Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #16151 in DVD
• Released on: 2004-05-24
• Rating: Universal, suitable for all
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 156 minutes

Synopsis
Kenneth Branagh's version of William Shakespeare's classic comedy revolves around Viola, a young woman who disguises herself as a man to work as a page in the court of Count Orsino. Orsino is hopelessly in love with a woman named Olivia, and soon Viola finds herself hopelessly in love with Orsino. But Orsino thinks she's a man, and her predicament worsens when she realises that Olivia has fallen in love with her.

Customer Reviews

Unenthralling
The best version I know of this fine and charming Shakespeare play is the Trevor Nunn movie. It is by far the best acting and presentation and as this is my favourite Shakespeare play, I'm pretty fussy anyway.

This version of Twelfth Night is OK. It's very watchable. It all depends how you like the play done and which characters you like and how they are cast, doesn't it, since Shakespeare's so versatile. But Orsino is my favourite character and if he's not cast as I like, and this one he isn't as I see Orsino at all, so I quickly got pretty frustrated. This sadly is my main recollection of the movie which I first saw some years back, then tried to watch again after seeing the Trevor Nunn movie, but quickly gave up on it.
I really don't see Orsino as a dismal lovesick wet mooning about flowers. Nothing wrong with liking flowers but Orsino is clearly meant to be a battle leader - he's the Duke, after all, the Dukedom's leader, who's been engaged in a war with Messaline. Trevor Nunn's version very cleverly has Orsino recovering from a wound on his arm, probably a sword slash. So we could expect him to have been feverish for a while. No wonder then that he's resting quite a bit. Now that's the right kind of approach. Manly whilst in love and when this Orsino talks about flowers, it's fine. The Beeb version comes closer although that Orsino's still pretty wet and in that one I disliked the presentation of Viola.

I've been disappointed in all the Branagh Shakespeare movies. So this one is no exception. But they are still very well worth watching as this one is. It would be hard to ruin a Shakespeare play?

A little dry
As the last reviewer said it was rather unenthralling somehow.

The set is limited and quite dreary, the direction adding nothing to it either. The acting is fine, Richard Briars excellent as ever. In fact all the actors do their part just fine.

Sadly, the spark just isn't there on this one.

Having said that, if you want to know the story without studying a text, at this price it's still a more pleasant alternative!