Aguecheek (Richard E. Grant); and Olivia’s clown, Feste (Ben Kingsley), play a
trick on Olivia’s bad-tempered steward, Malvolio (Nigel Hawthorne).
This performance of Twelfth Night follows quite closely the actual play,
although it includes as its opening scene the scene of the shipwreck, which is
talked about in the actual play but never presented. Even though Twelfth Night
is a comedy, in this film humour is not one of the most important themes.
Instead it focuses more on themes like appearance and reality or the different
kinds of love. The appearance and reality theme is very well portrayed, as
Viola’s disguise for example, is very convincing; she certainly looks like a man!
Also, Viola and Sebastian are actually very similar, so it‘s certainly realistic
when the other characters in the film confuse one for the other. This is a plus as
the film would be much worse if Viola and Sebastian did not look alike. As
to the theme of love, this is also very well portrayed since all the characters
involved with love are very convincing when showing it (Orsino being in love
with the idea of being in love, or Viola’s sincere love for Orsino- ‘’Yet a barful
strife! Whoe’er I woo, myself would be his wife’’- Viola, Act1 Scene4)
Generally, the personalities of the characters in the performance are quite
similar to the ones you can find in Shakespeare’s play. However, there are
some exceptions. For example, Orsino, who is very impulsive, exaggerated and
presumably in love with Olivia, constantly shows that he likes Viola/Cesario,
although he believes that Viola is a man. There is even one scene where Viola
and Orsino nearly kiss!! So there is a kind of homosexual connotation in the
film, which probably makes it be better, as it leaves the audience constantly
thinking whether Orsino will end up with Olivia, or will end up having a gay
relationship with Cesario! Apart from this, the character of Olivia is made to be a
bit too childish and a bit too passionate, making Olivia look like a spoilt, rich girl
who has to get everything she wants. Something similar happens with the
characters of Sir Toby (who is supposed to be funny but seems more rude than
anything!) and Feste (who is also supposed to be funny but seems to be
depressed all the time!)
Trevor Nunn’s Twelfth Night has an excellent setting- the film is set in a
beautiful, green place, just like a fantasy world. Also the costumes are brilliant,
very varied and very Victorian-like, too. As to the special effects, the creation of
the shipwreck is awesome; an excellent way to start a film, as it is the basis of
the whole plot. The creation of atmosphere is okay, although I don’t think it
really creates a funny, joyous, lets-be-happy-because-this-is-Illyria atmosphere!
Instead, the atmosphere is more on the romantic side, and on the melancholic
side every time Malvolio is present. However, when Malvolio leaves, at the end
of the film, after having been ‘’ notoriously abused’’, the other characters have a
big, fancy, bright party! So, clearly Malvolio’s presence worsens the other
characters’ moods!
Finally, this performance is very effective in portraying key events in the plot,
such as Viola’s disguise, the trick played on Malvolio, the confusion between
Sebastian and Viola, and the different kinds of love that exist. However, at the
same time it tries to make the film more appealing by introducing modern
themes such as homosexuality.
Personally, I disliked Shakespeare’s play when I read it because I thought it
was ever so far from being funny! But, I must say that I enjoyed this film a lot
and would with no doubt recommend it to those of you who consider
Shakespeare’s play boring, because it certainly gives a more modern and
interesting perspective than the written play.
