Twelfth Night (1996)

Must See Movie...

Watch something else. There are very few redeeming qualities to this film.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

After having watched a movie about twins I sit down and write a rant about another movie, based on a Shakespearian play, which is about twins. However, while the confusion and the comic element of mistaking identical twins does arise at the end, the fact that the main character is one of a twin only becomes relevant at the end. The comic element of the main plot (as opposed to the plot involving Malvolio) regards a woman disguising herself as a man and becoming the servant of Duke Orsino, and when she becomes his confidant, she falls in love with him, but cannot respond without giving away who she really is.The play that I read in university was As You Like It, and this play is sort of a mix between As You Like It and Comedy of Errors. The heroine, Viola, is shipwrecked on the coast of Illyria and decides to disguise herself as a man for her own protection (nothing to do with transgender desires as some want to put it). While in service to the Duke, he gets Viola to attempt to court Olivia however Olivia (who also believes that Viola is a man) falls in love with him. This gets even more twisted when Sebastian, Viola's twin brother, arrives and Olivia, believing him to be Viola, marries him.This particular version of the play is well done, though there are a lot of additions, and the scenes are changed about to make it flow better on the screen. I should not suggest that the creators decided to add to Shakespeare as the only additional dialogue is at the beginning where the scene is set. However scenes are moved and merged to make the play more adaptable to the big screen, The main tension is between Orsino, who is in love with Olivia, and Viola, and then there is Olivia who is in love with Viola, who does not realise (as does Orsina) that Viola is a woman. It appears that the clown does, but if he does, he is not letting on. The play climaxes with Sebastian and Viola reuniting, and Malvolio being released.One should mention the Malvolio subplot though. While all of the romantic action is going on, Sir Toby Belch (Olivia's uncle), Sir Andrew (a suitor), the clown and some servants, become rather irritated at Malvolio's seriousness, so they decided to trick him into believing that Olivia is in love with him. When he makes a fool of himself in front of Olivia, he is cast into a dungeon, pleading his innocence and his sanity, while the conspirators laugh at his misfortune. I felt sorry of Malvolio because he didn't do anything wrong, and not only was he tricked, but it appears that the tricksters get away with it.Finally, I wish to note that while Shakespeare deals a lot with romantic love, I wondered whether there were ever incidents of characters marrying below their status. It happens here since Sebastian and Viola are both orphans, and they end up marrying the duke and the lady.

Viola and her twin brother Sebastian are divided and both believe the other to be dead. On unfriendly land, she has to become a servant to Orsini, whom she falls for. To work for him, she has to dress up like a boy(thus commenting on the differences between the genders, and how we relate to the same or the opposite sex). And he wants to be with Olivia, who can't imagine being with her(who she thinks is male), when he sends her to court her. Confused? Then I won't go into the subplots. There is enough unrequited love to go around, and that situation is described well. This is kept in Shakespeare's language(with all it's delicious constructions, several of which have become common sayings today), and whilst I have not read the original play and thus cannot say with absolute certainty, it would appear that the story is intact as far as the roughly two hour running time would allow. Nothing set up is denied pay-off. The jokes and gags are obviously aged, as humor has gone through immense changes over time. However, drunkenness and mix-ups are the basis of a lot of them, and those remain sources of laughter today. The prank played on Malvolio seems harsh and uncalled for today, or at least, by some standards. Fine, by those of mine and my girlfriend, then. The characters are memorable and distinct, in spite of there being about a dozen. Dialog is amazing. The acting is great, and a lot of the funniest moments come from this aspect(Imogen Stubbs in particular). Pacing is reasonable. The editing is well-done, interweaving parallel scenes with one another to strong effect. Whether this is true to the source material, I could not say. This is slightly visual, if the filming is never above average(and at times clumsy). I find the best adaptations of this sort are the ones most based on the verbal content, and that does tend to be the approach here. I recommend this to fans of the excellent writer's comedies. 7/10

I have been reading and loving Shakespeare since year 6 of primary school. At first I didn't understand the language, but the many discussions we had about it while reading aloud improved my understanding and didn't waver my interest. Twelfth Night mayn't have the most plausible story of all the Shakespeare plays, but it is still a lot of fun.This Twelfth Night is more than worthy. It is not thr best Shakespeare film, not like Othello, Henry V, Much Ado About Nothing and Hamlet, but it does boast a strong cast and impeccable production values.If I had any criticisms against this Twelfth Night, they would be that as well shot and as interesting as the beginning scene was, part of me found it unnecessary compared to the rest of the film and it didn't add much to the storytelling, and also it did feel a little sugar-coated towards the end.Criticisms aside, this is a very beautiful-looking Twelfth Night, with the luscious photography, autumnal imagery and scenery and colourful, sumptuous costumes. The music is full of memorable tunes that also do well to enhance each scene.Trevor Nunn's direction is excellent, the dialogue is intelligently woven and delivered, the story while condensed still maintains the play's fun and spirit, all the relationships are intact and done convincingly and the pace is smart and snappy.The acting is just great. Toby Stephens deserves credit for breathing life to Orsino, when he could easily have been bland and Imogen Stubbs is radiant. In the more comic roles, Malvolio, Sir Andrew and especially Sir Toby are hoots, and Imelda Staunton is a memorable Maria. My favourites here are Helena Bonham Carter and Ben Kingsley as Olivia and Feste, Carter is note perfect and Kingsley gives perhaps his best ever support turn.All in all, a lot of fun and very worthy. 8/10 Bethany Cox

As frequently happens with "Twelfth Night," the director and screen writers extensively revamped Shakespeare's script. The concept, of a nineteenth century wartime background, is not inconsistent with the play, but costuming, lighting and cinematography combined to make many scenes excessively dark, almost soupy. The comedians, Sir Toby Belch and Sir Andrew Aguecheek, were decidedly unamusing throughout most of their scenes. Ben Kingsley is unexpected as Feste, the jester, but provided a quality performance although not a sprightly one. Bright spots came from the interaction of "Cesario" and Orsino, and a bright performance by Helena Bonham Carter as Olivia, who played mournful sister, besotted lover and imperious noblewoman with equal brilliance. Her reaction shots when the existence of the twins comes out in (the play's) Act V Scene 2 raised the production single-handedly from a mediocrity to an reasonably good show. In all, this is the best ""Twelfth Night" currently available. The problems are all in the production end, while the performances are, if not always great, certainly up to what should be expected of a fine - if sometimes inappropriate - cast.