AutCuddly Great movie! If you want to be entertained and have a few good laughs, see this movie. The music is also very good,

AshUnow This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Griff Lees Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

Zandra The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

oOoBarracuda Gender fluidity, a love square, and Shakespeare; what more can one ask for in a movie? Twelfth Night is an adaptation of Shakespeare's play of the same name. This version, directed by Trevor Nunn in 1996 starred Imogen Stubbs, Steven Mackintosh, Ben Kingsley, and Helena Bonham Carter. Exploring such issues as the uncertainty of gender and the curse of love, the bard never shied away from a heavy story. Twelfth Night is a film with a beautiful production design accompanying Shakespeare's well-known prose, making the film an enjoyable journey for audiences of all ages. Washed to shore after a shipwreck, aristocrat Viola (Imogen Stubbs) longs to be reunited with the brother she was separated with at sea. While attempting to navigate the new land she has been washed upon, Viola is devastated with the assumption that her brother has perished at sea. She now finds herself alone and in unfamiliar territory. Without her brother Sebastian(Steven Mackintosh), Viola must find a way to work and fend for herself. Once hearing about a Lady Olivia (Helena Bonham Carter), who is mourning the loss of her brother, Viola feels a kinship and wishes to work in Lady Olivia's home. She learns, however, that Lady Olivia is not talking to strangers and is in deep mourning over the loss of her brother. Viola then learns that a nobleman, Count Orsino lies around listening to music all day, hopelessly in love with Lady Olivia. Viola decides to dress up as a man and work in the Count's home as a way to gain proximity to Lady Olivia. Viola's life becomes complicated when she falls for Count Orsino, Count Orsino refuses to abandon his love of Lady Olivia, and Lady Olivia falls for Cesario, the name Viola adopted when she began her life as a man. The curse of love plagues all in this Shakespeare classic, and seeing the journey unfold on-screen is certainly a treat for audiences.The first hour of this film moves incredibly slow. Having such an interesting plot, and many subplots within, I did not anticipate pacing being an issue for this film, but it certainly was. The production design was beautiful and the castles in which Lady Olivia and Count Orsino lived were beautifully done. A period piece such as this one depends upon its production design to be able to transform the audience into another place and time, and Trevor Nunn obviously knew that quite well. Nunn obviously took painstaking measures to create a realism to his film that cannot be ignored. Perhaps it was his dedication to realism that dragged on the first half of the film with endless shots of the sets being used. Whatever the issue, the sets were beautiful. The film was comprised of mostly British actors, which is always a treat for this film buff. By in large, British actors bring a sense of regalness to the roles they take, which is especially important when tackling Shakespeare. There was also wonderful music sprinkled throughout Twelfth Night. Oftentimes, especially throughout the first hour of the film, the music and acting were the only bright spots moving the film along. Another treat was being introduced to Helena Bonham Carter. I had never before seen a film starring the actress and only knew her as being romantically linked to director Tim Burton, so I was never sure what to expect from her. I was pleasantly surprised by her range on screen. She played the mourning, yet playful sister quite well. Bonham Carter also had no issue playing the love-struck yet hard to get Lady Olivia. Playing these opposites off each other so well gave me a new respect for the actress. Twelfth Night goes to great depth to explore the limits of gender. Gender is, without question, the most obvious theme throughout the film, as it explores the sexual confusion created when Viola dresses up as a man. Meanwhile; while trying to gain access to Lady Olivia for herself, all the while working for Count Orsino in attempts to convince Lady Olivia to love him, Viola falls in love with Orsino herself. This love must remain a secret because no one knows Viola's true identity as a woman. Shakespeare doesn't do much to clear up this confusion, even by the play's close. Count Orsino seems to enjoy loving Viola while she is still exhibiting masculinity. It is left as a mystery whether or not Orsino loves Viola or her masculine persona. Another withstanding theme throughout the film is the burden of love. No one that loves someone is happy in this romantic comedy. Love seems to wage a war within each individual that experiences it on-screen, rather than the happy life-fulfilling emotion we are more comfortable describing it as. Whether the ending leaves you feeling like love conquers all, or love is for the birds, Shakespeare's romantic comedy is one that has endured.

