‘This uncivil and unjust extent against thy peace’: Tim supple’s Twelfth Night, or what violence will

Summary

Para Sarah, alma mía

Tim Supple's film of Twelfth Night, or What You Will (2003) begins with a familiar gesture of caution and ends with an equally well-known sign, now primarily - at least partly - of affection, just as often understood as a seal of joy and promise of happiness at the end of a 'romantic comedy'. In both cases a male touches the lips of one - the same - female. The first does it with the tip of his finger, quickly, not imperiously but firmly commanding her to 'hold her peace' lest a sound deprive both of their lives. The second does it with a kiss, after offering his hand no longer as that of a master to the now 'master's mistress'. To be accurate - and fair - in the latter scene man and woman lean towards each other in apparent, and tender, achievement of much repressed and delayed desires. This is what happy endings look like, they say. It is, however, also an action that makes the woman 'hold her peace' again.

A careful exchange of shots prior to the kiss contributes to this closing touch being uncomfortably more ambiguous than expected. Another woman is shown in close-up immediately before the newly acknowledged 'mistress' and her 'former master' hold hands and kiss; she says: 'A sister, you are she' (5.1.325), with a hopeful smile. Supple and co-writer Andrew Bannerman chose Olivia's half-line to be the very last words in their adaptation of Shakespeare's play, relocating it at the end of the film, together with Orsino's 'Your master quits you' (5.1.320-5), so that both occur after the disclosure of identities and Malvolio's exit.