Based on Shakespeare's classic tale, two women risk their lives to share forbidden passions. Up to 5 strong female roles, a Bechdel Test winner.

SYNOPSIS:

Synopsis

Adapted from the 2005 play by the same name, Twelve Nights with Viola & Olivia explores the love of Olivia, a beautiful countess, for Viola, a young girl living as a boy named "Cesario." The film engagingly retells Shakespeare's story with brief fragments from Twelfth Night, interspersed with scenes written in period style, to challenge claims that same-sex desire is contrary to "traditional values": If Shakespeare is outside "traditional" American culture, what is within?

Viola is a young noblewoman who is living as a boy and using the name "Cesario", so she can travel while searching for her twin brother. Orsino is a count for whom she works, and whom she desire, and while Orsino finds "Cesario" inexplicably attractive, he wants to marry countess Olivia, beautiful, determined, and very intelligent. However, Olivia has vowed to not even consider marriage for 7 years, while she mourns the death of her brother.

Realizing that his "Cesario" is soft and feminine, even for a boy, he sends "him" to see Olivia as his love-messenger. Olivia falls in love with clever and gentle "Cesario" almost at first sight.

Contrary to how the love of Olivia for Viola is usually discounted as inconsequential and comical, Twelve Nights shows that 1) Olivia's love for Viola is deep and genuine, and 2) that "Cesario" is attractive to her because, not in spite, of "his" feminine masculinity. Whether "Cesario" is an unusually-feminine boy, a girl in boy's clothes, or even a male eunuch are as immaterial to Olivia as whether she is lesbian, bisexual, or straight. As for Viola, Twelve Nights introduces her to a mysterious female stranger who starts to open the interior of Shakespeare's cross-dressing cipher.

Ultimately Twelve Nights shows that the real reason Shakespeare married Olivia and Viola to men in his play is that he knew that society would not tolerate their being together, and might execute them if they tried. Moreover, although Shakespeare left it mostly unspoken, rape and murder are also ever-present threats to Viola so long as she lives in her male disguise, much as transgender people face today. By graphically showing the violence confronting Viola and Olivia throughout Shakespeare supposed "comedy," today's audiences can experience the excitement that audiences enjoyed when Twelfth Night was first performed.

As Olivia’s clown Feste explains when the film begins, the goal of Twelve Nights with Viola & Olivia is to remind viewers-- regardless of their gender, sex, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, religion, or income status -- that the pain of not having a love desired is universal to all.

Story

The film opens with scenes of a woman being led through the streets of Illyria, a town on the Adriatic Sea, in the year 1602. The woman is condemned to die by the order of Count Orsino, the local ruler, because death is the ultimate penalty for homosexuality and cross-dressing. A priest in the procession is reciting the Psalm 130 in Latin, including the line that reads in English: “With the Lord there is mercy; and with him plentiful redemption.” At the command of Orsino, “Light the Faggots!” (bundles of twigs for fire-starting), the woman is burned alive. Countess Olivia shudders as she hears the screams of the dying woman through the windows of her bedchamber.

The scene shifts to a tavern in London in 1636, twenty years after the death of Shakespeare. An old woman is asked to lead a song, “My Thing is My Own”—a comic song about women refusing advances from men—which opens the film. After the titles, Feste, a jovial bard, introduces the story of “Twelfth Night” in a long poem:

Viola is a young noblewoman who is living as a boy and using the name "Cesario", while she searches for her twin brother named “Sebastian.” Orsino is a count for whom she works, and whom she desires. While Orsino finds "Cesario" inexplicably attractive, he wants to marry countess Olivia, beautiful, determined, and very intelligent. However, Olivia has vowed to not even consider marriage for seven years, while she mourns the death of her brother.

