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

Film Versions of Shakespeare Comedies Shakespearean ferments are complex, intricate pieces of work in which a diverse tend of interpretations and readings can be made. This is particularly true of his comedies, where the light-hearted humour is often offset by darker, more serious undertones. In adapting these comedies it is for the director in the cinematic linguistic context to decide how to interpret the play and which elements are privileged and which are suppressed. This variance in interpretation is exemplified in comparing two of the more recent cinematic adaptations of Shakespeares comedies, Trevor Nunns duodecimal Night and Kenneth Branaghs A Much splash About Nothing Much Ado. Although both films can to an end 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 attr active adaptation.Twelfth Night has been described as like Hamlet in a comic vein . In terms of Shakespearean chronology, the waxwork edge to the play and the fact that it is essentially a comedy with the dark, sometimes disturbing 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 some 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 recognise the reality of peoples feelings, including Oli vias, remove him from the position of moral super 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 caring and compassion for his mistress Olivia. Malvolios figure out in this film is to serve 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, esthetical 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 banter of Trevor Nunns film adaptation of Twelfth Night. Fine Line Features. Twelfth Night. Home Page. 2003http//www.finelinefeatures.com/ twelfth part/ Accessed 28/5/03Fine Line Features. Trevor Nunn Director. About the Filmmakers. 2003http//www.finelinefeatures.com/twe lfth/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 elaborate a problem like Maria? A Problematic (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)