Othello
by Oliver Parker
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Irčne Jacob, Kenneth Branagh, Laurence Fishburne, Michael Maloney, Nathaniel ParkerDirector: Oliver Parker
Brand: FISHBURNE,LAURENCE
Cinematographer: David Johnson
Writer: Oliver Parker
Editor: Tony Lawson
Producer: David Barron
Producer: Jonathan Olsberg
Producer: Luc Roeg
Writer: William Shakespeare
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; French (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 123 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2000-01-18
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Model: C2530
Studio: Turner Home Entertainment
Movie Reviews of Othello
Movie Review: Othello - Branagh, also vs. Otello
Summary: 5 Stars
Jealousy can ruin lives and can come from years of pain or from a place indiscernible. William Shakespeare was fascinated by jealousy and what it can do to relationships. Shakespeare used his fascination with jealousy to create a gripping tragedy. Othello is the story of two lovers ruined by an outsider consumed by jealousy. Iago, motivated by material and personal gain as well as the sheer love of evil, breeds mistrust between Othello and Desdemona. After much work, Iago brings Othello to the breaking point. He kills Desdemona because he thinks she has betrayed him. He discovers the truth only when it is too late, and atones for his sins by taking his own life. Oliver Parker's 1995 film version of Othello opens in an obvious Venetian setting in the evening. The film is set during the Renaissance and resembles what the story would have looked like if it had really happened in Shakespeare's day. The settings and costumes are entirely realistic and elaborate. The film is done for all audiences and Parker tries to balance action and dialogue. In trying to balance the content of the film, Parker took liberties with the text, changing almost as much as he could while still keeping the title of Shakespeare's play. In discussing the film, Jack Garner claims Parker "eliminated some 50 percent of the original play." Though this may be true, how the story works is the most important, and Brian Webster of the Apollo Movie Guide says, "in this film it does." Though all of Shakespeare's lines may not be in Parker's film version, the poetic form of Shakespeare's iambic pentameter was kept in nearly every line. Still, the delivery of the lines is crucial to the flow of a Shakespearian play. Kenneth Branagh did a masterful job delivering the lines of Iago. Branagh presented his lines in a way that conveyed his emotions and intentions and in a way that is easily understood. His body language is also highly convincing. Though not the vision of evil that Iago epitomizes, Branagh's body movements were so convincing, I found myself loathing him almost immediately. He looks straight into the eyes of Othello as he lies to him about his pure wife. He crumbles hot ash over his fist to symbolize Othello's blackness. He touches Othello's arm with real concern. His true evil can be seen in the way he conducts himself while executing his diabolical plan. Branagh's subtle tactics reveal to the audience how easy it would be for someone like Othello to fall into Iago's trap. A review in the Shakespeare Bulletin praises Branagh saying he "allows us, with searing gestures, to shudder at the repressed heat that burns in Iago's festering imagination" (Crowl). Laurence Fishburne also does a worthy job delivering his lines. Fishburne, playing the tragic hero Othello, is the jealous polar opposite of Iago. Where Iago's jealousy is unfounded, Othello's jealousy is justified in that he thinks his wife is being unfaithful. It was easy to see how tortured Othello was by his jealousy. His expressions showed his pain and his anger. Most notably, as he imagines Cassio and Desdemona together and while smothering innocent Desdemona, Fishburne's face was riddled with pain. Imagery played a crucial role in Parker's adaptation. Things that were not included in Shakespeare's text were used to bring the audience into the story. Scenery and character actions were key to the visual treatment of the film. Still, parts of the film were based on imagery alone. The most memorable part in the film for me is two-fold. While scheming, Iago knocks two chess pieces into deep water and the camera follows the pieces as they sink. The black king and white queen fall into the water, plunging to bottom. Symbolically, the pieces represented Othello and Desdemona like game pieces Iago used and then sent to their demise. At the end of the movie, this image is replicated when the bodies of Othello and Desdemona are slid into the Mediterranean. Though Parker took liberties in adapting Othello to film, the version was enjoyable. The essence of Shakespeare's lines was preserved in the overall sense of the production. I felt awful for Othello and Desdemona and I feared and hated Iago. To me, this shows that Parker succeeded in making Othello come to life again. Shakespeare's stories have lasted into our time because he wrote about universal themes and believable people. His plays can be adapted to many forms and genres and still speak the same truths about people as they did 