Maidgethma Wonderfully offbeat film!

Doomtomylo a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

Tayloriona Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Lidia Draper Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

Tweekums Twins Viola and Sebastian look very similar so much so that they enjoy trying to trick people as to which is which aboard the ship in which they are sailing. After the ship is wrecked it appears that Sebastian has died but Viola is amongst the survivors. She decides that it would be safest if she were to disguise herself as a boy, take the name Cesario and gets a job serving as a page to Duke Orsino. She soon starts to develop feelings for her but can't give voice to them. Things get a little more awkward for her when Orsino requires her go to the nearby Countess Olivia to tell her of his love. She isn't interested in him but is rather taken by 'Cesario'! If that weren't enough others are trying to persuade Olivia's steward, the rather bumptious Malvolio, that she has feelings for him. When it emerges that Sebastian is in fact still alive things get even more confused as he looks and is dressed just like 'Cesario'!This is the first version of this Shakespeare comedy that I've seen so can't say how it compares to other adaptions. The story is delightfully over the top with confusions. I liked the late Victorian/Edwardian setting and fine Cornish locations. The way the story is adapted, with short scenes and numerous locations, makes it feel more cinematic than theatrical.The cast is impressive; while no viewer is likely to confuse Imogen Stubbs and Steven Mackintosh as 'Cesario' and Sebastian they do look similar enough and the former, with the help of shortened hair and a false moustache, does have a slightly boyish look. The rest of the cast were impressive too; notably Helena Bonham Carter as Olivia; Nigel Hawthorne as Malvolio; Ben Kingsley as Feste, the fool; Mel Smith as drunken Sir Toby Belch and Richard E. Grant as Sir Andrew Aguecheek. The comedy is a little silly but that is the joy of it; one might have though the things that people found funny four hundred years ago would raise a laugh these days but I found myself laughing out loud several times. Overall I'd certainly recommend this to anybody wanting a good romantic comedy even if you con't consider yourself a fan of Shakespeare.

KFL There are several good reasons to spend an evening with this production of a standard Shakespearean tale of gender confusion and romantic comedy. The lush scenery and attention to period detail, top-notch performances, and Ben Kingsley's rightly acclaimed turn as Feste, the wise and knowing Fool.Nonetheless, the move from play to the big screen has its drawbacks, foremost among which are the great suspension of disbelief the viewer must attempt when Viola is taken seriously as a man, and still moreso when brother and sister, essentially unchanged in appearance, do not immediately recognize each other. Suspension of disbelief is more commonly expected in a stage production, where the circumstances of the confined surroundings necessitate empathetic participation of the audience. In cinema, however, such constraints are generally not present, and standards are correspondingly higher. But if the screenplay includes elements that demand audience empathy, as is the case here, the production will fare badly at just those places.Hamlet and other more "serious" works in the Shakespearean canon have few such elements. Plays such as TN, of a more playful nature and which revolve around improbable plot elements, will bear up less well under the close scrutiny of big-screen cinema.

aptfull If Shakespeare were this dead, we'd all be reading Ben Jonson instead.Pretty pictures and big names don't guarantee the illusion of life.We need people to move, to have energy, to make us care about what happens to them. It's a comedy, remember? This was more like a glossy coffee-table picture book of fabulous house interiors. An uninhabited house.Shakespeare wrote a whole raft of interesting people.I wanted to get interested in these people up there on the screen, but they were all on life-support, like a group coma punctuated by an occasional wake."O for a muse of fire!" Or at least a director with some.

tonstant viewer In one of the DVD extras, a producer praises director Trevor Nunn as knowing more about Shakespeare than any man in England. (Not true, it's John Barton. But that's another story.) Unfortunately, Nunn attempts to demonstrate his erudition in this beautifully photographed, somewhat medicinal misfire. In an attempt to serve up Shakespeare to everyone, he's bogged himself down in self-conscious paralysis. Despite the beautiful images and the star-studded cast, this is an airless, spineless lump.Imogen Stubbs (Mrs. Nunn) is quite fine as Viola, and Richard E. Grant maintains great energy as Sir Andrew Aguecheek. Just about everybody else is sabotaged by a leaden pace and a heavy directorial hand. Nigel Hawthorne's Malvolio is destroyed by the glacial tempo, and Helena Bonham Carter's charm wilts at half speed.Mel Smith is beautifully cast as Sir Toby Belch, but is also just too darn slow. In a major miscalculation, Ben Kingsley's plays Feste as a menacing ex-con, perhaps Abel Magwitch strayed in from "Great Expectations." This is a Killer Klown from Kornwall.And in order to keep things this sluggish, at least a third of the text of the play is missing. It's the language that makes Shakespeare immortal, not the plots. Bad idea....Oddly enough, in group scenes, actors often lose character, just standing around staring blankly at whoever is talking. You never see this in films, and you shouldn't. It should never happen.There is a 1969 ITV version circulating with Sir Alec Guinness as Malvolio and Sir Ralph Richardson as Sir Toby Belch to remind us of how far we haven't come.But best of all is the 1980 BBC DVD with Felicity Kendall, Sinead Cusack, Alec McCowen, Robert Hardy and Robert Lindsay. That "Twelfth Night" is an ensemble delight from beginning to end, with a full text and virtually flawless in engaging the play successfully on every level at once. Run, don't walk. It's a genuine treat.