Twelfth Night, or What You Will (1988)

Twelfth Night is one of Shakespeare's most accessible and enjoyable comedies for modern audiences. The most popular film production of the play is the 1996 Trevor Nunn version, which is awash is summery color and broad humor.This modest 1988 film could not be more different from the Nunn film. Instead of emphasizing the comedy, the underlying melancholy stemming from the play's theme about the pain which comes from love dominates the entire story. Instead of vivid colors, we get a wintry setting and costumes dominated by blues, grays, and blacks. It gives the movie an almost desolate feel with little slapstick at all.It's an interesting approach to the material and the characters pull it off well. Even though this is merely a filmed stage production, it is engaging enough and the unique focus of the production makes it worth a single view.

Personally, I like this Branagh-directed version very much (well, this movie was directed for TV by Paul Kafno, but it's based on a Branagh staging, and this is what the actors are performing). Granted, it cannot compete with the 1996 Trevor Nunn film, which is excellently colorful and comedic, and had a much bigger production budget.The Branagh production is set in a TV studio in which has been built the ruins of a formerly rich but now dilapidated estate (Olivia's), and almost all the action takes place there, except for the scenes at Orsino's estate, which are covered in an atmospheric blue sheen that I found very effective at conveying the melancholy of the play (and Orsino's character in particular).It's true that this production isn't very funny (although I was quite amused by the bit with the Christmas tree). I think this is deliberate. Branagh does not treat this as a comedy, but prefers to delve into the melancholy depth of the text. Thus, he does not provide a folk comedy, but a study in literary profundity. This is to the benefit of those, like myself, who like a philosophically heavy Shakespeare. Note that this version is 2 hours and 35 minutes long, and actually includes all the original text (although I thought Orsino's scenes were rather few and far between), which is always a big plus in my book.I think all the actors of this production are excellent (and with great enunciation!), but it's true they lack the charisma of better-known faces like those of the Trevor Nunn movie. However, the one element that I find superior in the Branagh version compared to the Nunn version is Malvolio. Now, personally, I think, sacrilegiously, that Malvolio is generally the most boring thing about Twelfth Night. He's sort of like an artificially included comedy element which isn't that funny. I like the rest of the action much better. In Trevor Nunn's excellent movie, Malvolio is the one thing that, to my mind, does not work. Hawthorne acts the part too dramatically, and with too much self-pity. True, Malvolio does exhibit extreme self-pity in the original text, but I think this is supposed to be played for laughs and not to make audiences feel sorry for him (which, based on Hawthorne's histrionics, we never really did anyway). So I thought Richard Brier's Malvolio in the Branagh version was significantly better; still a sad and pathetic character, but in a way that gels with the rest of the mood of the play. He was more downbeat, and never distracted us from the rest of the action. So, overall, I enjoyed this production a lot, and will recommend it to those who prefer both a pensive and a complete text as basis for performance.8 out of 10.

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.

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!