400 years ago. Shakespeare's works are often seen as plays and films, so I did not expect to find an operatic version of Othello. Franco Zeffirelli's screen adaptation of Giuseppe Verdi's stage production of Otello is a masterpiece. Many people say that music can speak to the soul more deeply than any words ever could. I realized the total truth of this belief after watching Zeffirelli's Otello. The film opens with a large, strong ship being tossed about on a sea of large waves. The stormy opening sets the stage for what is to happen in the rest of the story. In retrospect, the ship seems like a metaphor for Otello's downfall. Otello is a powerful man who is brought down by forces beyond his control. Other scenes in the film speak to Otello's downfall. After the wedding celebration and the fight, Otello goes to Desdemona in his bedroom. Walking down the stairs to the bedroom symbolizes Otello's fall from grace as a result of his mistrust of Desdemona. Desdemona, the innocent character who has no tragic flaw, is found in the bedroom surrounded by white linens. The linens show her innocence and purity. Desdemona's innocence is further shown in her appearance. She is young and angelic. Her age is portrayed as vastly different from Othello in this version. Parker's adaptation did not reveal any such age difference. Otello's age in the opera "strengthens our impression of his wisdom, restraint, and leadership" (Bevington, 1118), while in truth Otello lets impulse dominate his wisdom and restraint. In Zeffirelli's version, Otello seems to be jealous with regard to Cassio before Iago begins to influence Otello. This jealousy seems to be misplaced. Though it may show the audience that Otello is susceptible to believing that Desdemona has been unfaithful, it takes away from the idea that the two are totally in love. For the story to be believable, Otello must have pure love for Desdemona and have that love ruined by Iago. If the audience sees that Otello does not implicitly trust Desdemona in the beginning, then the audience cannot believe that he ever truly loved her. I am glad that I saw Parker's version before Zeffirelli's. I think that my view of the play would have been tainted just because of the way Zeffirelli treated this situation. Other than the early show of mistrust, Zeffirelli's adaptation shows a great love between Otello and Desdemona. Otello saw her as the missing part of himself. It was as if they each only had one wing and they could only fly embracing one another. Fishburne played a powerful and authoritative Othello, and seemed to be more jealous of losing his wife as property than as the other half of his soul. Another difference between Parker's and Zeffirelli's versions is in the way that Iago's attitude is portrayed. In Zeffirelli's adaptation of Verdi's opera, Iago is filled with complete haterd that is obvious at every turn. Iago watched Otello and Desdemona with pure hatred at their wedding and follows not only them, but Cassio as well. Zeffirelli's version focuses on Iago's hatred of Cassio, which in some small way shows reason why Iago used Cassio in his plot to bring down Otello. Branagh played Othello in a way that made him evil, but Placido Domingo was evil and angry. Zeffirelli's Iago is completely remorseless and cruel. Zeffirelli's version presented many aspects of Shakespeare's play that I feel were left out of Parker's adaptation. Though it was a challenge to watch, it was masterful and captivating. Otello is marvelous and Domingo's voice is enchanting, but no performance could out do Branagh as Iago. His body language, chemistry with the other performers and command of his lines did justice to the words of Shakespeare. The story of Othello can be told many ways, but the essence is always the same. Jealousy can ruin a relationship: jealousy can ruin a person. Insecurity can be as damaging as jealousy. Maybe Shakespeare was warning to keep a close eye on your love. I think he was telling the world that true love trusts and those who are truly in love should never question faithfulness.
Summary of Othello
Shakespeare's classic tragedy of jealousy, deceit, conspiracy, & murder. Othello's great love for Desdemona proves to be too much to bear.Genre: Feature Film-Drama
Rating: R
Release Date: 18-JAN-2000
Media Type: DVD
Oliver Parker, a stage and film actor (Hellraiser), made his directorial debut with this scaled-back version of Shakespeare's play about the paranoid Moor, Othello (Laurence Fishburne), and his manipulative friend, Iago (Kenneth Branagh). Parker gets the story so lean he starts running a little short on the author's subtext, and if it's possible to overemphasize the banality of Iago's scheming and Othello's malleability, he does so. The director throws out what is universal in the story and makes it all seem merely ordinary, human, and unfortunate, which is the opposite of what watching Shakespeare should be. In the end, it's hard to care what these characters have done to one another. Branagh's Iago is a little flat and unfocused, while Fishburne is excellent as a quieter Othello than we're accustomed to. With Irčne Jacob (Red) as Desdemona. --Tom Keogh
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