If ever there was a film that actually improved upon the Shakespeare text, this is the one. The director's fluid treatment of the boundaries between light and dark, dream and dream, innocence and awareness, and fear and fantasy is really something to behold. Absolutely loved the timeless, yet contemporary feel of the costumes, and though it took some getting used to, eventually fell prey to the spell of the very strange and mystical 'forest' with its opening/shutting, rising/falling doors, quirky dangling lights, and odd, angular levels. Just the look of this film adds depth and resonance to Shakespeare's 'dream' motif. The superb acting - especially on the part of Lynch (Puck/Philostrate) and Barritt (Bottom) -- neither weighs down the lines (as so many British productions do) with pomposity nor allows the lines to weigh down the actors (as so many American productions do). Fantastic, fresh feel to this take on what has usually been nothing more than a fluffy little fantasy. And it's so-o-o-o much better than that mannered monstrosity given birth by Hollywood. Long live the Royal Shakespeare Company!
Review of A Midsummer Night's Dream
