William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream (1999) REVISIT

The 1999 film of A Midsummer Night's Dream is delightfully playful and star studded. It is easy to sink into and accessible for audiences which may find Shakespeare a bit daunting. As I watch it I enjoy it immensely, I laugh and sigh. But it always makes me wonder what is possible with Midsummer Night's Dream, as it is an incredibly cinematic story yet this production feels very much like a filmed stage play. This is a fantasy of epic proportions and a film with visual effects and art direction could do so much with the spectacle of it all.

That isn't to sleight this film, a film which isn't trying to be anything more than it is. It is very light hearted and leans into the romance and silliness and away from anything too upsetting (such as the idea of drugging people into loving you). Klein as Bottom with his jubilant zest for life and love is exactly what this film is about, making its audience smile and forget for a couple of hours. It is just "a weak and idle theme, no more yielding than a dream." The film doesn't take itself too seriously, giving us the lovely perfect half nude bodies of its cast, and a slimmed down script that captures just what is needed to make it all lovely.

But whenever I watch this film I always wonder, what would a full on spectacular, that fully created not only the world of classic Athens but also the forest of fairies, look like? What if the film truly tried to explore the complicated romantic problems raised in the story? What if we were to create a world of fairies that felt as real as the worlds of Middle Earth or or Hogwarts? Perhaps someday we'll get that film.

And until then we have this lovely little pleasure and that isn't so bad. 

William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream
Starring: Christian Bale, Kevin Klein, Michelle Pfeiffer, Sam Rockwell, Stanley Tucci, David Strathairn, Calista Flockhart, Dominic West, Anna Friel, Sophie Marceau, Rupert Everett, Bernard Hill
Director: Michael Hoffman
Writers: William Shakespeare, Michael Hoffman