Realizing that his "Cesario" is soft and feminine, even for a boy, Orsino sends "him" to see Olivia as his love-messenger. Olivia falls in love with clever and gentle "Cesario" almost at first sight. To secretly inform “Cesario” of her love, she tricks her steward Malvolio into delivering a ring symbolizing her love to the “boy” she desires. Viola immediately recognizes what the ring means and what Olivia intends. Meanwhile, Olivia abandons her mourning veil in a giddy dance of girlish joy.

Maria, Olivia’s gentlewoman and maid of the bedchamber, sees Olivia’s surprising ecstasy and engages her in a discussion as to what “Cesario” may actually be. The possibilities are: A young boy, a eunuch, or a young girl. If “Cesario” is a young boy, Maria suggests that Olivia may not love “him” when he becomes a man. If a eunuch, then Olivia’s satisfaction in the bedroom will be lacking, and she also won’t be able to produce a family heir. If “Cesario” is really a girl in disguise—then Olivia has just fallen in love with herself!

Meanwhile, the London tavern-keeper introduced at the start of the film somehow enters Viola’s room. Her name is Judith,she is the sister of William Shakespeare, and remembers all the plays he wrote. Although she died years ago, now she has been magically revived.

Because she knows Shakespeare’s play and because she is a real person and not an imaginary character, Judith immediately realizes that “Cesario” is really a girl. She also knows that Olivia is kind and loves Viola specifically because she is not like most men. Not only is Viola clever, witty and attractive, but she is also gentle and not boastful. In short, Olivia loves Viola because Viola is not a man.

Orsino, on the hand, is moody, jealous, and more dangerous to Viola than she realizes. For example, Judith warns Viola that if her ruse is discovered, she will probably be raped, because there is no one to protect her. Viola, on the other hand, insists that refusing Olivia is the only way to protect the reputation of the countess.

Meanwhile, at the request of Olivia and the orders of Orsino, Viola visits Olivia every day to ask her to marry Orsino, and every day Olivia insists she only loves “Cesario.”

One day while leaving Olivia, a man she doesn’t know suddenly challenges Viola to a duel; she also doesn’t know why he would want to kill her. While preparations are made for the duel, the man practices his sword-fighting as Feste comes along. Viola, in desperation, asks Feste to see if Olivia would like to witness the sword “practice.” Feste wisely senses that Viola is in trouble.

Unable to avoid the fight and threatened with death if she tries to run away, she briefly fights the man until another man she has never seen stops the fight, and insists on taking Viola’s place. This leads to a battle between yet another man Viola doesn’t know until suddenly the local gendarmes come and arrest the man who rescued Viola. Viola is even more surprised when the arrested man, named “Antonio,” asks Viola for money that he claims he lent her, calling her “Sebastian,” the name of Viola’s brother. Since Viola doesn’t have the man’s money, the police take him and Viola escapes, but pursued by the men who challenged her. Seconds later, a terrified scream signals that Feste has just told Olivia that her “Cesario” is in danger; Olivia dispatches Feste to rescue her love immediately, promising to follow.

Rushing into the town, the men who challenged Viola instead meet Sebastian, who fights much better and more eagerly than his sister. Suddenly, Olivia bursts in with rapier drawn, and threatens to kill the man fighting Sebastian, her uncle Sir Toby, unless he stops now. After putting away her sword and beating up her uncle, Olivia proposes marriage to Sebastian. Upon the advice of Sir Toby, Sebastian accepts.

Meanwhile, Judith helps Viola guess what just happened. Viola has never considered that other men besides Orsino might be chasing Olivia, or that these other men might be so jealous of her for winning Olivia’s love that they would want to kill her, or at least try to win Olivia by showing their superior fighting ability. Viola now realizes that her position is so desperate that she suggests suicide would be preferred to murder.

In desperation, Judith urges Viola to return home and take over her family’s position, the same way that Olivia is in charge of her family’s wealth. It is at this moment that Viola tells Judith about the man who mentioned Sebastian, suggesting that her brother is still alive. Judith assures Viola that if she keeps up her hopes, she will be reunited with her brother.

