The lovely Hermia is to wed Demetrius, but she truly cares for Lysander. Hermia's friend, Helena, is in love with Demetrius, while other romantic entanglements abound in the woods, with married fairy rulers Titania and Oberon toying with various lovers and each other.
Acting
Kevin Kline's Bottom commits so hard you'll forget he's in a donkey head.
Costume
Stanley Tucci's tiny wings and abs are doing heavy lifting.
Cinematography
Tuscan locations make fairyland look like a Renaissance painting had a baby with a fever dream.
Director
Michael Hoffman
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
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Kevin Kline performed his own donkey brays after studying actual mules, because of course he did.
This adaptation controversially moved the setting to 19th-century Italy, with Hoffman arguing Shakespeare's Athenian aristocracy better matched Victorian class anxieties.
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