The world of the film is Tuscany at the turn of the lastcentury. Necklines are high. Parents are rigid. Social convention dictates the fate of the young. Class distinction is a largepart of everyday life and to be an aristocrat still means something.

This is the setting for director Michael Hoffman's adaptation of Shakespeare's classic comedy A Midsummer Night's Dream. Together with Rupert Everett, Calista Flockhart, Kevin Kline, Michelle Pleiffer, and Stanley Tucci, Hoffman stirs up a raucous mixture of love triangles, mischievous fairies, revelry, love potions, spells, dreams, weddings, a play, and finally, three happy couples heading off to their marriage beds. As Puck so aptly puts it: "What fools these mortals be!"