Later that day, Feste and Judith are sitting outside Olivia’s house when Orsino and Viola walk by. While Feste is gone to ask Olivia to come out, some of Orsino’s men bring Antonio up to him. When Orsino asks Antonio why he came to a town where he would be arrested, the man shocks everyone by insisting that he rescued “Cesario” three months ago, and then followed him to this town just to be with him. Orsino tells Antonio that he cannot believe him, because “Cesario” has been in his employ for the last three months.

At this moment, Olivia and Maria arrive. Although Olivia has nothing kind to say to Orsino, she immediately asks “Cesario” why “he” skipped a meeting they had scheduled. From their exchange, Orsino realizes that his “messenger” has won Olivia’s love instead of him, which angers him so much he suggests that he might kill “Cesario” for it. When Olivia demands “Cesario” from Orisino, everyone is shocked to hear “Cesario” insist that he loves Orsino more than anyone else.

Finally, Olivia announces that “Cesario” is her husband. Viola denies it, but Maria declares that she witnessed Olivia marry “Cesario” that very day. Defeated, Orsino leaves Olivia to “Cesario,” but warns his former “gentleman” to never see him again.

While Viola is pleading to Orsino, Sir Andrew runs in, announcing that “Cesario” just hurt Olivia’s uncle in another fight. Although Orsino is shocked to hear that “Cesario” seems to be in two different places at once, the mystery is dispelled when Sebastian arrives. He first recognizes Antonio, and then his sister, Viola. Realizing that his most devoted and beautiful servant is an attractive noblewoman, Orsino announces that he will marry Viola.

Suddenly, Judith steps up and all the male actors wander off set. Judith first reminds Viola that not only will she lose all her male freedoms if she marries Orsino, but that the count is moody, violent, and so superficially attracted to female beauty that he will stop loving her as soon as she is no longer youthful. Instead, says Judith, Viola should accept the love of Olivia.

Viola reminds Judith that Olivia is already married. In response, Judith calls forth Olivia and informs her that as she married someone upon mistaken identity, her marriage may be annulled by (Church) law. When Olivia protests that Sebastian is just like his twin sister Viola, Judith reminds Olivia that Sebastian lacks the gentleness of Viola, and has, in fact, fought two pitched battles with her family members in the last two days. Moreover, Judith asks, how sure is Olivia that Sebastian even loves her now?

Realizing that everything Judith says is true, Olivia confesses her love for Viola, and then asks Viola if she loves her. Viola’s responds in her classic style: If she were a man, she would be glad to marry Olivia. Olivia interprets that as “Yes” and kisses Viola.

Now Maria enters to insist that contrary to Olivia’s faith that Judith can magically transform everything, in fact, everyone has to live in the real world of rules and laws. Judith’s replies by admitting that although she doesn’t know if she has any magical powers, she can leave everyone in this story when she wants. Since she can go and say what she wants, she presumes so can everyone else—but can they?

Silently, Viola releases Olivia, and then asks whether they must part because they will be killed if they don’t. Olivia replies by pledging to love Viola until she dies, and beyond, and asks her to be with her after they both die.

Judith asks Viola if this is really what she wants. Viola replies that, even though she feels like a real person, she thinks that she may just be a character in a play, and thus unable to do what she wants. Judith, on the hand, says Viola, is a real person who must die, but can change things when she is alive. Judith responds by bidding Viola farewell, and leaves.

At this point, Maria recites a passage in A Room of One’s Own (permission granted by literary estate) by Virginia Woolf, in which Woolf predicts that, if more women would write, then Shakespeare’s sister—the poet with the skills of Shakespeare but none of his opportunities—would rise from her grave and live again. Now that women write and are published, Judith, the sister of Shakespeare, finally lives to write her poetry.

When the spell is dispelled, all the characters reassemble. With a snap of her fingers, Olivia realizes that if Viola marries Orsino, then she and Viola will be sisters-in-law, and thus able to be close to each other for the rest of their lives. Slyly, she asks Orsino to accept her as his sister in-law, and Orsino gladly agrees.