Oft-disparaged indie producers Kit Carson and Cynthia Hargrave have bucked their reputations and created a gem of a film here--certainly their finest since 1996's "Bottle Rocket" [also shot in Texas]. An invitation-only preview in Dallas revealed a modern, 20-something, MTV approach to the bard that's refreshingly hip--and intellectual--in today's market of mindnumbingly histrionic Shakespeare pictures. The remarkably foxy Domenica Scorsese makes a thoroughly nuanced and downright sultry Hermia [Scorsese can convey more with her suggestive gaze than, say, Calista Flockhart can do with two hours of melodramatic speechifying], and the writers' choice to centre the film around her and Lysander--as opposed to Bottom, for example--is inspired. Too-good-looking-to-be-true soap opera star Travis Schuldt rounds out the cast as a sadistic Demetrius. Some of the more esoteric references to mysticism and Tarot may be lost on the casual viewer, but it is hard not to appreciate a Shakespeare film with a soundtrack that's got a great combination of techno/ and retro/alterna bands like this. Best moment: The interpretation of "love in idleness" as a designer drug! My only complaint--it needs to be longer. Looking forward to the release of the full feature.
