Close to original?
Hi,
Just wondering if this one retains shakespeare's script in full or makes cuts/changes?
Thanks
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MovieChat Forums > Twelfth Night or What You Will (1996) Discussion > Close to original?
The director stuck very close to the script, cutting only what was truly necessary. I'm a Shakespeare purist, so to speak, so I personally wish that a few more lines weren't omitted, but overall it stuck very close to the actual play. No 'artistic' liberties so common in American film are present in this rendition.
shareI don't know about that, what about the silly charades at the beginning? Where did that come from?
shareIt does stick to the original play from the point of view of plot although as the film is not able to run to three hours cuts have had to be made. There are also some structural changes - particularly at the beginning when a new scene is added this is probably done to achieve a greater visual impact than it would on the stage.
shareThe plot (apart from the beginning and the setting) is as the original but about a third of the dialogue has been omitted or 'tweaked'. On the whole, this is the best version I have watched. They did an excellent job in matching Viola and Sebastian.
shareOthers have already answered well your post, so I won't repeat. I will only add that if you are wondering about watching this movie as a substitute for actually reading the original play don't feel bad about it. Plays are intended to be viewed. You may find that reading the play draws your attention better to some of the subtle detail presented in the film and vice versa.
I would recommend reading The Twelfth Night and any of Shakespeare works to a serious student or person otherwise inclined to to so. I am betting however that the average person doing one or the other would get a greater appreciation of the work by seeing the play (movie in the case) performed. That being said if you see a Shakespeare play performed and don't like it. Do not leap to the conclusion that you do not like the play. Some productions do not do a play justice.
This is not likely a problem in this case however. This is by all accounts an excellent adaptation of the play. I've seen several versions for screen and stage and very little in my experience comes even close to what this film accomplishes.
I hope you enjoyed it.
JLS II
After being so blown away by this film, i've been studying the actual play and yes, some changes have been made, but nearly all positive ones in my opinion that work great for a film rather than a play).
There is the extra scene at the start of the film, already mentioned, as well as some of the phrases being cut (sadly one of my now favourite lines from act 5 scene 1 "I'll sacrifice the lamb that I do love / To spite a raven's heart within a dove." (Orsino to olivia when he finds out that olivia loves cesario).
The other main difference no one has mentionned yet (i think) is the structural changes. In the play there is only a dozen or so actual scenes - different places. In the film (probably because, as a film, it is more able to) there are many more different "scenes", some very short. The main one being that in the play, viola/cesario and Orsino only have two "scenes" where they are alone and talking. In the film, there are many seperate occasions where we see viola/cesario and the duke talking. The dialogue from the play's longer scenes has been cut up (as it were) and seperated into these different scenes. The subplot of the trick on Malvolio is also seperated and interspersed with the above mentioned scenes. (Does that make sense?)
Anyway these so called structural changes i think work really well in the film. It allows us to meet the characters at many different times throughtout the film, rather than just in a few, but long, scenes like the play. This, in my opinion, helps us identify more with the characters and how the unfolding events affects and changes them.