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.

I've been a Shakespeare fan since I can remember, and this is one of the Bard's all time best. Anton Lesser is stunning as Feste (and he sings throughout, a wonderful tenor!) Well directed by Ken Branagh, though when I first put the tape in, I was expecting him to be onscreen, too. (Pout, pout...) Incredible performances by everyone involved, especially liked Caroline Langrishe (Olivia); perfectly cast, as well as Frances Barber (Viola). Great onscreen chemistry. So far I haven't found it for sale, only available to rent through the local library.

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.

My senior English class read the play and watched the film simultaneously and I have to say that (although at first I was put off by the harsh music, and the set and costumes that reminded me too much of Mary Martin's Peter Pan) I really got into it. I thought all the acting was great, especially Maria, Toby, Andrew, Viola and Malvolio, but Anton Lesser as the clown, Feste, stole the show. He was definitely the most memorable character. My only complaint, really, is that sometimes the actors spoke the lines a little too fast. I highly suggest this to anyone that likes theater or Shakespeare.

****/*****

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