i will come right out and say it not everything shakespeare ever write be a gem that need to be enshrine forever . what more and most movie of shakespeare play be even bad while theyre either faux stagey and a if the actor wish you to keep in mind that this be shakespeare and for god sake and or they go the other way and become overly artsy . i only own a few on them on disc ( ken branagh much ado and henry v and where the tongue twist dialogue flow so effortlessly it appear to be ad libbed ) and a most of the version i have encounter be artless train wreck while even orson welles othello be to my mind wince worthy . i try this version out solely because diana rigg be in it . grant and so be the rest of the royal shakespeare company circa 1968 and an impressive list ( ian holm and david warner and helen mirren and judi densch and etc . ) while and this be a difficult play to do well because it plot be so hoary and and the play within the play so tedious and that these actor can hardly be hold accountable for the bard sin . not that they do not make enough of their own and however . central to the film weakness be that it can not figure out it own identity . there be a stab at period costume here and there and but then rigg show up in suede go go boots ( not to mention queen hippolyta in a leather dress and thigh boot ) . the story be set in athens and but the landscape ( at least they do not use a soundstage ) be tudor england and a be whatever costume attempt to be period ( the period of shakespeare and not athens ) . the film take place almost wholly outside and which be a relief and but unlike and say and branagh much ado and which take advantage of some gorgeous tuscan landscape and most of the time here we be treat to some non descript copse of tree . add to that budgetary problem puck and oberon and and gang appear a green tint hippy and with their face not even match the hue of their body and you have a production that be easy to laugh at than with . most of the actor give it their all and but most of them appear miscast . rigg be far too old and worldly for the dopey helena and and derek godfrey theseus seem more like a baron in some russian novel ( though admittedly i keep get distract by his helmet head bouffant ) . you will see a lot more of judi densch than you ever want to and a her costume amount to green paint and teeny pasty . i do like warner lysander and who appear the most natural of the four young lover and and ian holm puck and but it impossible not to enjoy a holm performance . i tend to think shakespeare movie tell you more about the period when they be make rather than when they be set ( much like the play themselves ) and and this one be no different . part old school and part hippie romp and the film unintentionally reflect the chaos of the late sixty and of a cultural shift and or want to take something classic and make it new but unfortunately have no idea how . the end result be a lurching effect and it low budget and low tech seem impossibly crude to viewer use to spectacle such a lord of the ring ( even xena make up job would make these look silly ) . it interest a a novelty piece to look at where shakespeare presentation be and and where they be aim to be and four decade ago while certainly we have a different emphasis now and a actor forty year from now will no doubt reinterpret the bard in their own fashion ( android iago . ) . for all but a die hard fan of any of the regular or of shakespeare work and though and this film be a pas . it do and however and help shed light on why a talented actress who be part of the royal shakespeare company for many year be chiefly remember for judo kick and leather catsuits .