Twelfth Night: elements of comedy and irony

Trevor Nunn's adaptation of "Twelfth Night" is a masterpiece of insight and nuance. Instead of simply playing this gender-bending comedy of mistaken identity, the director highlights the dark undertones of the plot which show surprising depth. There are some alterations from the original text, but those who are less familiar with Shakespeare among the audience can appreciate the story being more easy to follow. For example, when Duke Orsino utters the famous opening line of …

…farcical tale of confused romance, mistaken identity and sexual politics, the play also includes a sub-plot in which a character is humiliated, imprisoned as a lunatic and released to vow his revenge on his persecutors. Nunn's adaptation of the play retains that sub-plot, which makes the film quite faithful. At the same time, it is only that dark business in an otherwise bright and breezy film which prevents the play from being over-comic and lighthearted.