Othello (1995)

An absolute waste of money

Wow! What a bizarre film! Unfortunately the few funny moments there were were quite overshadowed by it's completely weird and random vibe throughout.

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

it is almost a spell. of a meet after a long time. because the performance of Laurence Fishburne is amazing. the result - scene by scene he becomes Othello in a manner who escapes from a simple role. and Kenneth Branagh - yes, he gives to Iago the right word and though and intention and gesture. because this is the best good point of film - to recreate a world in each of its details. maybe, it is not the best Othello version. but it is one of the most honest. and realistic. you feel the Moor. each of his states. each traits of his jealousy and fury and doubts. maybe, it is the memorable role of Laurence Fishburne career.

I just watched the full length version of the play, televised by BBC in 1981 with Anthony Hopkins in the title role of Othello and Bob Hoskins playing Iago. It made me realize just how much the Fishburne/Branagh version from 1995 suffers by being cut to ribbons to fit in a much shorter time slot. The director finds time for sex scenes but leaves out scenes that are vital to fully understanding the background and the relationships and what is going on.The film is good, but should have been longer. Laurence Fishburne is good in the title role but not incredible, and again, he is missing some of his best lines due to editing. Irene Jacob is a bit weak as Desdemona and I do think it may have to do with English not being her native tongue. Kenneth Branagh as Iago virtually steals every scene he is in. He is just delicious. Fortunately he is in most of the scenes. He is evil even when he is about to make love to his wife, perhaps not in a way that she would like at all, from what I could tell.See it but then see one of the versions that does not have so much text cut out.

Director Oliver Parker wanted to make Othello a more "pacy" story, so he omitted quite a lot of the original text when writing this version for the screen. Luckily, the cuts and alterations that he has made do little damage to the old Shakesperean chestnut. I wouldn't say that any of the tweaks are particularly for the better, but the essence of Shakespeare's tale of envy, jealousy and deceit is so powerful that it would take a bungling fool - an Ed Wood wannabe, for instance - to rob it of its power. The weighty themes shine through as strongly as ever in this latest presentation. Laurence Fishburne plays the titular character, a renowned Moorish soldier. His courage has impressed young Venetian lady Desdemona (Irene Jacob) and the pair of them secretly marry. However, her father is displeased by this secret ceremony and he warns Othello that if she can deceive her own father then she may one day do the same to him. One of Othello's soldiers, Iago (Kenneth Branagh) fails to get a promotion of rank which he feels he deserves, and to gain revenge he engineers a series of lies and incidents designed to convince Othello that his wife is being disloyal to him by fornicating with another man. Inevitably, viewers may find themselves comparing this version with other productions. How does it rank alongside the 1952 Orson Welles version and the 1965 Laurence Olivier one? To be honest, it depends upon the viewer. Purists would probably opt for the Olivier offering, since it is only very slightly abridged and contains such strong performances that all four lead actors earned Oscar nominations. Film buffs might go for the Welles version, with its moody b&w lighting and a now-classic murder scene, not to mention the fact that the production history itself is as fascinating as the story. This version will undoubtedly find favour with viewers more inclined towards modern tastes. It has high production values, a sweeping score, accessible delivery of the lines, flashy photography, and "cool" stylistic touches (Fishburne's head tattoo, for instance). Personally, I feel the 1952 Othello will always be the benchmark, but this one is reasonably well made and it compares quite favourably with other versions.

Ludwig van Beethoven composed great works by just imagining the music in his mind and then trying to duplicate it on paper. The problem, of course, was that he was deaf and thus couldn't understand the basis of day-to-day life. Either a genius or a lunatic, you decide.Translating Shakespeare into the context of film (a good 300 years apart) takes a degree of Beethoven acting itself. The production must turn a blind eye to the world itself and be obsessed with their work in order to make a satisfactory Shakespeare adaptation. I am tough on Shakespeare versions for this very reason, if the producers have the guts to make one, it better be great.Othello is an interesting combination of teen ideas set in the adult world. For once, a director with some sort of vision is put in charge, and we get a better movie. It's too bad that Oliver Parker hasn't done anything similar because he understands the film and context better than Olivier or Branagh.Laurence Fishburne is particularly interesting as Othello, I find it insulting that he degraded himself with Matrix Reloaded. He knows the rhythm of Shakespeare, so his dialog is better than everyone else. There is Iago (Kenneth Branagh actually doing something constructive with the source material! SHOCKING!), the scurvy friend with too much time to himself. His asides are no different than Matthew Broderick in Ferris Bueller's Day Off, and almost as witty. Unfortunately, the rest of the cast (once again) don't get any sympathies from me.The camera is once again blank, torn between wanting to search for something interesting and being bound to the rules of the film world. How many films since The Terminator have used the (in)famous "clenched hands during sex" shot?Overall, a better film version of the Bard. More worthwhile than most, 3 out of 5 stars.