A Midsummer Night's Dream by English poet and dramatist William Shakespeare is a comedy combining love, fairies, magic and dreams. Today, William Shakespeare's literary works are just as contemporary as when they were being written. In the modern day film version of 'A Midsummer Night's Dream', director Michael Hoffman successfully combines the different elements of drama so as to awaken the audiences imagination to the themes of enchantment and illusion. This is achieved by emphasising place, characterisation, mood, tension of relationships and dramatic meaning. In retrospect, 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' is an opulent, magical and enchanting movie that seeks to explore the realms of illusion.
             Set in Tuscany at the end of the 19th century, the film successfully explores the themes of enchantment and illusion by the choice of setting and place. Unlike the text, the film version takes place in Tuscany, Italy in the Victorian Age. Perhaps Hoffman chose Italy instead of Greece due to the universal romantic feeling that it creates. Unlike today, Greece was the centre of classical history, therefore popular within the people of his day. The invention by Hoffman of the town, Monte Athena, located in Tuscany draws parallels between the text and film versions. 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' is the most romantic and intricate of Shakespeares works and therefore a beautiful setting such as Tuscany was needed to fulfil the plays themes of enchantment and illusion.
             A talented cast including popular romantic leads Rupert Everrett and Michelle Pheiffer attempt to bring this beautiful 'dream' to life. 'A Midsummer Night's Dream encompasses three worlds: the romanti
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