Who says the old Shakespeare days can't be funny? In the late 19th century a shipwreck separates Viola (Imogen Stubbs) from her twin brother, Sebastian (Steven Mackintosh) Viola disguises herself as a boy and goes to work for Duke Orsino (Toby Stephens), whom she loves The object of the duke's heart, Olivia (Helena Bonham Carter), does not reciprocate his feelings -- however, she falls madly for Viola, whose true gender she doesn't know Meanwhile, Olivia's uncle, Sir Toby (Mel Smith), manipulates all of their entangled relationships Ben Kingsley plays Feste, the fool in Olivia's castle Hijinks ensue and wacky romantic misunderstandings take hold This plays as a romantic comedy involving gender confusion with a woman looking like a man having a woman fall in love for the supposed-man Trevor Nunn makes a few off decisions regarding the play but the actors rise above most of the material given It's a practice of meditation on desire, disguise and inherent bisexuality Lots of discussing how things play out that's for certain but Shakespeare lovers are in for a treat

Twelfth Night is passable. While some of the performances are a bit silly, nothing about the film is terrible. Rather the problem is that the parts are not played with much harmony. However, Helena Bonham Carter's acting, as always, is delectable.

The movie did much to address some of the things about the play that left me reluctant, by adding a denouement and emotional beats I felt the play was lacking at the end. The end of the movie is wonderfully emotional and appealing. As for the performances, they were all wonderful. Ben Kingsley as Feste played the character in a different way than I expected, with a lot of unresolved pathos despite his foolish ways. His foolish ways are toned down significantly from the play; here he seems more like a father figure to Olivia (played by the fabulous Helena Bonham Carter) than her jester. I especially like Feste at the end of the movie, as his own moving forward paralleled the denouement of many other characters, complete with a lively version of the fool's ending song from the play. The movie emphasized the homoerotic undertones of the play with a few key expressions by Antonio and the dramatization of a growing attraction between Viola (a game Imogen Stubbs) and Orsino (Toby Stephens) even while he believes her to be a man. Nigel Hawthorne as Malvolio is excellent, and there is perhaps a little more sympathy for him by the end of the movie than in the play. One of the things that disturbed me about the play were the tricks being played on him. The same left me still disturbed in the adaptation. Does he truly deserve what everyone puts him through? The poor fool. The final thing I appreciate about the movie is how it helped me to better understand the play and suggested my concerns about the play may be somewhat universal. That does not detract from Shakespeare's genius, though. In fact, I feel what left me fretting about the play was trying to understand the genius of his decisions in writing it. It is a complex work, and well worth the effort to read it, and then gain an even greater appreciation for it through performances like this adaptation.

The butchering and splicing of the original play did little for me but annoy me. Cutting out material and changing words to pander to modern audiences is just speeding along the dumbing down of culture. Also, there are just some weird characterizations and relationships in this version.

http://www.bluestockingbookshelf.com/film/2014/7/29/twelfth-night-1996

I thought I was going to adore this movie when I first saw it. After all, it had a lot of things going for it. TWELFTH NIGHT is one of my favorite Shakespeare comedies, and I'm a sucker for anything with Helena Bonham Carter, Ben Kingsley and Imelda Staunton all at once. However, the biggest problem I have with the movie is all ABOUT the casting. Helena Bonham Carter, while she tried her best, simply should not have been assigned the part of Olivia. If anything, her deep voice and brash persona would have been perfectly suited for VIOLA. Imogen Stubbs, who again tried her best with the role she received, oddly enough had the exact opposite problem as Carter. Stubbs, with her more feminine voice and timid persona, would have been better suited as OLIVIA as opposed to Viola. But by far the worst casting decision was Ben Kingsley as Feste. Good god. Feste, for those of you who are unfamiliar with TWELFTH NIGHT, is a JESTER. He serves as one of Shakespeare's many token humorous side characters--Feste constantly cracks jokes, dances, sings, and in general provides merriment. However, in this version, Feste is a permanently scowling man wearing drab clothing, constantly mumbling and humming his words. I have no idea what the director was thinking when he thought that Ben Kingsley would have been the perfect Feste. He was anything but! Every time he was onscreen, I wanted to scream--he was killing the mood and comedy of the play for no reason whatsoever. I don't know if the director told Kingsley to play the part the way he did, or if Kingsley decided to not give a shit while filming, but it doesn't matter. It was still a lackluster performance accompanying a spirited character. Another issue I had with this film was the makeup. I simply thought that Imogen Stubbs, when she was dressed as Cesario, looked horrendous. Unlike films such as MRS DOUBTFIRE or THE ELEPHANT MAN, TWELFTH NIGHT's makeup budget looked pitiful. Stubbs looked ratty and creepy as Cesario, very similar to Cary Elwes in THE PRINCESS BRIDE. My final complaint about this film is how all the actors whisper a majority of their lines. This seems to be a trend in films based on the Bard's plays, and it is incredibly annoying. On stage, the actors rarely whisper when performing in a Shakespeare play because of the audience's need to hear what they are saying. However, directors of Shakespeare's play-based movies enjoy overcompensating by commanding their actors to whisper their lines for little to no reason. If it's ROMEO AND JULIET, where the titular characters often are forced to whisper because they are hiding, it is understandable. However, in TWELFTH NIGHT, there are no such excuses for whispering and hissing the lines. I suppose if I had to sum up this train wreck of a movie in one word, it would be disappointment. I badly wanted to like this movie, and it did have so much going for it, but with the miscast and faulty acting, ugly makeup and just all around hideous acting direction, I simply can't. I'm eating this 1.5 stars mostly out of sheer pity.