James Hitchcock At one time adaptors of Shakespeare for the cinema trended to concentrate more on his tragedies and history plays rather than his comedies. The 1990s, however, saw two very fine adaptations of Shakespearean comedies, Kenneth Branagh's "Much Ado about Nothing" and Trevor Nunn's "Twelfth Night"."Twelfth Night" is another name for the Feast of the Epiphany, January 6th, and the action of the play is supposed to take place around that date. Nunn, however, did not shoot this film in winter but in autumn; filming actually took place in November, but the crew were mostly lucky with the weather and the look of the countryside might suggest late September or early October. Although the setting is still officially "Illyria", an old name for Croatia, Nunn effectively updates the action to Victorian England. The film was shot on location in Cornwall, with St Michael's Mount standing in for Orsino's palace and Lanhydrock for Olivia's mansion. Unlike his contemporary Marlowe in "Edward II", Shakespeare never dealt directly with the subject of homosexuality, but "Twelfth Night" is perhaps the play in which he came closest to dealing with it by implication. The plot revolves around a curious love-triangle, A loves B, who loves C, who loves A. Orsino, Duke of Illyria, is in love with the beautiful countess Olivia. She, however, has no interest in Orsino, but has fallen for "Cesario", the handsome young man whom Orsino uses as his go-between. Unknown to both Orsino and Olivia, however, the supposed "Cesario" is really a disguised woman, Viola- who has fallen in love with her employer. An extra complication- and a possible solution to the problem- arises when Viola's identical twin brother Sebastian, whom she previously believed to be dead, arrives on the scene. (Yes, I know that in reality you cannot have identical opposite-sex twins, but Shakespearean comedies are not noted for their strict realism). The lesbian overtones to the Olivia/Viola relationship would probably have been rather muted in Shakespeare's day when all female roles would have been played by boys, but here Helena Bonham-Carter and Imogen Stubbs (the director's wife) make the most of them. Even with the assistance of a quasi-military uniform and a false moustache, the lovely Imogen never looks particularly masculine, so there is an implication that Olivia has fallen for someone she consciously believes to be male but subconsciously knows to be female. The gay overtones to the relationship between Toby Stephens' Orsino and "Cesario", and to that between Sebastian and Antonio, the sea-captain who has befriended him, are perhaps even stronger. Certainly, Orsino's conversations with "Cesario" seem remarkably intimate if he really does believe his young companion to be male.Along with the likes of "Much Ado…" and "As You Like It", "Twelfth Night" is sometimes described as a "joyous" comedy in contradistinction to more "problematic" comedies like "Measure for Measure" and "All's Well that Ends Well". It does, however, have its darker side; several characters, for example, have recently suffered bereavement, or believe themselves to have done so, and this production tends to stress the darkness underlying the play. The autumnal setting contributes to this feeling, as does the fact that most of the characters are seen dressed in black.The dark overtones are particularly pronounced in the sub-plot involving Olivia's steward, Malvolio. He is sometimes played simply as a narrow- minded Puritan and his adversary Sir Toby as a jovial, lovable old man whose only concern is to have his "cakes and ale". For Nunn, however, matters are not so simple. Nigel Hawthorne's Malvolio- the one character for whom there is no happy ending- is an essentially tragic figure, a dignified and dedicated servant who is tricked into making a fool of himself by a gang of people who have taken an irrational dislike to him. His name is derived from the Italian for "ill will", yet its significance here may be that Malvolio is not so much the perpetrator of malice as the victim of the malice of others. There is an excellent performance from Mel Smith, better known as a television comedian, as Sir Toby. Smith brings out both the nastiness and the sadness which lie at the heart of his character. Sir Toby is a man of wealth and noble family (he is Olivia's uncle) who has spent his whole life in feasting, drinking and womanising and who has a fondness for cruel practical jokes; besides his tricking of Malvolio he dupes his friend Andrew Aguecheek and "Cesario" into fighting a duel. (Both acquit themselves surprisingly well, given that one is really a woman and the other an arrant coward). Yet there is also an implied sadness about Smith's characterisation; Toby knows that his life has been a wasted one, but feels that it is too late to amend.Besides Hawthorne and Smith there are too many good contributions to single them all out individually. I must, however, mention Stubbs, who is able to suggest both a male persona and the underlying woman, and Ben Kingsley as Olivia's jester Feste, whom he plays less as a clown than as a sardonic old philosopher, an eccentric but also a man gifted with penetrating insights into human life. "Twelfth Night" is one of Shakespeare's best-known comedies, and like all well-known Shakespeare plays it has become very familiar in the theatre. A good director, however, whether in the theatre or on screen, will always be able to find something new to say about it, and that is what Nunn has done here. He and his cast have found new insights into this great play, enabling us to see it with new eyes. An excellent production. 9/10

