Twelfth Night (1996 film)
| Twelfth Night: Or What You Will | |
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Film poster
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| Directed by | Trevor Nunn |
| Produced by |
Stephen Evans David Parfitt |
| Screenplay by | Trevor Nunn |
| Based on |
Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare |
| Starring | |
| Narrated by | Ben Kingsley |
| Music by | Shaun Davey |
| Cinematography | Clive Tickner |
| Edited by | Peter Boyle |
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Production
company |
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| Distributed by | Fine Line Features |
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Release date
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Running time
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134 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Budget | US$5 million |
| Box office | US$588,621 |
Twelfth Night (also known as Twelfth Night: Or What You Will) is a 1996 British film adaptation of William Shakespeare's play, directed by Trevor Nunn and featuring an all-star cast. Set in the late 19th century, it was filmed on location in Cornwall, including scenes shot at Padstow and at Lanhydrock House near Bodmin, with Orsino and his followers wearing uniforms that evoke the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Viola (Imogen Stubbs) and Sebastian (Steven Mackintosh) are young twins who, on Twelfth Night (holiday) are performing on a ship and use their likeness to tease their audiences. During their journey, they are caught in a storm, shipwrecked and separated. Viola and other survivors end up on the shore of Illyria. A devastated Viola believes her brother dead. She later takes his appearance to join the court of the local Duke Orsino (Toby Stephens). The young woman has her long, beautiful hair cut by the sailor, conceals her breasts, and dresses like a young man. After that, Viola becomes a page, using the name "Cesario".
Orsino is madly infatuated by Countess Olivia (Helena Bonham Carter), who is in mourning due to her brother's recent death. She uses the tragedy as an excuse to avoid seeing the Duke, whom she does not love. He sends "Cesario" to do his wooing and Olivia falls in love with the messenger, unaware of "Cesario"'s real gender. Realising Olivia's feelings for her alter ego, Viola is caught in even more of a quandary in that she is in love with Orsino.
Meanwhile, elements of Olivia's household plot against her pompous steward Malvolio (Nigel Hawthorne) by tricking him into believing that Olivia loves him. (Malvolio even wears a toupée to appear younger than he is.) His attempts to woo her, however, are met with bewilderment by Olivia who has him committed, where he is subjected to further humiliations by Maria (Imelda Staunton), Feste (Ben Kingsley) and Sir Toby Belch (Mel Smith).
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