Twelfth Night Movie Review Example

In the play, Twelfth Night, by the stalwart playwright, William Shakespeare, the avid audience comes across the character of Viola who stands out from the rest with her actions, conviction and commitment. She never shows herself to be lovesick and is rather in true love and longs to be with the person whom she has lost her heart for. She faces the brunt of emotions as she falls in love with Orsino. Viola’s character with its depth strikes a chord with the audience.
Viola is a character who dwells in the dichotomy of identity and her journey in the world of Twelfth Night is governed by her quest for true love. Finding respite in Sebastian and coming forward making the revelation of her true identity sets the climactic moment of the play. During this period of time, she faces tumultuous emotions in her tender heart and remains in congruity with the empathy and affection of the audience.
The play makes one reflect about the gender bias and also makes one think about the validity and existence of true love. Moreover, as an audience one could relate the dialogues of the play to the Russian Chastuska, a form of poetry in the form of quatrain which is used for humor. The theatricals in the presentation of the play can be related to Russian ballet which is a very popular cultural marker in Russia. The experience of the play, Twelfth Night, makes it crystal clear how one can approach arts and aesthetics from a structural perspective. Creative expression is universal and this is its paramount appeal to the masses.
Athol Fugard’s one-act play, Master Harold and the Boys, portrays the character of Hally, who is a white. The play portrays the dichotomous relationship between progressive and moral beliefs with those of racial exploitation and hegemony.
The play exposes his double standards and puts to question his true identity. The audience is left to think whether the kindness and affection shown toward Sam in the beginning of the play is all a garb. Harold resorts to violence and establishing his racial supremacy when he is faced with opposition of opinion from Sam. Hally’s instantaneous transformation into a brutal master reverberates the innate nature of man to resort to violence and engage in the battle of power hierarchy. Harold faces tumultuous emotions on hearing about the return of his father whom he dislikes from the core of his heart. But, he opts to channelize his disgust toward Sam who only comes forward with sound advice just like a father-figure.
The play makes one reminiscent of Dziga Vertov’s perspective of cinematic expression which dwells on the lives of common people. The play is prototypical of innumerable of such incidents which haunted the blacks in those times and is a document of the cruelty of the white people. In stark contrast to Eisenstein’s Battleship Potemkim where the oppressed unite to rebel on the Odessa steps, the hotel never becomes the dais of revolt from the blacks. The blacks rather stick to their meekness and this only focuses more on the brutality which is meted out to them.
The play makes one introspect about the horrific effects of institutionalized notions which prevail in the society. These biases are validated by the people and they threaten to mutilate any progressive thought which might find its inception in the heart of an individual. The burning question is whether it is at all possible to be an anomaly under the omnipotence of discriminatory practices and inhuman biases.
Thus, both the plays evoke the audience’s thoughts and aim at promoting a clearer view of the world around through the quintessential artistic expressions of the playwrights.