Otello (1986)
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Movie Reviews of Otello (1986)
Movie Review: Different medium, different needs
Summary: 5 Stars
Yes, this is not a true stage production (is there ever a "true" production? Operas are edited/transposed/cut for the stage all the time). This is a movie. It is intended for a broader audience, and makes the most of different strengths and weaknesses of a different medium. I'm always amused by those who are outraged by the "changes" made to the story. Please! Some of the best parts of Shakespeare's "Othello" (including its entire first act)were left out of Verdi's libretto. And Shakespeare's Iago never delivers a speech anything like the famous "Credo." So for me, cries of "tampering" fall pretty flat. Verdi knew (as does Zeffirelli) that you have to *adapt* the story to the new medium. The important question is: is this adaptation a good movie? Yes. The acting, the visuals, the pacing makes the story and the characters come alive. And like his work in "Romeo and Juliet," Zeffirelli makes the Renaissance almost painfully beautiful to see. I imagine there are many who will respond more favorably to this treatment than a traditional staging. This really is a work of art, and movie buffs shouldn't hesitate. There are several taped stage productions, and if that's more to your taste, check out the Domingo/Solti DVD.Movie Review: The Very Best Otello
Summary: 5 Stars
Besides being considered the best transcription and translation of Shakespeare into another media by Arrigo Boito, Franco Zeffirelli has created the definitive film of Verdi's Otello. Placido Domingo's singing is brilliant and it is a shame that he was not nominated for an Academy Award for his dramatic acting in this opera. This film is truly a treasure and a masterpiece.Movie Review: Placido Domingo is the definitive Othello of this generation
Summary: 5 Stars
I could watch Placido Domingo sing Othello a thousand times and not get tired of it. This production is no exception. I have three of his performances on DVD and on each he finds a new aspect of this character to portray. He is a great artist.Movie Review: The drama is softened by Zeffirelli
Summary: 4 Stars
The story is simple, Shakespearean to the absolute extreme you can imagine. The peace and happiness of Venice is disturbed by the simple fact that a Moor, Othello, is welcomed as a hero after a battle he won in Cyprus. He is married to the daughter of a high ranking family, Desdemona, who is carrying in her own name the fact that she has a very doomed, demonized lot due to this very disruptive situation and love. This creates a rivalry, antagonism with the captain of the fleet, Cassio, and the extreme envy if not hatred from Iago is enough to turn a disruption, a breach of balance into a major catastrophe. A handkerchief and its supposed or alleged circulation will sign the end of Desdemona strangled by Othello, a strangulation that is very strange in this film since she will survive it long enough to expose her murderer and then die peacefully. Iago is then exposed in his treachery, killed by Othello with a spear instead of being tortured to death, and Othello finally kills himself with a dagger and still no blood at all. And balance is found again after the drama, the balance of sorrow, mourning and justice in a way. The play by Shakespeare and this opera reveals a deep racist inspiration. Othello is bringing this drama to Venice because he is a Moor, an Infidel, a Blackman, etc...That theme exists in other plays like "Titus Andronicus" or "The Merchant of Venice", with an anti-Semite dimension in these latter cases. The common theme is the hatred from a mediocre person who is trying to get even with better people than him by destroying them through some kind of plotting. But this plotting leads to the ultimate ruin of the plotter. We have to look over this dimension, common in Shakespeare's time, and see the more universal dimension. The man who is successful will inspire jealousy, envy and even greedy hostility. In this case, the object of that envy is Othello's wife and the game is to make the successful warrior kill his love, which he does out of some jealous lust, some possessive desire. The subsequent drama and the repentance of Othello shows how things are changing in these renaissance years, how women are little by little capturing some individual existence of their own, on the way to freedom, even if it ends up in death altogether. In fact Shakespeare in his English society is more advanced than Verdi in his 19th century Italy. Shakespeare doubles the point by making Desdemona's maid the final and lethal accuser of Iago and his lying and conspiring. We have to think of Romeo and Juliet but this latter case is pure love, no conspiration, jealousy or whatever, though the end is the same apart from the poison. A double death in the name of love. Zeffirelli does a pretty good job by creating a rich environment, at times maybe too rich. A slightly leaner production would have probably emphasized the beauty of the music and the singing. Othello as well as Desdemona reach the depth and density the tragedy requires. The cluttered setting de-concentrates our attention, even maybe our interest. The singing and the music require a stylized setting for our eyes not to get lost in the jungle of the visuals, short-circuiting our ears in their enjoyment of their listening.
Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University Paris Dauphine, University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne & University Versailles Saint Quentin en Yvelines
Movie Review: Let it be your first Otello
Summary: 4 Stars
This is, hands down, the best performance of Otello. Domingo is a pretty good actor on his own, but Zefferelli really unleashes Domingo's true potential as a pure acting force. It is said that Lawrence Oliver saw Domingo plsy Otello and said "He plays him as well as i do, AND he has that voice!" That being said, some of the cuts are understandable, most are annoying. But i believe most of the cuts are only annoying to those people who know the score well enough to hear the change of a phrase. I would reccomend this as a firs Otello, because it is at the heart of what Verdi was getting at, a drama through music. Cuts such as "Questa un ragna" and the giant choral piece at the end of Desdemona's "A terra...si..." are beautiful, but hardly dramatically viable. But cuts, such as in the final seen in the "Che le...otello" really ruin the drama in that section i feel. Part of the genius of that section is the way that the music intensifies as the drama intensifies, and Zefferelli doesn't allow that to happen. However, this is nitpicking on my part. Zefferelli's Otello is a beautiful piece, the performances are more convincing than any other production i've other seen, so he cut a little. He had a reason. I don't know it. You don't know it. Enjoy it for what it is.