New ‘Twelfth Night’ Comedy With A Dark Side

Trevor Nunn’s autumnal new version of “Twelfth Night” quickly gets to the heart of the matter of Shakespeare’s wisest comedy, when Countess Olivia poses a seemingly innocent question.

Told by a servant that a gentleman is at the gate of her estate and eager for an audience, the much-courted Olivia asks, “What is he?”

Nunn and Helena Bonham Carter make it a brief but defining moment. While she thinks she is asking her visitor’s name, rank and business, Olivia is actually raising the central themes of gender, identity, sexuality and our boundless capacity for self-deception that find a supreme statement in “Twelfth Night.”

Filmed along the bleak coast of Cornwall, a setting that amply supports Nunn’s serious, almost melancholic conception of the comedy, this “Twelfth Night” is far removed from the rollicking and boisterous near farce to which less imaginative directors so often reduce it. Strange as it may seem for a play that boasts one of literature’s greatest fools in Malvolio and one of its immortal sots in Sir Toby Belch, Nunn’s screen translation is rather sobering.

But the relatively downbeat, yearning tone of the earlier acts deeply enriches the finale and its emotional reach as the couples sort out the confusion and pair off happily.

Nunn adheres to what might be called the Who’s What approach. His opening credits, cheerfully redoing Shakespeare’s lines, make much of the transformation of Viola (Imogen Stubbs) from woman to man. Corsets and stays give way to pants and unfamiliar fly buttons. It’s mandatory under the circumstances. After their ship is wrecked on the hostile shores of Illyria, Viola assumes that her twin brother, Sebastian, has drowned. As a safety measure she pins on a flimsy mustache, dons male attire and finds a place at the court of Count Orsino.

Nunn chooses a finely realized “fin de siecle” 1890s milieu, with the men in stern military dress and women in lace and silk. In other words, a place where sexual differences are clearly delineated. Then Shakespeare’s timeless deconstruction begins.

Orsino pines for the beautiful Olivia, who has sworn off men after the deaths of her father and brother. He sends his new “man” - Viola, who has fallen in love with him and, of course, can’t spill her secret - to press his suit in person. Thus, when Viola arrives on Olivia’s doorstep, the question “What is he?” is pertinent and the answer complex. Naturally, Olivia is smitten by the new “man.”

It is sometimes forgotten that Shakespeare’s women were played by boys on the stage of the Globe Theater - a fact of Elizabethan thespian life that only deepened the humor. Nunn’s camera stays focused on this pretense, and treats the dilemmas it presents with gravity rather than levity.

The playing of an excellent English cast is perfectly tuned to Nunn’s ideas. Ben Kingsley’s Feste, the jester who makes more sense than anyone else, provides the commentary on the real fools, and Nigel Hawthorne, so memorable in “The Madness of King George,” does Malvolio with a telling accuracy and ultimately a touch of humanity rather than the broad strokes we have grown used to.

Nunn’s “Twelfth Night” keeps these universal characters in the shadows longer than usual before ushering them from night into day at the end. It is not a reading for those who prefer their Shakespeare comedies to be all sweetness and light. Here is a “Twelfth Night” as a stroll on the darker side with Viola, Olivia and company, a strong and valid interpretation on its own terms.

MEMO: These 2 sidebars appeared with the story: 1. “Twelfth Night” Locations: Magic Lantern cinemas Credits: Written and directed by Trevor Nunn, starring Helena Bonham Carter, Richard E. Grant, Nigel Hawthorne, Ben Kingsley, Mel Smith, Imelda Staunton, Toby Stephens, Imogen Stubbs Running time: 2:14 Rating: PG

2. OTHER VIEWS Here’s what other critics say about “Twelfth Night:” Henry Sheehan/Orange County Register: The play itself is a good choice for modern film audiences, touching playfully on gender issues within a larger context of romantic tomfoolery and rampant self-delusion. But Nunn may have outsmarted himself here. While his movie moves briskly along at a hair over two hours, and boasts a picturesque production design that luxuriously cushions the action in a semifictional middle Europe circa 1895, it’s emotionally adolescent and intellectually superficial. Shakespeare’s most successful comedy has been bathed in a mawkish sentimentality that prizes prettiness - whether pretty sentiments or Pretty Young Things - above all else. Frank Scheck/The Hollywood Reporter: Trevor Nunn’s film version of one of Shakespeare’s most popular comedies lacks the star power of the Mel Gibson “Hamlet” and the audacity of Ian McKellen’s “Richard III” and should prove tough going for all but the most sophisticated art-house audiences. Jay Carr/The Boston Globe: Life is hard and life is earnest in this “Twelfth Night,” but shafts of sunlight do break through. Desson Howe/The Washington Post: It may take some warming up to, but “Twelfth Night,” Trevor Nunn’s version of the Shakespeare comedy, eventually wins you over. William Arnold/Seattle Post-Intelligencer: … the real success of this adaptation is probably due to Nunn’s 30 years of experience mounting Shakespeare on stage. His timing is flawless, each scene shines with a unique polish, his ensemble has the perfect balance. A “Twelfth Night” movie that in lesser hands might have seemed annoyingly dated and static instead comes magically alive. Terry Lawson/Detroit Free Press: … the film’s visual design, photographed in brooding autumnal browns and grays by Clive Tickner, complements the contemplative mood imposed by Nunn, who uses the story’s comic grace to remind us how fleeting life can be. All the more important that we spend it with the right man - or woman. Bob Fenster/The Arizona Republic: “Twelfth Night” will delight anyone who enjoys the merry mischief of romance or the film’s touch of modernity: a flirtation with sexual-role reversals.