Othello (1995)

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 | Scheme | General | Medieval | Passion

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:

Oliver Parker's directorial debut.

Goofs:

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

Quotes:

Othello: Put out the light - and then - put out the light

Movie Connections:

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

Dark, Tragic, and Beautifully Shot

You do not get more dark or tragic than "Othello" and this movie captures the play fairly well, with outstanding performances by Lawrence Fishburne and Irene Jacob. Fishburne's expresses to the viewer Othello's torment as he falls prey to Iago's lies very convincingly, even providing a realistic epileptic episode. Jacob is the loving and loyal wife who becomes either the instrument of Iago's revenge against Othello, or the object of his wrath (it is not clear which since no motive for Iago's behavior is offered). Although Kenneth Brannagh (sp?) displays his usual talent for Shakespeare in this movie, he is somewhat marginalized. The characters of Cassio and Emilia also wander in and out of scenes even though they, like Iago, seem more crucial to the plot. I have not checked the movie against the play to see how many lines were cut out, but I know that Shakespeare tends to develop his characters, even the seemingly unimportant ones, very well.

If I had any criticism of the movie it would be that the story unfolds too quickly, and that the relationships between some of the characters are not laid out more. The director had a great cast, and no one offered a bad performance. The relationship between Cassio and Othello and that between Emilia and Desdemona need to be further developed earlier in the film. I have a feeling that they were closer to each other than the movie suggests, although you get a sense of this very late into the movie. Also, Othello and Desdemona need more time together. Although their anguish is convincing, the amount of interaction they have with each other makes it seem like they just met. On the other hand, maybe the did just meet---like Romeo and Juliet.

In brief: good performances, too short.