

Shakespeare's comedy of gender confusion, in which a girl disguises herself as a man to be near the count she adores, only to be pursued by the woman he loves.
Acting
Helena Bonham Carter's Olivia: devastating widow to thirsty disaster.
Costume
Elizabethan drip that makes corsets look almost breathable.
Direction
Trevor Nunn makes iambic pentameter feel like gossip.

Director
Trevor Nunn
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Trevor Nunn cut significant dialogue to focus on visual storytelling, including an invented opening shipwreck sequence.
This adaptation emerged during a 1990s boom in accessible Shakespeare films (Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet, Branagh's Hamlet), but Nunn's stage background made this the most theatrical of the bunch.