate (Italy)
William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream (USA) (complete title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for some sexual content.

Runtime:

116 min

Country:

Italy | UK | USA

Language:

English | Italian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:L | South Korea:12 | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Canada:PG (Canadian Home Video rating) | Finland:S | France:U | Germany:6 (bw) | Ireland:PG | Netherlands:AL | New Zealand:PG | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG | Spain:T | Sweden:Btl | Switzerland:7 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:7 (canton of Vaud) | UK:PG | USA:PG-13 (Approved No. 36060)

Filming Locations:

Caprarola, Viterbo, Lazio, Italy

Company:

Fox Searchlight Pictures

Trivia:

Take a look at what some of the other performers are rehearsing while the Mechanicals are waiting for word from the Duke. One group of players is rehearsing the Greek tragedy Oedipus Rex and another pair of players are rehearsing a scene from Shakespeare's play Othello.

Goofs:

Continuity: The branches that Lysander and Demetrius fight with are swapped later in the fight.

Quotes:

Bottom the Weaver: The eye of man hath not heard, the ear of man hath not seen; Man's hand is not able to taste, his tongue to conceive, nor his heart to report what my dream was.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Game K N B: (2006-11-29)" (2006)

Soundtrack:

Wedding March

Gorgeous film not bad Shakespeare adaptation

There have been many adaptations of Shakespeare plays over the last decade or so, most of them aimed squarely at younger viewers. You know the drill: The director picks out rocking, hip tunes to spice up the soundtrack and some hot, young stars to broadly interpret the Bard's work.

That's not the case here. Kevin Kline gets to ham it up as Nick Bottom, the base mechanical with delusions of thespian grandeur, and Michelle Pfeiffer gets to show off her own acting chops as Titania, the Queen of the fairies. Okay, so maybe a little knowledge of the play itself would help the average viewer, but if you're not a fan of the play, you can still witness some absolutely sumptuous camerawork and some funny, funny scenes - many of them dealing with the spellbound Bottom, who's been turned into a jackass. Stanley Tucci underplays (somewhat surprisingly) his role as the mischievous Puck, and even Callista Flockhart turns in a solid performance as one of four human (non-fairy) lovers.