Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Twelfth Night

1601
Shakespeare
Twelfth Night, or What You Will
B+

Probably my favorite of all Shakespeare.  Very witty and playful, but not without its darker side (Malvolio's subplot).  This became the very silly movie She's the Man (2006), which is nowhere on the level of 10 Things I Hate About You.  The 1996 version, with lovely Helena Bonham-Carter as Olivia, comes closer to capturing the magic of the play.  If the play has weaknesses, they are that the joke on Malvolio goes a little too far, and Duke Orsino is sort of a jerk.

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