A MUCH better film than "She's the Man". Unlike "Man", "Night" doesn't try too hard to be different or entertaining.

Hilarious play, executed fantastically in the sets and actors.

Fantastic adaptation, as unlikely yet satisfying a Feste Kingsley becomes. The definitive What You Will.

This film adaptation of the lovable Shakespearean play differentiates from its source material is certain spots for the right reasons, changes the order of the scenes to find the right balance, and still captures the giddy charm and lovable emotion to certainly please its own way.

sometimes it was funny

Okay passable Shakespeare like the type that you are usually forced to endure in a high school class but don't remember well beyond the exam on the subject.

Directed by Trevor Nunn, maybe the most prolific theatre director working today, this adaptation of William Shakespeare's 1602 play was brought to date somewhere in England in the late 19th Century, with an all star cast to boot. It's a good adaptation, but it's a tad overlong, but it has it's funny moments and it's full of comedic misunderstandings and farce throughout. Twins Viola (Imogen Stubbs) and Sebastian (Steven Mackintosh) are on a ship which ends up shipwrecked and Viola and Sebastian end up separated, Viola believes her brother is dead and she dresses up as him in order to pass off as a page boy called "Cesario" to join the court of the local Duke Orsino (Toby Stephens). Orsino is in love with Lady Olivia (Helena Bonham Carter), but Orsino is shy, so he sends "Cesario" to do his wooing, but it backfires when Olivia falls for "Cesario", unaware that she's a woman!! But, it's even further complicated when Orsino's household staff Maria (Imelda Staunton), Feste (Ben Kingsley) and Sir Toby Belch (Mel Smith) trick steward Malvolio (Nigel Hawthorne) into thinking Olivia loves him, and then Sir Toby's friend Sir Andrew Aguecheek (Richard E. Grant) also falls for Olivia. It's a complex comedy of misunderstandings, but you won't get a big, talented cast like this again. But, it takes advantage of some beautiful locations in Cornwall, which comes out very well on film. The films length is an issue, as it was a long play, and to try and condense it into a film was always going to be tricky, but they succeeded. Just.

we are performing this play at school so we watched this film. i love the play but i found the film quite boring. however i think Helena Bonham Carter as Olivia was really good and so was Richard E. Grant as Sir Andrew Aguecheek.

Beautifully designed with a wonderful cast who each handle their parts with deftness, but the whole is less than the sum of its parts. Despite Trevor Nunn being a Shakespeare director of some repute this is curiously dispassionate. They don't hack too much of Shakespeare's script out, and where they do swap things around, it is usually for the reason of clarit.

This is a great movie for people who know too well what love women to men may owe.

It moved me to tears of hilarity! Haha.. Anyway, a perfect cast. Though the play is considerably cut in this version, it still was a great adaptation.

i haven't read the context. but as a movie, it's a well-directed one

read the play then watched this for school pretty good actually good cast so much hp people though the music was soo cheesy though i like it when viola is cesario more better that way helena looks pretty here lol the soldiers of illyria look so hilarious there helmets especially some of the time i dint understand there language and some parts were boring

I loved this movie as a kid, but since I remembered it being funnier was disappointed this time around. Still, it's entertaining if you realize it has more drama than you'd think for a quirky storyline. Also, Toby Stephens. Love him.