Twelfth Night or What you will

The film Twelfth Night or What you Will is a 1996 British comedic production directed by

Trevor Nunn with an excellent cast of actors. This movie is an adaptation of the Shakespearean

play Twelfth Night written around 1600. This essay will examine the plotline of this movie, the

performance of the actors, the effectiveness of the actors in their given roles and the technical

elements such as lighting, sound and how these work to strengthen the overall portrayal of the

film.

The director Trevor Nunn was more than accomplished to direct Twelfth Night or what you

will to the success it is. Trevor Nunn, born in 1940, is a British stage director who also became

the artistic director of the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) from 1968 to 1986. Royal

Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a British Theater Company of international stature, whose

repertoire includes works by British dramatist William Shakespeare as well as plays by

Shakespeare's contemporaries, classic and international theater, and work by modern

playwrights. Some of his most memorable productions for Royal Shakespeare Company include

the complete cycle of the Roman plays of William Shakespeare (1972), a musical version of

Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing(1976) and an acclaimed Macbeth (1978), etc. In 1996

he directed the comedy Twelfth Night or What you Will.

The movie begins with the main character of the film Viola (played by lead actress Imogen

Stubbs) shipwrecked off the coast of Illyria. Believing her twin brother to be dead and seeking

the protection a woman alone might not have otherwise received, she cuts her hair and with the

help of her captain Antonio (Nicholas Farrell) dons men’s clothing and the name Cesario. She

heads off into Illyria where she works as a page boy of Count Orsino (Toby Stephens). A warped

love triangle ensues for the first half of the movie between Viola, Orsino and Lady Olivia

(Helena Bonham Carter). This is because Viola is in love with Count Orsino, Orsino Is

desperately in love with Lady Olivia and Olivia finds herself in love with this charming servant

of Orsino’s, Cesario. When the ‘lost’ twin brother of Viola, Sebastian (Steven Mackintosh) is

suddenly no longer dead the plot thickens. All this conflict and twists of the plot make for an

intriguing and comedic film.

The audience enjoys a very comedic and believable performance given by Imogen Stubbs. She

is cast in the cross dressing role of Viola and Cesario. Stubbs makes an excellent bid to attempt

to balance the two and the audience enjoys her failure to do so. Her feminine ways slip out at odd

times and when placed in prickly situations such as giving her superior and the man she is in love

with a bath or being thrust in a fight for the hand of a woman she supposedly is in love with. Los

Angeles Times critic Kevin Thomas writes that “Only fitfully do the actors actually seem to

become the characters they are playing.” However, Stubbs successfully manages to find

symmetry between her two roles in a way that reminds the viewer she is both man and woman by

means of her failure to completely meld herself into a man.

With the assistance of details in the script and her director’s instruction Helena Bonham

Carter has been able to realize the role of the spoiled Lady Olivia. Lady Olivia proved herself to

be quite fickle; first renouncing the company of men for seven years upon the death of her father

and brother then quickly falling in love with Cesario after meeting him only once. Bonham

Carter triumphs in this role by means of movement and speech. Her inconsistent behavior helps

to make her role more believable of an adolescent woman-child. Even down to her hand gestures

and her indecisiveness emphasizes this, for example, when she first met with Cesario she did not

want him to see her face as keeping with seven years of isolation, then for a childish reason she

simply broke that promise. Chicago Sun times writer Roger Ebert comments that “Bonham

Carter, who has grown wonderfully as an actress, walks the thin line between love and comedy

as she sighs for the fair youth who has come on behalf of the count. She wisely plays the role

sincerely, leaving the winks to the other characters”. Bonham Carter has in fact fulfilled the role

of Lady Olivia quite wonderfully and leaves her audience frustrated however captivated to see

more.

The role of Count Orsino, played by Toby Stephens, comes to life through his emphatic

portrayal of emotion. Stephens depicts this through his elaborate use of language and through his

animated and emotive movements and gestures. This is seen in the dramatic way he flung

himself on a couch when expressing his frustration or his sophisticated use of poetry to explain

his love for Lady Olivia. For example when his says, “If music be the food of love, play on, give

me an excess of it…” This incites the audience to sympathize with him like a child that needs to

be cared for. Stephens manages an excellent interpretation of Shakespeare’s love sick Count

Orsino.

