Othello (TV 1981)

Iago and a comrade-in-arms are outside the Venice home of Desdemona's father, who does not yet know that she has eloped with Othello. Iago confides to his friend -- who had hoped to marry ... See full summary »

Director:

Jonathan Miller

Writer:

William Shakespeare (play)

Stars:

Anthony Pedley, Bob Hoskins, Geoffrey Chater

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Anthony Pedley	...	Roderigo
Bob Hoskins	...	Iago
Geoffrey Chater	...	Brabantio
Alexander Davion	...	Gratiano
Anthony Hopkins	...	Othello
David Yelland	...	Cassio
Joseph O'Conor	...	Lodovico
Peter Walmsley	...	Officer
John Barron	...	Duke of Venice
Seymour Green	...	First Senator
Howard Goorney	...	Second Senator
Penelope Wilton	...	Desdemona
Rosemary Leach	...	Emilia
Tony Steedman	...	Montano
Max Harvey	...	First Gentleman

Storyline

Iago and a comrade-in-arms are outside the Venice home of Desdemona's father, who does not yet know that she has eloped with Othello. Iago confides to his friend -- who had hoped to marry Desdemona -- that he serves Othello to further his own ends. Venice needs Othello to protect its commercial interests in Cyprus where the Turkish fleet is headed. Desdemona insists on going to Cyprus, too. In Cyprus, Iago plots to convince Othello that Desdemona has betrayed him with Cassio. A lot more than political ambition seems to be motivating Iago.

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Plot Keywords:

betrayal | shakespeare's othello | interracial marriage | racism | love | 

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 October 1981 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Complete Dramatic Works of William Shakespeare: Othello

Company Credits

Production Co:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Time-Life Television Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

195 min 203 min (DVD)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

James Earl Jones was originally cast as Othello but British Equity refused to issue an acting permit for Jones as they disapproved of an American actor being cast in a British adaptation of a Shakespeare play.

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Connections

Version of Othello (1955)

User Reviews

The worst version of Othello ever!

Anthony Hopkins is a horrendous over-actor at the best of times but he out does even Richard Burton in this one. People who feel this is a 'good' version of Othello have likely never read Shakespeare nor seen any of his plays performed live. This is version is a travesty for one obvious reason: Anthony Hopkins. Quite simply this TV version of Othello is ridiculous. First of all, anyone who looks at Anthony Hopkins with the "black face" make-up (he is supposed to be a Moor not a Chris Rock joke from "Bamboozled") and doesn't burst out laughing is either blind or well... one of the people Chris Rock makes fun of. Secondly, Anthony Hopkins plays Othello like a spastic, grunting ape-man. Frankly, his Othello is embarrassingly awful. If they had revoked his union card after this it could have saved the world from a lot of painfully bad cinema. Avoid this stinker like you would a Korean Nori-Bang toilet.