Twelfth Night, or What You Will

Although the title of Twelfth Night refers to the Christmas season, it is not Shakespeare's version of Miracle on 34th Street, and setting it (as this production does) in a Victorian winter with Christmas trees makes nonsense of more than a few lines.

Except for Olivia, who has the expected beauty and charm, the casting is somewhere between non-traditional and peculiar. Toby is too scruffy for even a down-at-heels aristocrat. Feste at times seems genuinely demented and disconcertingly angry. Sebastian and Viola looked convincingly alike, but oddly Sebastian seemed prettier. Malvolio and Andrew were closer to standard casting than most, with Andrew looking like a toy soldier brought to life.

This is my favorite filmed version of Twelfth Night -On DVD at last! Branagh's production captures both the humor and the melancholy of the play, with excellent performances all around and a stand-out performance by the late, great, Richard Briers as Malvolio. Patrick Doyle (along with an assist from Paul McCartney) provides an atmospheric score to accompany the shifting moods, with several songs sung by Feste the Fool (Anton Lesser in one of his best performances). The Dickensian setting compliments the story well, while purists will rejoice that the text of the play is complete. The DVD also features an informative, behind-the-scenes interview with Kenneth Branagh talking about the stage production and the play itself. Buy a copy for yourself, and a few more as gifts for friends -This is a real treat!

I had to read Twelfth Night in college, so I rented this from the university library and watched it while reading along with the actual play on my lap. It is dead on accurate (no cuts) and the play is very funny indeed. This is my favorite Shakespeare play, and I still remember this production of it 10 years later. Kenneth Branagh made Shakespeare look fun, and I actually laughed out loud at some points. I didn't really like Shakespeare before reading/seeing this production. (Romeo and Juliet and Julius Caesar are the wrong plays to subject to high school kids.) Since watching Twelfth Night, I have a new appreciation for the Bard and his other works. Kenneth Branagh did an excellent job with this one.

I always did consider Branagh's Twelfth Night the best version of Shakespeare's play(my favourite actually as of now of his plays, mainly because it was one of my first ones along with Macbeth). Then just today I saw the 1980 BBC version, which ties with this version also. Trevor Nunn's film is also good, very well made with a great cast, and the 1987 Australia version is good if very hard to find. In terms of production values, I may just prefer the 1980 version and the autumnal feel of Nunn's film, but the melancholic atmosphere added a whole new dimension to the play that in my opinion Nunn's lacked. Branagh's version also captures the sexual and social themes of Twelfth Night better than the Nunn film(not bringing that film down, just explaining why I prefer Branagh's account). Despite the realistic-looking production values and melancholic atmosphere, the comedy and wit of the play is still there with little if anything left wanting, and while harsh at first the music does calm down and fits well overall. The cast are wonderful, with the standouts being Anton Lesser's scene-stealing Feste and Richard Briers' indignant and not too self-pitying Malvolio, the butt of the clownery. James Saxon and James Simmons are very amusing also as Sirs Toby and Andrew, and Abigail McKern's Maria is very good also. Christopher Hollis is a dashing Sebastian, as Viola Frances Barber, apart from in the Inspector Morse episode she starred in, has rarely looked more radiant and Caroline Langrische is innocent, moving and intellectual as Olivia. Christopher Ravenscroft impresses as Orsino, not resorting too much to buffoonery and I agree he does make us believe he knows that Cesario is female and brings a lot of dimension to that scene. There are a couple of anachronistic things, like with the Christmas Tree, but I for me really enjoyed that particular scene and am willing to overlook any discrepancies. A wonderful Twelfth Night indeed. 10/10 Bethany Cox

How nice are you people? This was an awful version of the play. There was absolutely no connection between any of the in love pairs, i.e. Olivia and Viola. Olivia had no underlining character whatsoever, she just acted snooty the whole time. It would have been OK if she would have shown any other emotions, but no. The Sebastian-Antonio pair was weak, especially with Antonio. Sevastian and Viola didn't even look alike. Gosh, the Christmas tree had electric lights on it! The music, the characters, and the whole feelings of the play were drab and dull, and even though Maria was exceptionally good, her performance didn't help enough to save this drowning play. Two thumbs down, sorry!