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Twelfth Night [1996]


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Editorial
Special Features

English
Region 2

Editorial
Synopsis

Trevor Nunn's version of William Shakespeare's classic comedy revolves around Viola, a young woman who disguises herself as a man to work as a page in the court of Count Orsino. Orsino is hopelessly in love with a woman named Olivia, and soon Viola finds herself hopelessly in love with Orsino. But Orsino thinks she's a man, and her predicament worsens when she realizes that Olivia has fallen in love with her. Nunn's film sets the play in the 19th Century and brings out both the ebullient and the melancholy aspects of Shakespeare's story.

unforgettable
Review date: 2008-08-03 Rating: 10 out of 10

this is one of my most favourite movies. there are some splendid reviews here already, so i will keep it short.
this is shakespearian comedy with dark undertones. this tale is about the nature of love. wonderful yet terrible love... etc. not everyone wins at the end. The actors are all wonderfully cast, and the landscape and locations are brilliant to. there is also a wonderful balance between the romance, the pangs of unrequitted love, laughs, music, chaos, revenge, etc. and it is all perfect. Ben Kingsley's Feste i think stands out most. and when Viola speaks of love (hers being impossible), i again feel the pain i had when i had my own heart broken.
this tale is not all romantic. For instance: Maria maries Sir Toby knowing his bad habits full well, and realising he'll never 'mend'. Orsino marries Viola in the end, but if we have marked his words, it is by no means certain that his love is never-ending. Shakespeare is giving us what we want, (boy gets girl) all the while warning us about the true nature and many faces of love.

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Reviews


Twelfth Night
Review date: 2008-06-14 Rating: 10 out of 10

By the way I am not Mr Marc I am his stepdaughter my account does not work at the moment. I must admit that when I first saw this film, it was at school in English. We had a choice MacBeth or twelfth Night 1996. We chose Twelfth Night having already looked at MacBeth in yr7 and found it INCREDIBLY BORING! Twelfth Night however like William Shakespere's "The Tempest" took me by surprise. The film is related to shakespere's life in many ways. One is that Shakespere at his time suffered puritins wanting to shut down theatres all over. The character Malvoilio the servant who is made a fool of is meant to be a puritin. It mocks the puritins but in a comic way. Another is Shakespere had twins and most of his stories protagonists are twins including Twelfth Night. The film portrays one of the two themes shakespere wrote about Tragedy. Seperated by a shipwreck both identical twins have no idea that the other is alive. The stories main protagonist is Viola a young woman on a voyage with her brother. The twins make money and entertain by putting on shows aboard the ship. But when Viola "by chance" is saved by the ships captain and is landed on the island of Illyria, which is now Croatia and whos Duke is her fathers enemey, Viola is lost at what to do. She decides to hide her personality and change her characteristics and emotions to those of a castrated man. She goes to serve the Duke orsino having no idea the mess and lies she would become entangled in. The Duke begins to favour Cessario (Viola) because of her musical abilities. She gets to learn more about the Duke and discovers that he is fancies Olvia although he does not really know her. Olivia recently losing her brother has no mind to marry Orsino, so he sends Cessario to attend her. Olivia then falls in love with the outside looks of Cessario. Meanwhile Orsino begins to fall in love with Cessario's personality.
Sebastian, Viola's twin brother believed lost, has survived with the help of another sea captain called Antonio who was a travelling guest. He is on Illyria and by chance walks in on Olivia who thinks he is cessario (identical twins). She asks him to marry her and he agrees. But when Orsino visits Olivia himself Sebastain is no where to be found and Cessario (Viola) faces a confrontation with Orsino because Olivia believing she is married to him confronts him in front of Orsino. He thinks Cessario has betrayed him and having finally accepted that he loves Cessario turns him away in disgust. Viola has herself fallen in love with Orsino and can't bear the fact that he has turned her away. Will Sebastian arrive back in time to clear up the disagreement or will shakespere's exquisite play end in the tragedy it began with.
Other characters include Sir Toby Belch (Olivia's Uncle), Andrew Aguecheek (also related to Olivia), Maria ( Olivia's first maid and best friend), Malvolio (Olivia's servant and fool), Antonio (Sebstian's rescuer and temporary lover).

