This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

The acting in this movie is really good.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Strong direction and a superb cast make Peter Hall's 1968 version of William Shakespeare's comedy A Midsummer Night's Dream my favorite version of the film, and one of my favorite Shakespeare adaptations of any film. (I understand that the DVD release does not do justice to the film, so if you are renting, I would suggest the VHS version). The film is performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company and the cast is composed of superb actors, many of whom did not become stars until years later. These include: including Judi Dench as the Fairy Queen, a scantily clad Tatania, Diana Rigg as Helena, a young Helen Mirren as Hermia, the lover of Lysander (David Warren), Ian Holm as the inimitable Puck, Paul Rogers as the most believable Bottom I've seen, and Ian Richardson as the Fairy King Oberon.While the film had a limited budget, the clarity of its presentation may be one of the few adaptations of the Bard that doesn't need subtitles to fully appreciate Shakespeare's poetry. As far as the story, it is a light-hearted and enchanting comedy that uses magic to create a mysterious, mystical atmosphere,. Shakespeare populates the woods outside of Athens with mischievous, but good hearted fairies who mistakenly create unnecessary conflict, then make amends. The supernatural is the essential element that runs throughout the play and Shakespeare uses magic both to confuse the characters, and then resolve their bewilderment. Each character experiences the magic differently. Bottom finds his wondrous dreams to be magical, while the lovers, arguably the most impacted by magic, remember it only as a bad dream. Titania finds magic in her love of a little boy, and Oberon embraces the magic of the supernatural elements in the seemingly natural world. In this play, Shakespeare suggests that the world of the magical fairies is not separate from nature, but a part of it, even though Hall separates the fairies from the rest of the characters by depicting them in shades of green. A Midsummer Night's Dream also displays the author's knowledge of Greek mythology by characters such as Theseus, the Duke of Athens, a mythical founder-king of Athens, and his bride Hippolyta, an Amazonian queen who owned a waist belt that signified her authority as queen of the Amazons. Additionally, two other characters, Oberon and Titania, can be seen as similar to Zeus and Hera, and Puck can be compared to Eros, the Greek god of sexual love and beauty with the flower that Puck puts on characters' eyes is comparable to Eros' golden arrows. The play also owes a large debt to Ovid's "Metamorphoses," likely used in the translation by Arthur Golding, the uncle of Edward de Vere, the Earl of Oxford. The early 20th century delineator of classical mythology, Robert Kilburn Root, says that the whole character of Shakespeare's mythology is essentially Ovidian and that "Shakespeare himself has shown that he was proud to be Ovid's successful ape." As in Ovid's use of a story-within-a story, Shakespeare uses the tale of Pyramus and Thisbe as a play-within-a play for entertainment at the wedding of Theseus and Hippolyta, a rollicking good time. Metamorphosis, a theme central to Ovid is clearly represented by Bottom's transformation into an ass. "Man is but an ass if he go about t'expound this dream," he says, unable to fathom the magical happenings that have affected him as anything but the result of sleep. Shakespeare is also interested in the actual workings of dreams, in how events occur without explanation, time loses its normal sense of flow, and how the impossible occurs as a matter of course. One aspect of the play, not often noted, is how Shakespeare's depiction of women challenged the convention of the time. Hippolyta's role in her relationship with Theseus is striking. The fact that she stands up to Theseus when she disagrees with him in Act V is extremely significant. In Shakespeare's time, it was common practice for the wife to be the submissive, silent partner in a relationship. Hippolyta's first words in the play evidence the prevalence of dreams ("Four days will quickly steep themselves in night, / Four nights will quickly dream away the time"), and various characters mention dreams throughout (Act 1, Scene 1). Animal spirits also pervade the play, including references to owls, ravens, and spiders. In Act 2, Scene 2, Puck delivers a charm to protect the sleeping Titania from tiny creatures common in England associated with the fates, the weaver of illusion, and the women who wove the threads of life, all harmless, though once thought to be venomous."Weaving spiders, come not here; Hence, you longlegged spinners, hence! Beetles black approach not near; Worm nor snail, do no offence."At the end of the play, Puck extends the idea of dreams to the audience members themselves, saying that, if they have been offended by the play, they should remember it as nothing more than a dream. In spite of being a product of the 60s with its mini-skirts and boots, A Midsummer Night's Dream has a fresh and contemporary look and audiences of today would feel right at home with the film's use of jump cuts, and and-held camera (presumably a debt to director Richard Lester). It is a "feel-good" story that is neatly resolved but I certainly would not have wanted it to be any other way, and I suspect Elizabethan audiences would not have either.

