This is a worthy attempt at adapting Shakespeare, but unfortunately it fails. For the record, i have no problem with setting in late 19th century, or the nudity; Shakespeare would have used mud wrestling if allowed. Failing is due to other reasons.Movie takes itself far too seriously, for a play that is extremely funny that is fatal. In Shakespeare, comedy comes from absurdity, changeability, and arbitrariness, of love, even when it is intense and passionate. Love and Reason do not indeed keep company. But screenplay, instead of laughing at absurdity, presets tragedy, and almost forgets to laugh. Play within play results in tears, and not from laughter. Bottom at the end gets a lovers' farewell from Titania, instead of loathing disgust she expresses in text.Generally actors are well cast, and give competent performances. Problem with Kevin Kline's Bottom is the screenplay which underplay the absurd juxtaposition of Bottom with Titania, not him. Pfeiffer, who has proved she can act in other movies, fails to convince here as fairy queen. Even though she she looks great for the part, we see her reading lines and acting. Calista Flockhart does well as Helena.Italian town sets and costumes are excellent but wood looks fake. Bicycle obsession does not contribute anything.

it is not easy to surprise with a Shakespeare adaptation. and this film is a courageous act in this sense. but, scene after scene, it becomes more. the secret - deep respect for text, the splendid performance, the interesting solutions for each detail. but basic virtue is the science of director to create a pure Shakespeare adaptation and the new location is a piece who has its perfect role. than, the balance between impressive cast and the play. and, sure, the flavor of exemplary old fashion show. for a Shakespeare admirer, it could be a delight. for the common public , good remember and new occasion to discover an unique universe. for the young viewer - victim of internet and not very close by book, maybe, a form of revelation. that is the splendid gift of film - to be useful more than charming. to recreate emotion who has , in few moments, the status of magic.

This 1999 movie was Hollywood's take on one of Shakespeare's most popular plays. It boasts an impressive cast – Michelle Pfieffer, Rupert Everett, Anna Friel, Dominic West, Christian Bale, Calista Flockhart and Stanley Tucci among them.Until fairly recently, I did not enjoy reading Shakespeare's work – it seemed very 'dry' when written on a page (to me, at least). However, when his words are acted out on stage or screen, it all falls in to place, and it's much easier to appreciate the wit and intelligence of Shakespeare. In this case, I would suggest that some knowledge of the storyline of the play is helpful before watching (it does cover three interlinked stories), but it is certainly not necessary to have studied or read the play in any detail.Briefly, Egeus (played by Bernard Hill) wants his daughter Hermia (Anna Friel) to marry Demetrius (Christian Bale). However, Hermia is in love with Lysander (Dominic West). When she is given the choice of marrying Demetrius, being sentenced to death, or living as a Nun for the rest of of her life, Hermia and Lysander decide to run away together. Hermia's friend Helena (Calista Flockhart, in a fantastic turn) is in love with Demetrius, but he loves Hermia.Meanwhile, King of the Fairies Oberon (Rupert Everett) is estranged from his Fairy Queen Titania (Michelle Pfieffer); she has taken over the care of a changeling boy, after the death of the boy's mother, who was one of Titania's worshippers. Oberon wants the boy to work for him. He summons his mischievous but loyal fairy servant Puck to sprinkle a magic flower on Titania's eyes while she sleeps – the spell it casts causes the sleeping person to fall in love with the first living thing they see upon waking. Oberon believes that Titania will fall in love with a creature of the forest (where the fairies all live) and while she is distracted, he can take the boy.After seeing Demetrius and Helena arguing, Oberon also orders Puck to sprinkle the magic flower on Demetrius's eyes so that he will see and fall in love with Helena. Puck however has never seen Demetrius and when he stumbles across Lysander asleep in the forest (he and Hermia have stopped there for the night before continuing with their escape), he sprinkles the magic flower on Lysander instead. Helena then comes across Lysander and wakes him, and Lysander falls in love with her immediately. When Puck's mistake is discovered, he also sprinkles the magic flower on Demetrius's eyes, and Demetrius too sees and falls in love with Helena. The two young men argue over who should be with Helena, while Hermia accuses Helena of stealing Lysander's love.While all this is going on, a group of workers in the village are practicing a play to put on at the wedding of the Duke Theseus and his bride to be, Hippolyta. During their rehearsals in the forest, Puck sees Bottom (Kevin Kline) and casts a spell giving Bottom an ass's head, which naturally terrifies the fellow performers. They run away, and Bottom falls asleep. And then he is the first thing that Fairy Queen Titania sees when she awakes…The plot sounds complicated, but it all plays out beautifully. The action is moved from Ancient Athens to Italy at the turn of the 19th century. The reason for this is not made clear (and the script retains its references to Athens), but it doesn't matter – Italy looks lovely – the film was shot on location, large in Tuscany. The fairy forest is enchanting, and even the cast are beautiful – in fact the whole film looks as though it has had its own sprinkling of fairy dust!The cast are all terrific. Stanley Tucci – always under-rated – excels as Puck, and really seems to be having fun with the character. Kevin Kline also makes the most of his part and gives a great performance. Puck and Bottom are probably the two funniest characters in the script, and I thought Tucci and Kline did great justice to the roles.The script is actually very very funny – I laughed out loud on a number of occasions – and very romantic and sweet too. The interlinked stories tie up together well and the ending is perfect – well, there must be a reason that Shakespeare is so revered centuries after his death.Overall, this is a very amusing, and beautiful looking film. Even if you're not a fan of Shakespeare, I'd recommend giving this film a watch.

This could have been a great version of MSND. It has a lot of good things in it. The cast is excellent and the director got great performances out of them (especially Anna Friel,Kevin Kline and Calista Flockhart). But it doesn't quite satisfy. Why?A Shakespeare play is like a Beethoven Symphony. No conductor would think of adding or deleting notes, let alone bars, from the 9th Symphony. The orchestra plays it as written to the best of their ability and their performance is judged on the level of excellence they achieve. It should be the same with Shakespeare's plays.Shakespeare was writing film scripts 300 years before the invention of the movie camera. He knew quite a lot about construction, pacing, characterisation and dialogue. If a screenplay changes any of these things it will probably diminish the effectiveness of the work. That is what has happened in this case. When will producers learn to put their trust in Shakespeare? This film starts with some nonsense about bustles and bicycles and then introduces a new character ( Bottom's wife ).What on earth made Mr Hoffman think he was improving Shakespeare with these interpolations? But even more damaging than the interpolations is the lack of any insight into what MSND is about.It seems to me that Shakespeare wanted audiences to think about 2 things after experiencing MSND ; 1. To what extent is our life shaped by our will and to what extent is it shaped by unseen forces we are not even aware of? That is why Hermia,Helena,Demetrius and Lysander come under the power of Oberon/Puck. Who has never fallen asleep firmly believing one thing and woken the next morning believing the contrary? Why? What has happened in our sleep? Shakespeare puts it down to fairies. Until someone comes up with a better explanation fairies it is! 2. The importance of self delusion in the pursuit of happiness. Philosophers say that to ," know thyself" is the path to happiness but Shakespeare knew better. His players are ecstatic at the end of the film because they think they have put in a performance that has dazzled the Athenian Court. Would they be happier if they knew the truth? Does this film stimulate its audience into thinking about these issues? I don't think so. That is another reason why it fails to satisfy.