Julie Taymor's A Midsummer Night's Dream

This is a filmed version of a live stage play by the brilliant Julie Taymor. Visually striking and well acted, it is most notable for Kathryn Hunter as Puck. It is an insanely good performance, intense, physically extraordinary, hard to describe. I've never seen her before and she is beyond amazing. There are a number of other good performers like David Harewood and Tina Benko, but you really can't compare anyone else with Hunter.

This is generally a very good version of Midsummer Night's Dream. The one part I was disappointed by was the final play-within-a-play. I have often found this a particularly hilarious proto-MST3000, but somehow this time it felt kind of listless and weirdly dark. I don't know what happened there, but it drags down the overall experience.

Still, well worth checking out.