A Midsummer Night’s Dream Movie Response
4/14/13
A Midsummer Night’s Dream Response
All of the Characters in the 1999 production of Shakespeare’s poem, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, were well played and showed thought-out preparation. Two characters that I liked the most and who were most vivid and well portrayed are Theseus and Helena. Puck, played by Stanley Tucci, was a very entertaining character but Stanley did not elaborate much with his character. Theseus, played by David Strathairn, is a character that was easy to follow. I liked that David spoke Shakespeare’s words in with a modern accent so it was easy to keep up with the script. Although the words in the movie are identical to the sentences wrote by Shakespeare the modern accents make it seem like they are speaking the modern form of English. David also preserved Theseus’s personality as a kind, fair and generous duke. This is best shown at the wedding scene when Theseus tells Philostrate his choice of entertainment at the reception; when Philostrate objected to his choice of the Lovers’ Story Theseus kindly told him that the decision was not up to him and he shall do as he is told. Throughout the movie Theseus never got very angry with any of his advisors, servants and assistants. David played his character with the same traits that Shakespeare expressed. Calista Flockhart played her character, Helena, with qualities that helped me understand the plot better. Calista spoke with a slightly annoying voice that made her sound desperate and helped the viewer see why Demetrius did not return her affection. The director, Michael Hoffman, made a good choice of Calista because she is not tall so this adds to her desperate vibe. Calista plays Helena as a weaker person, Helena gets upset easily and is a bit clumsy. In contrast Hermia is shown as stronger and more independent. Helena’s line, “I am your spaniel. And, Demetrius, The more you beat me, I will fawn on you.” sums up her character very well. When Helena and Demetrius were riding through
A Midsummer Night’s Dream Response
All of the Characters in the 1999 production of Shakespeare’s poem, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, were well played and showed thought-out preparation. Two characters that I liked the most and who were most vivid and well portrayed are Theseus and Helena. Puck, played by Stanley Tucci, was a very entertaining character but Stanley did not elaborate much with his character. Theseus, played by David Strathairn, is a character that was easy to follow. I liked that David spoke Shakespeare’s words in with a modern accent so it was easy to keep up with the script. Although the words in the movie are identical to the sentences wrote by Shakespeare the modern accents make it seem like they are speaking the modern form of English. David also preserved Theseus’s personality as a kind, fair and generous duke. This is best shown at the wedding scene when Theseus tells Philostrate his choice of entertainment at the reception; when Philostrate objected to his choice of the Lovers’ Story Theseus kindly told him that the decision was not up to him and he shall do as he is told. Throughout the movie Theseus never got very angry with any of his advisors, servants and assistants. David played his character with the same traits that Shakespeare expressed. Calista Flockhart played her character, Helena, with qualities that helped me understand the plot better. Calista spoke with a slightly annoying voice that made her sound desperate and helped the viewer see why Demetrius did not return her affection. The director, Michael Hoffman, made a good choice of Calista because she is not tall so this adds to her desperate vibe. Calista plays Helena as a weaker person, Helena gets upset easily and is a bit clumsy. In contrast Hermia is shown as stronger and more independent. Helena’s line, “I am your spaniel. And, Demetrius, The more you beat me, I will fawn on you.” sums up her character very well. When Helena and Demetrius were riding through