Some of the actors of the minor roles that makes up the sub-plot are Imelda Staunton as

Maria, Mel Smith as the raunchy knight Sir Toby Belch, Richard E. Grant as the foolish knight

Sir Andrew Aguecheek, Nigel Hawthorne as pious manservant Malvolio, Ben Kingsley as wise-

fool Feste, Peter Gunn as silly Fabian and Nicholas Farrell as Antonio the ship captain. Malvolio

is a servant of Lady Olivia’s who has convinced himself he is in love with her and that his social

status is higher than the other servants even the knights. The others devise a plot to trick

Malvolio. Convincing him that Olivia is in love with him, Malvolio proceeds to make a fool of

himself and then finds himself in jail. Hawthorne does a skillful job at turning his pompous

character into the ‘fool’ of the movie and then a man bent on vengeance. These actors have done

a marvelous job of embracing these roles in a way that convinces the audience that the subplot of

this movie is just as interesting and comedic as the main plot.

Feste is an important character of the movie as he seems to be the one voice of reason in

the crazy love fest. Feste also contributes to the element of sound with his songs. The movie

begins and ends with song. Kingsley is used as a channel through which the music of the film is

brought across. If the mood is happy and light hearted then the songs he sings follow suit. This is

shown in the scene where Feste, Sir Toby and Sir Andrew were singing that song about love.

The love song serves to set the mood as Lady Olivia would have just fallen in love with Cesario.

Some of Feste’s other songs have a didactic quality such as the last song of the movie about the

wind and the rain.

For purposes of length, Shakespeare's original script was subjected to considerable cuts.

Extra dialogue was added at the beginning with Feste narrating the events surrounding the

shipwreck and the separation of the twins and of a conflict between Viola's native country and

Orsino's. Desson Thomson of the Washington Post states “British director Nunn doesn't always

take advantage of the play's comic possibilities. But he creates absorbing, original moments -- in

the unlikeliest of places.” This is true for this movie, the editing of the script and the introduction

of costumes such as guns which would not have been present in the setting of Shakespeare’s play

is in Nunn’s production. This serves to give Nunn’s movie some individuality.

The technical elements of filming this movie include the operation of camera, use of lighting

and the recording of sound. The director of photography (DP) who is in charge of these elements

had paid keen attention to details which achieve the intended effect of the film “Twelfth Night or

What you Will”. The editor also cut and altered these elements to suit his needs afterwards.

Camera lenses of different focal length are used as required to gain the desired perspective or

photographic effect. This is shown at certain moments in the film when the DP wants us to focus

on a particular scene or actor. For example when Cesario has to give Orsino a bath, then we can

see the camera zoomed in on the squeamish expression on her face. This creates a sense of

closeness between the characters of the production and its audience.

The movie is shot on location in Cornwall, meaning that it is filmed in a place that has not

been specially constructed for the film and lighting is used even in the day light. As keeping with

the history of the movie it is filmed on ‘castles’ very much like the ones from the Victorian

period. The lighting is not as brilliant as movies set in modern times. This lends itself to the

question, is it done deliberately for authentic aging of the film? Much detailing was put in

producing the sounds for the film from the ruffling of skirts to the sound of water. Not only this,

but microphones are used to make the dialogue as clear as possible. The final editing conveys the

images and impression the editor and producer wants for the film. For example, the audience is

not just watching Stubbs giving her boss a bath but the audience is allowed to see close ups of

her expressions, to hear the water splashing up the sides of the bathtub with movement and due

to editing one is not forced to watch the entire bath but the audience sees the highlights and

important parts.

The movie Twelfth Night or what you will was received by the public with genuine

enthusiasm. Online film critic James Berardinelli writes, "With Twelfth Night, director Trevor

Nunn (Lady Jane) follows in Branagh's footsteps by adapting one of the comedies for the screen.

However, while this picture doesn't have quite the same level of style or energy evident in Much

Ado about Nothing, solid performances and a lucid interpretation keep it afloat." Berardinelli

calls it "solid entertainment." The majority agreed with Berardinelli’s assessment of this movie.

The performances of the actors and the interesting interpretation of the plot is what makes the

production an enjoyable one.

The title can also be deemed appropriate as it reflects the movie. Usually on the night of

January 5, the eve of Epiphany the Old Twelfth or Twelfth Night festival occurs. Adults practice

the custom by disguising themselves with masks or by dressing in the clothing of the opposite

sex. They visit the homes of friends and neighbors, where they perform a short song or dance

while trying not to be identified.

“Twelfth Night or what you will” presents a happy balance of plot, characterization, and

diction. The tangled situation is cleared up when brother and sister meet and recognize each

other and it seems not to matter that the characters do not marry who they wanted to begin with.

“An innovative and imaginatively rendered version of Shakespeare's funniest play” reviews San

Francisco Chronicle writer Mark LaSalle. The clever presentation of Twelfth Night or what you

will does serve to create a groundbreaking production.