I was channel surfing one day and came upon this film. Unbelievable acting and costumes. I was glad I found it, most entertaining. This is one movie which should go down in history as one of the "must sees". Wish I could personally shake Clive Swift's hand for a wonderful performance in this classic, along with all the other performers! The "costumes" used to portray the individuals in each of their roles was wonderfully done. Also, the "life" put into each of Shakespeare's characters is outstanding. If one does not understand the play by reading it, one will surely understand it after watching this film! This is also a perfect film to see Clive Swift do some other acting other than his extraordinary performance upon "Keeping up Appearances".

After seeing this film, I find that I can both praise it as the best in existence, or toss it down and trample upon it. As it stands, I neither love it devotedly, nor do I despise it.There are a few items on which I must comment, and I pray you give me leave to do so. First and foremost, the acting. Ian Holm radiated sheer Puckishness in his role as Robin Goodfellow. As a young man, he was more reckless and boyish than I've ever seen him. (Although that thing with the tongue was a little weird... but still. He was great.) Judi Dench, also, was magnificent as Titania. Although I would've preferred her to be... um... wearing more clothing... or at least SOME clothing. But regardless, she was wonderful. Paul Rogers was pure Bottom from top to... well. Yes. Some of the acting, however, I found to be purely horrid. Diana Rigg (Helena) and Helen Mirren (Hermia) in particular. They rarely put emotion into their voices, and merely spoke in monotone. When they did insert emotion, it was overblown. And besides, they seemed to have only one emotion TO insert - that of "on the verge of tears, oh-what-shall-I-do, poor-little-rich-girl" acting. Ludicrous and not befitting of the character at all.Another thing I must mention is the lighting. You could SEE the lights through the trees. Not very professional - I must admit that for the first twenty minutes I was sure that it was an independent film. The camera angles were also rather ridiculous, and the constant shaky-camera effect gave me a headache and made me not wish to look at the screen.Another thing (though perhaps this is just me being difficult), but did the fairies really have to be green? Really? I found it rather strange, difficult to distinguish the actors from the greenery, and I believe that Ian Richardson may have been allergic to the makeup. Or even if he wasn't, SOMETHING was making his eyes turn red, and whatever it was gave me the creeps.All in all, however, it wasn't too bad. I laughed my head off several times. The donkey was well done (I liked the use of prosthetics), and the children playing the fairies seemed to know their roles wonderfully, and they played very well. I wouldn't recommend it to non-Shakespeare fans, but if you like Shakespeare, I think you'll like this.

THere are three British dames in this film adaptation: Dame Judi Dench, Dame Diana Rigg and Dame Helen Mirren. While the cast is outstandingly directed by Sir Peter Hall, the costumes appear to be weak and cheaply made. When Titania played by Dame Judi Dench kisses a horses' behind, you can see his eyes. The costumers dressed Titania as a green fairy which was just painted on like silly. The William Shakespeare play is a festive comedy for the light-hearted and entertainment of its audience. It's not an expensive production but it's worth watching to see three Dames in their younger days. Everybody in the cast has been part of the Royal Shakespeare Company and are veteran actors by now. THe play does entertain and I can poke fun at the cheap costumes and lack of expense towards the production. It's nice to see Dame Judi Dench before she was ever a Dame. Not even an O.B.E. in this 1968 production. She appears to enjoy playing the role. Dame Helen Mirren is also cast as the young Helena who seeks to be in love. I probably got the names wrong but it's Shakespeare, who can remember?