Othello (1995)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Oliver Parker

Writers:

William Shakespeare (play)
Oliver Parker (adaptation)

Release Date:

15 December 1995 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

Envy, greed, jealousy and love.

Plot:

The evil Iago pretends to be friend of Othello in order to manipulate him to serve his own end in the film version of this Shakespeare classic.

Plot Keywords:

Jealousy | Tragedy | Suicide | Drunkenness | Black Man White Woman Relationship

Awards:

3 nominations

Cast

Laurence Fishburne	...	Othello
Irène Jacob	...	Desdemona
Kenneth Branagh	...	Iago
Nathaniel Parker	...	Cassio
Michael Maloney	...	Roderigo
Anna Patrick	...	Emilia
Nicholas Farrell	...	Montano
Indra Ové	...	Bianca
Michael Sheen	...	Lodovico
André Oumansky	...	Gratiano
Philip Locke	...	1st Senator
John Savident	...	2nd Senator
Gabriele Ferzetti	...	Duke of Venice
Pierre Vaneck	...	Brabantio

MPAA:

Rated R for some sexuality.

Runtime:

123 min

Country:

USA | UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Singapore:M18 | Iceland:12 | Argentina:13 | Denmark:16 | Finland:K-12 | Germany:12 (bw) | Norway:15 | Portugal:M/12 | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | UK:12 | USA:R | Australia:M

Filming Locations:

Orsini Castle, Bracciano, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company:

Castle Rock Entertainment

Trivia:

The first time an African-American was cast in the title role in a movie version of the play.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: During Emilia's dying speech, the already dead Desdemona can be seen breathing.

Quotes:

Iago: I am not what I am.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Century of Black Cinema (2003) (V)

Simply the best

For me, the Lawrence Fishbourne version of "Othello" is the best ever put on film. His performance is excellent, while not overpowering the villainous Iago. And the title role is played by a black man, as it should be, rather than a white man with boot-polish on his face. The film's marginal eroticism has been criticised, but isn't eroticism at the very heart of the story?

Olivier's "Othello" was essentially a film of the stage production, and for me the Orson Welles version was a failure, despite Welles' star performance, because most of the other actors were almost devoid of charisma. How could Desdemona possibly have been interested in a slob like Welles' Cassio?

I have always found the original play unconvincing, for several reasons. Iago's motive, resentment of Cassio's promotion, seems too trivial for the tragedy it precipitates. At risk of committing heresy, I found the Verdi opera more convincing, with the soliloquy by Iago explaining his innate determination to commit evil.

Also, given the closeness of Othello's friendship with Iago, his decision to bypass him in favour of Cassio makes little sense. Likewise, Othello's readiness to believe the worst of Desdemona, and the ease with which Iago leads him on to murder, makes the title character look quite pathetic, almost simple-minded.

In this film, the cutting of the text to the absolute minimum helps to hide the play's inherent faults and tighten the action, and Fishbourne's wordless suffering speaks volumes that more than make up for the loss of Shakespeare's lines. I couldn't help comparing this film with Kenneth Brannagh's "Hamlet", the longest and most tedious of his self-advertisements, in which every long-winded speech was preserved intact. Here Brannagh's Iago is almost as good as Fishbourne's Othello, and he makes the most of the lines he has.

To sum up, ten out of ten. I can only regret that Fishbourne is not offered more roles of this quality.