Synopsis

After surviving a shipwreck, Viola disguises herself as a young man and enters the service of Duke Orsino, who sends her to court Olivia on his behalf. Olivia instead falls for Viola's male identity, while Viola secretly loves Orsino. The arrival of Viola's supposedly dead twin, Sebastian, intensifies the confusion until mistaken identities, hidden feelings, and comic deceptions finally unravel.

Factoids & Trivia

• The film relocates Shakespeare's story to the 1890s, giving Illyria a late-Victorian appearance rather than treating it as an abstract theatrical setting.

• Much of the production was filmed on location in Cornwall, England, including Padstow and Lanhydrock House near Bodmin. The coastal landscapes provide the film with a distinctly romantic, windswept atmosphere.

• Orsino and his followers wear uniforms influenced by the Austro-Hungarian Empire. This visual choice helps establish the film's invented European setting without tying it to a specific historical country.

• Trevor Nunn adapted the screenplay from his stage experience with Shakespeare and approached the material as both romantic comedy and serious emotional drama. The film consequently gives considerable weight to the melancholy beneath the comic misunderstandings.

• Ben Kingsley serves a dual function as Feste, the household fool, and as the film's narrator. His voice introduces the story with an added sense of literary reflection.

• The production was Nunn's third feature film as a director, following Lady Jane and Hedda. He was already chiefly known for his influential work in British theater, including leadership of the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre.

• The film runs approximately 134 minutes and was released in the United States on October 25, 1996.