Most Wonderful
Review date: 2008-04-16 Rating: 10 out of 10

There are many adaptations of the Bard's work out there which fail to do it justice. Happily, this is not one of them. Nunn's casting for this magical piece of cinema is excellent, with Kingsley's mysterious but comical Feste complimenting perfectly the hateful Malvolio (Nigel Hawthorne), corpulant Sir Toby and foppish Sir Andrew Agucheek, ably portrayed by Richard E. Grant.

Sterling though the actors are, it is the female characters which bring this adaptation to life; Bonham-Carter is, as always, perfect as the whimsical and lovely Olivia, and if we can suspend out disbelief that a woman of Stubbs' frame and appearance could possibly be taken for a chap, her Viola builds a tension with Orsino which is compelling for the viewer.

However, the unsung heroine of this drama is undoubtedly Imelda Staunton, who plays the clever and cunning Maria; Staunton's portrayal of the character demonstrates her conflicting emotions revolving around the drunken, yet charismatic Sir Toby, with a sadness at times that brings a tear to the eye.

Nunn's casting is superb, and the locations and costumes are visually beautiful, making this classic tale of love and loss, even for those who are not wildly keen on Shakespeare 'most wonderful' indeed.


Does it justice.
Review date: 2007-07-26 Rating: 10 out of 10

Having loved the play studying it for A Level, I wasn't sure if this version would enhance my fondness for it or tear it to shreds... Thankfully, it was superb: the acting was excellent all round, the period setting worked well - in being vaguely ambiguous - and the suspense and surprise were still there (even after copious watching!). Nigel Hawthorne, Mel Smith (the comedy aspects were excellent and Helena Bonham-Carter were particularly good.
However, I really wanted to mention Feste: always my favourite character (at the centre of my A Level work), I thought Kingsley was the perfect choice for the part, and captured it brilliantly: the songs in particular were even adaptations of the originals, and were performed just as they should have been. Feste's the bittersweet part of Twelfth Night (itself a very bittersweet play, when you look at it), and that did come through.

The ending is the best bit - you just want to follow Feste into the distance as everyone else has their happy (or at least resolved) ending...

simply magical
Review date: 2007-07-11 Rating: 10 out of 10

--spoilers----

Never before have I been *so* excited by a Shakespeare play although I love his plays. I always used to think, from the productions I'd seen of Twelfth Night, that Orsino's decision to marry the newly revealed Viola was just a bit too passionless and convenient - as though Viola would "do" since Olivia was no longer available. It just goes to show that none of those other productions had managed to project what Trevor Nunn and the splendid line up of actors give us in this masterly version. The actors for Viola and Sebastian are so well matched that they really do look related if not identical in features and Viola makes a very convincing young man. I've never liked Helena Bonham Carter more than in this movie - she's just perfect as Olivia. The same for Richard E.Grant, and all the others, except I wondered if Malvolio isn't just a little less irritating than he should be so we are more sorry for him than we should be at the end. As for Toby Stephens as Orsino, well I was transfixed. The Duke was always my favourite character in this story and Stephens has him absolutely perfect with all the dark undertones and his melancholy frustrations along with Viola's powering this aspect of the story.

This movie should be shown to all schools along with Branagh's Much Ado which is almost as good, and surely then pupils would be demanding Shakespeare instead of apparently being put off it by teachers not wanting to teach it or whatever reason it is they have these days for avoiding it.

Product Details/Specifications


Actor(s):
Ben Kingsley
Steven Mackintosh
Sydney Livingstone
Nicholas Farrell
Imogen Stubbs

Creators:
Imogen Stubbs (Primary Contributor)
Steven Mackintosh (Primary Contributor)

Director(s):

Recording label: Entertainment in Video
Manufacturer: Entertainment in Video
EAN: 5017239191213
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: PAL,
Release date: 2001-10-29
Number of discs: 1
Audience rating: Universal, suitable for all
Region code: 2
Running time: 128 minutes
Theatrical release date: 1996-10-25
Language: English (Original Language)

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