Twelfth Night
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Movie Reviews of Twelfth Night
Movie Review: Beautiful to watch; a Shakespearean treat
Summary: 4 Stars
This is in many ways a terrific film adaptation of Shakespear's "Twelfth Night". The casting is superb - Helena Bonham-Carter is exquisite as Olivia, Imelda Staunton is nothing less than superb as Viola-playing-Cesario, and the Duke is played as a suitably self-dramatising and lachrymose young man with excellent qualities underneath all of that. The fool is interestingly played by Ben Kingsley - I must say, I'd expected more the traditional sort of Fool, but Mr Kingsley plays it almost straight. Such is his brilliant talent that he gets away with it.
The other parts - Viola's twin Sebastian, the grave and conceited Malvolio (a lovely performance by Nigel Hawthorne), a not-very-bright Sir Andrew Aguecheek and a riotous Sir Toby - are extremely well played. Everyone looks wonderful - the settings are magnificent - the costumes work very well.
There are two reasons why I do not give this DVD 5 stars. Firstly, I thought the midnight revels as instigated by Sir Toby were a little over the top, what with smashing glasses and bawling out songs at top voice in the middle of the night. And secondly, there was a tad too much chopping of lines. This was particularly noticeable in what was originally the scene where Aguecheek and Sebastian engage to Aguecheek's detriment. It just seemed too bitsy...
... but there's no denying this is fun to watch, and that the performances are excellent. I recommend it in spite of the few drawbacks.
Movie Review: Pretty creative adaptation...
Summary: 4 Stars
I do not usually comment on Shakespearean plays, yet because this adaptation of William Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night" is set in the Victorian period, I thought I would comment.
1.
This adaptation contains good acting and more elaborate sets than any other adaptation of "Twelfth Night" I have ever seen. The picture quality is also good (considering this adaptation was produced for a wide-range of viewers rather than merely aficionados of William Shakespeare's plays).
2.
The adaptation is pretty loyal to the original play. Of course, there are some deviations such as when Malvolio rides a bicycle in pursuit of Cesario (which is entirely against Malvolio's personality, even when set in the Victorian period), not to mention that it is still a little early for the type of bicycle Malvolio rode.
3.
I thought the 'romantic' scenes were effective. Unlike some adaptations, this Cesario actually looks like she could be male (rather than a female actor dressed up). Of course, when Shakespeare plays were originally produced, male actors played the female parts.
Final thoughts:
I think this adaptation is worth watching. I enjoyed watching it. I especially thought Ben Kingley as Feste played his part well. (PS: Feste is given a larger role in this film adaptation than he would have been in an actual rendition of William Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night."
Movie Review: Ooh, so hot but you're breakin' my heart!
Summary: 4 Stars
"Twelfth Night" may be one of Shakespeare's lesser known plays but this production really hit it with my entire family - even my two sons, ages 15 and 11, loved it! The trailer/teaser for the movie played up the gender-bender aspects of the plot but don't be misled - there's nothing gay about this movie. "Twelfth Night" is all about mistaken identity, wistful and fruitless love, and runaway egos. All's well that ends well, and all does. Ben Kingsley as Feste is my favorite character, and his song at the movie's close really wraps things up well. He, Helena Bonham-Carter, and Nigel Hawthorne are the best known members of what proved to be a very good cast. So, why not 5 stars??? I am profoundly deaf. The first time I saw this movie, it was on VHS with poor-to-average closed captioning. I so looked forward to seeing it on DVD. The DVD version that I purchased is NOT CLOSED CAPTIONED! What's with that! Just copy the text from Shakespeare's play and add it to the DVD! I simply cannot believe that this is happening in the 21st Century. I now HATE this product and feel quite slighted by the people responsible for making it available to the public.Movie Review: Twelfth Smile
Summary: 4 Stars
This film is loaded with humorous confusion, mistaken identity, confused gender and well meaning people with all the right weaknesses to make most of us feel right at home. Out of a tragic ending a bright and amazing beginning is born, where, through love and desire, those who deserve everything good are rewarded and those who deserve it are brought low, and all endure hard learned lessons on life and love, so by the film's conclusion we can see that we're not so different after all...and neither are our hopes and dreams....and in a very special way, we come to believe that the best of times can be born out of the worst of times.... In a word "Wonderful" :)Movie Review: Shakespeare, Twelfth Night.
Summary: 4 Stars
For Shakesperean comedy, It gives me access to the visual product for my own library. I much prefer the production that was produced at the Vivina Beaumont Theatre sometime in the late '90s. I recorded it on VHS from TV, but set the wrong speed. The last quarter of the production is missing. I notice that Charlie Rose's interview with the cast is on DVD, but where does the actual production lay? (I'd buy the Vivian Beaumont Production in a minute if your could find me a copy.?