Leofwine_draca I'm no big fan of Shakespeare's comedies, much preferring his darker fare like the tragedies, but TWELFTH NIGHT is a riotous film brought ably to life by theatre director Trevor Nunn. He assembles a cast of seasoned professionals who turn the material into something special, despite the lengthy running time. Shakespeare's story of mistaken identity and the attempts of numerous suitors attempting to woo a countess is certainly a fast-paced and chaotic affair.Helena Bonham Carter headlines the cast in a decent early role, and she's supported by the likes of Nigel Hawthorne, Toby Stephens, and Nicholas Farrell. The most fun comes from the likes of Richard E. Grant and Mel Smith playing ridiculously slapstick characters, although the scene-stealer here is Ben Kingsley as the fool. The production is colourful and vibrant, and my only complaint is the 19th century setting, which sits at odds with the source material. I've never really got the need to contemporise classic works like this.

david-sarkies After having watched a movie about twins I sit down and write a rant about another movie, based on a Shakespearian play, which is about twins. However, while the confusion and the comic element of mistaking identical twins does arise at the end, the fact that the main character is one of a twin only becomes relevant at the end. The comic element of the main plot (as opposed to the plot involving Malvolio) regards a woman disguising herself as a man and becoming the servant of Duke Orsino, and when she becomes his confidant, she falls in love with him, but cannot respond without giving away who she really is.The play that I read in university was As You Like It, and this play is sort of a mix between As You Like It and Comedy of Errors. The heroine, Viola, is shipwrecked on the coast of Illyria and decides to disguise herself as a man for her own protection (nothing to do with transgender desires as some want to put it). While in service to the Duke, he gets Viola to attempt to court Olivia however Olivia (who also believes that Viola is a man) falls in love with him. This gets even more twisted when Sebastian, Viola's twin brother, arrives and Olivia, believing him to be Viola, marries him.This particular version of the play is well done, though there are a lot of additions, and the scenes are changed about to make it flow better on the screen. I should not suggest that the creators decided to add to Shakespeare as the only additional dialogue is at the beginning where the scene is set. However scenes are moved and merged to make the play more adaptable to the big screen, The main tension is between Orsino, who is in love with Olivia, and Viola, and then there is Olivia who is in love with Viola, who does not realise (as does Orsina) that Viola is a woman. It appears that the clown does, but if he does, he is not letting on. The play climaxes with Sebastian and Viola reuniting, and Malvolio being released.One should mention the Malvolio subplot though. While all of the romantic action is going on, Sir Toby Belch (Olivia's uncle), Sir Andrew (a suitor), the clown and some servants, become rather irritated at Malvolio's seriousness, so they decided to trick him into believing that Olivia is in love with him. When he makes a fool of himself in front of Olivia, he is cast into a dungeon, pleading his innocence and his sanity, while the conspirators laugh at his misfortune. I felt sorry of Malvolio because he didn't do anything wrong, and not only was he tricked, but it appears that the tricksters get away with it.Finally, I wish to note that while Shakespeare deals a lot with romantic love, I wondered whether there were ever incidents of characters marrying below their status. It happens here since Sebastian and Viola are both orphans, and they end up marrying the duke and the lady.