Perhaps less than the sum of its parts, Othello is still highly entertaining, and features excellent performances from Laurence Fishburne and Kenneth Branagh.
Perhaps less than the sum of its parts, Othello is still highly entertaining, and features excellent performances from Laurence Fishburne and Kenneth Branagh.
Actor Oliver Parker made his directorial debut with this adaptation of the tragic play by William Shakespeare that abridges the original text by half and ups the quotient of sex and violence. Laurence Fishburne stars as the Moorish general Othello, who returns a hero after crushing an invasion attempt by the Turkish army near Cyprus. Pledged to marry the lovely Desdemona (Irene Jacob), Othello ignores the advice of his intended's father, who tells him that she may have a deceptive nature.
Othello's aide Iago (Kenneth Branagh), jealous over the elevation of his rival, Cassio (Nathaniel Parker, the director's real-life brother) to lieutenant, begins scheming to make Othello believe that Desdemona and Cassio are carrying on an affair. On the slimmest of evidence, Iago manages to manipulate Othello's suspicious, distrustful nature. Played previously in black face on film by actors Orson Welles and Laurence Olivier, Parker's production of Othello (1995) was the first major cinematic production to cast an African-American in the title role. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi
... Will not give its viewers much of an idea of the Shakespeare play, and may inadvertently give them other ideas, about interracial love, that were not much on Shakespeare's mind.
For sheer impact, this Othello can stand side-by-side with the versions brought to the screen by Orson Welles (as restored in 1992) and Lawrence Olivier.
Branagh, as Iago, is so obviously the best thing in this largely uninteresting interpretation that you feel sorry for him when he inevitably bites the big one.
A decent but not great version that makes Shakespeare's reliable play accessible, but the acting is uneven: Branagh is witty as Iago, Fishburne looks but doesn't sound right, and Jacob is pale as Desdemona.
this was a great film. not quite the entire original story, but a great film with good acting. the themes in this sory are powerful and the degredation of the likeable othello is dissapointing but interesting to watch.
December 3, 2007
danny d
Super Reviewer
The evil Iago(Kenneth Branagh) pretends to be friend of Othello(Laurence Fishburn) in order to manipulate him to serve his own end, comes up with a devious plan to suspect that Othello's wife Desdemona(Irene Jacob) of infidelity.
Oliver Parker's directorial debut is a bit of a disappointment. The language is so hard
to comprehend(unless you are familiar with Shakespear's vocabulary), the cast is kinda distracting(thanks to Jacob since she still sounds French) and Kenneth Branagh as the evil snitch Iago, he mostly does his Woody Allen homage by talking to us in front of the camera. Laurence Fishburn as Othello is kind of on the quiet side since I felt this film wasn't about him but about his jealous friend lago who wants Othello's power.
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