Cast: Kevin Kline, Michelle Pfeiffer, Rupert Everett, Stanley Tucci, Calista Flockhart,
Anna Friel, Dominic West, Christian Bale, David Strathairn, Sophie Marceau
Director: Michael Hoffman
Producers: Michael Hoffman, Leslie Urdang
Screenplay: Michael Hoffman, based on the play by William Shakespeare
Cinematography: Oliver Stapleton
Music: Simon Boswell
U.S. Distributor: Twentieth Century Fox
A Midsummer Night's Dream is arguably the best loved and most frequently performed of Shakespeare's comedies. Since it was first penned in the mid-1590s, the play has undergone numerous transformations, being variously re-invented as a musical, a ballet, and in more than a dozen films. The text also shows its great versatility with each new interpretation – depending on the director's vision, A Midsummer Night's Dream can be a light fantasy, a dark nightmare, a slapstick comedy, or a semi-serious melodrama. One might understandably wonder whether there's a pressing reason for a new motion picture version (other than that the climate, primed by Kenneth Branagh, is ripe for Shakespeare on the screen). But director Michael Hoffman deflects such criticism by presenting a rendering that is sufficiently contemporary and fresh.
Hoffman has elected to shift the setting from 16th century Greece to Tuscany in the late 1800s. The bicycle – a relatively new invention at the time – becomes a key prop, allowing characters to pedal after each other instead of chasing around on foot. It also provides one of the movie's most amusing sight gags, as the fairy Puck (played by Stanley Tucci), who has never before seen one, gingerly prods it as if expecting it to suddenly come to life and attack. Indeed, while every line of dialogue comes from Shakespeare, the visual approach is very much Hoffman's.
Understandably, the basic story has not changed, even though the locale and time period have. A Midsummer Night's Dream opens by introducing Duke Theseus (David Strathairn), who is preparing for his wedding to the reluctant Hippolyta (Sophie Marceau). Theseus is called in to resolve a dispute centering on the romantic inclinations of Hermia (Anna Friel), the daughter of Egeus (Bernard Hill). While the girl wants to marry the dashing Lysander (Dominic West), whom she loves, her father has betrothed her to Demetrius (Christian Bale). When Theseus' ruling goes against them, Hermia and Lysander resolve to elope. Meanwhile, Demetrius is being pursued by Helena (Calista Flockhart), who is willing to suffer any number of humiliations to be with him. These four, along with an actor named Bottom (Kevin Kline), end up in a nearby forest on a night when the nymphs, satyrs, and fairies are out and about. The King of the Fairies, Oberon (Rupert Everett), is quarrelling with his queen, Titania (Michelle Pfeiffer). To untangle matters, Oberon enlists his servant, Puck, to procure a love potion, of which he says, "The juice of it on sleeping eyelids laid will make or man or woman madly dote upon the next live creature that it sees." However, not everything goes according to plan, resulting in some unexpected romantic pairings.
Shakespeare purists are always concerned about the cuts made by a director. With his 1996 production of Hamlet, Kenneth Branagh showed that it is possible to conceive a brilliant adaptation of the full text, but the result will (understandably) have a long running time. I'm not sure I'd want to sit through a 3-plus hour version of A Midsummer Night's Dream. Rather than cutting entire scenes or excising a subplot, Hoffman has taken the traditional approach of snipping speeches by removing "extraneous" material. Even those familiar with the play may find it difficult to determine what's missing without a copy of the unabridged version by their side. The well-paced result is surprisingly coherent, with only one or two minor inconsistencies attributable to removed lines.
Taking a cue from Branagh, Hoffman has assembled a mixed cast of well-known actors from both sides of the Atlantic. There are several standout performances. One belongs to Kevin Kline, who brings an element of pathos and regret to the buffoonery normally associated with Bottom. Bottom isn't on hand just to provide comic relief, and Kline understands this. Rupert Everett (who should have been nominated as Best Supporting Actor for My Best Friend's Wedding) and Michelle Pfeiffer are suitably radiant as the fairy king and queen. The versatile Stanley Tucci fashions Puck into a delightfully mischievous creature. And Calista Flockhart proves that she's capable of adeptly handling a more classic role than her leading part in Ally McBeal. The only sour note is struck by David Strathairn, who has an awkward time with Shakespearean phrases. The underrated actor, who has given his share of tremendous performances in the past (especially in John Sayles films), seems uncomfortable in this role.
Hoffman's enchanted land relies more on performances and atmosphere than on special effects. While there are a few hi-tech morsels to chew on, those are a relatively minor aspect of the production. As Bottom, a human given as ass's head, Kline merely wears a pair of donkey ears and grows a little extra fur on the face. He is not morphed into a computer-generated creation. Likewise, the forest itself is a relatively simple place. It looks like a set (albeit a well constructed one), but that serves to amplify its magical, unearthly quality rather than diminish it. Makeup and costume design are effective in creating a variety of odd denizens, including a rather frightening- looking medusa and a few aliens that would have fit nicely into the Star Wars cantina. And, as has become a tradition in recent productions of A Midsummer Night's Dream, there's plenty of nudity during the forest scenes, although all of it is handled discreetly to avoid garnering an "R" rating.
While set design and atmosphere are critical to Hoffman's vision of the play (and represent the primary cues by which this version can be differentiated from its predecessors), Shakespeare's text still lies at the movie's heart. In a fantasy setting such as this, the flowery language works exceptionally well. The famous lines are all there: "The course of true love never did run smooth", "Lord, what fools these mortals be", "It seems to me that yet we sleep, we dream", and others. The Bard's flair for comedy comes across clearly, emphasized by some of Hoffman's visual contributions, including Hermia and Helena's mud wrestling and various characters' bicycle misadventures.
In recent years, there have been many excellent adaptations of Shakespeare's plays, including a
trilogy of memorable efforts from Kenneth Branagh (Henry V, Much Ado About Nothing, and the definitive
Hamlet, with Love's Labors Lost on the way) and a fine adaptation of Twelfth Night by Trevor Nunn. Additionally, Shakespeare in Love took home a Best Picture
Oscar for its account of a fictional romance that inspired Romeo and Juliet. In its own
quiet way, A Midsummer Night's Dream is good enough to stand proudly in such lofty
company. It's a thoroughly enjoyable piece of cinema that does credit to its director, cast, and
writer.
© 1999 James Berardinelli