Film Versions of Shakespeare Comedies Essay example -- Twelfth Night M

consume Versions of Shakespeare Comedies Shakespearean animates are complex, intricate pieces of work in which a different range of interpretations and readings can be made. This is particularly true of his comedies, where the light-hearted humour is oft offset by darker, more serious undertones. In adapting these comedies it is for the director in the cinematic con text edition to decide how to interpret the play and which elements are internal and which are suppressed. This variance in interpretation is exemplified in comparing both of the more recent cinematic modifications of Shakespeares comedies, Trevor Nunns ordinal wickedness and Kenneth Branaghs A much(prenominal) Ado About Nothing Much Ado. Although both films can to an extent be seen as comedies with serious, almost tragic aspects inherent throughout, Nunns film deals with these serious facets as central to the depiction, whereas Branagh, although not entirely ignoring the deeper issues, prefers a more light- hearted and visually attractive adaptation. twelfth Night has been described as like Hamlet in a comic vein . In terms of Shakespearean chronology, the bittersweet environ to the play and the fact that it is essentially a comedy with the dark, any(prenominal)times unreassuring elements, has been linked with the playwrights movement toward the genre of tragedy. The range of filmic adaptations of the play illustrates the variation in the interpretation of Shakespeares work, with the dark edge often failing to make the transition to screen. However this is not the case with Nunns Twelfth Night, which achieves this exploration of the serious essentially through his interpretation of some of the plays principal characters including Malvolio, Feste and Maria. Malvolios character is significant to Nunns adaptation in many respects with it initially appearing that Malvolio brings an air of respectability and chastity to the film. However his essential flaws and his inability to recognis e the reality of peoples feelings, including Olivias, look at him from the position of moral overseer to a simple player in the game of love. Malvolios error is related to his self-perceptions and his consideration of his own self-importance, rather than his pity and compassion for his mistress Olivia. Malvolios function in this film is to serve up as a comedic contrast to the merry-makers, as well as a vital reminder to Feste t... ... provides glimpses of these issues, yet valorises a light-hearted, aesthetic approach to the text as a whole. Works CitedBrode Douglas. Shakespeare in the Movies From the Silent Era to Shakespeare in Love. Oxford University Press, 2000, pp. 97-99.Cartmell, B. Interpreting Shakespeare on Screen. (2000).Cuppit, C. Double Trouble A Discussion of Trevor Nunns film adaptation of Twelfth Night. Fine Line Features. Twelfth Night. shell Page. 2003http//www.finelinefeatures.com/ 12th/ Accessed 28/5/03Fine Line Features. Trevor Nunn Director. About the Fil mmakers. 2003http//www.finelinefeatures.com/twelfth/filmbios.htmGreif, K Plays ad Playing in Twelfth Night, in Modern Critical Interpretations William Shakespeares Twelfth Night, ed. Harold Bloom. New York Chelsea House Publishers, (1987).Marshall, K. How do you solve a problem like Maria? A knotted (re)interpretation of Maria in Trevor Nunns Twelfth Night. Literature-Film Quarterly 30, no. 3 (2002) p. 219.Richard, R. Much Ado About Branagh. Commentary 96(4) (1993)Sheppard, P. Intercutting in Trevor Nunns Twelfth Night. Literature Film Quarterly 30, No. 3 (2002)