Othello - The Lost Masterpiece (1952)
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Reviews Counted:21
Fresh:19
Rotten:2
Average Rating:7.7/10
Consensus: This ragged take on Othello may take liberties with the source material, but Orson Welles' genius never fails to impress.
Runtime: 1 hr 33 mins
Genre: Dramas
Synopsis: Long believed lost, this is the newly restored masterpiece of Orson Welles' 1952 classic based on the famous William Shakespeare play. Also includes a special introduction by his daughter Beatrice... Long believed lost, this is the newly restored masterpiece of Orson Welles' 1952 classic based on the famous William Shakespeare play. Also includes a special introduction by his daughter Beatrice Welles-Smith. [More]
Starring: Orson Welles, Micheal MacLiammoir, Suzanne Cloutier, Robert Coote
Starring: Orson Welles, Micheal MacLiammoir, Suzanne Cloutier, Robert Coote, Fay Compton, Michael Laurence, Doris Dowling
Director: Orson Welles
Director: Orson Welles
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Reviews for Othello - The Lost Masterpiece
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A stunning film. Full Review |
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A marvelous, very un-stage-like and brisk adaptation that never compromises the spirit of its source. Full Review |
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Low-budget but visually stunning. Full Review |
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The visual rhetoric is synchronised with the verbal imagery: they hit sensory overload together. Full Review |
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Welles genius behind the camera brings one of the Bard's darkest plays to life. Full Review |
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Film is an impressive rendering of the Shakespearean tragedy. Full Review |
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Individual scenes are in an unrestrainedly operatic bravura style, and while the film succeeds visually, it ultimately fails as drama. Full Review |
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For all the liberties taken with the play, Orson Welles's 1952 independent feature may well be the greatest Shakespeare film. Full Review |
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A folly perhaps, but a grand one. Full Review |
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One of the filmmaker's great masterpieces. Full Review |
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Othello has been filmed numerous times, but never with such extraordinary visual grace and power. Full Review |
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The text of the original play has been slashed to its bare bones, with bravura cinematography and editing also helping make this a taut, visceral experience. Full Review |
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No review available.
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Though made on the cheap, it has the rich arty look of an avant-garde Expressionist work that few big-budget films ever achieve so well. Full Review |
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There are flashes of brilliant suggestion in this tumbled, slurred, and helter-skelter film. But they add up to nothing substantial -- just a little Shakespeare and a lot of Welles. Full Review |
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No review available.
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Noir drama without the usual suspects...dark, macabre and delightfully done.
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Welles gives the Shakespeare classic a visceral punch that's often missing from theatrical adaptations.
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Classic. Full Review |
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Any film student who hasn't seen this film has not completed his education. And for the rest of us, this Othello is a fascinating film with moments of great power. Full Review |
Latest News for Othello - The Lost Masterpiece
December 06, 2005:
Rob Schneider Weighs in on the Ethnic Casting Debate
In classic Rob Schneider fashion, Rob Schneider has penned an open letter to the New York Times defending his one-eyed, pidgin-spouting Tongan character in "50 First... More...
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