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 Twelfth Night Trevor Nunn
Trevor Nunn, one of England's finest stage directors, repeatedly proves throughout this tedious film that he is not cinematically inclined. Unlike his last film Lady Jane, where he had some of the best people in the business looking out for him, Nunn in 12th Night has no such sage expertise to keep him aloft, and at times his technical ineptitude glares through (the lighting equipment visible at the right of the frame in one scene). In addition, 12th Night is simply not a play which translates well to the screen. The story centers on twin brother and sister Viola and Sebastian, who are constantly mistaken for each other (especially since Viola is disguised as a man). One can get away with this stretch of plausibility on stage where the audience is a good distance from the players, but with cinematic close-ups, this theatrical "cheat" falls completely apart. Even worse, the actors playing Viola and Sebastian-Imogen Stubbs and Steven Mackintosh-look nothing alike, shattering the illusion even further. Nunn's strengths as a stage director are considerable and he extracts first-rate performances from a magnificent cast. However, Nunn's desire to be trendy ultimately harms the production. Every current novelty is here: gender bending (12th Night was an obvious attempt to cash-in on the now-tired cross-dressing trend, popularized by The Crying Game, Too Wong Foo, et al), and once again we are treated to Shakespeare uprooted from its historic setting and dropped into a more modern time frame. Composer Shaun Davey's use of Celtic music is yet another contrived and trendy cliché, again totally irrelevant to the film. Worst of all, is the embarrassing song-and-dance ending where Ben Kingsly lip-syncs his way into the sunset. It must be reiterated, however, that the performances in 12th Night are all outstanding. If one wants to see some fine acting and can get past all the imperfections and gaudy trappings, this movie will make an enjoyable video rental. —Paul Andrew MacLean
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