Othello

Rating:
Summary: A masterpiece, but not a popcorn movie
Review: This is not necessarily an easy film to watch, even in the restored version. The dialog track was post-dubbed to begin with, and though the restorers did their best to improve the synchronization, the speech is still oddly disembodied much of the time. That, combined with the sometimes clipped and rapid delivery, can make it hard to follow. Knowing your Shakespeare helps, of course, but don't expect to be able to follow along with the book -- there's more than the usual amount of chopping and rearranging.

I admire the work that went into the restoration, but it is not in the same league as something like the splendid Criterion edition of Seven Samurai -- there is still a fair bit of visual noise in places. The "Restoring Othello" feature is very disappointing as well, consisting mostly of scraps of interviews and random shots of the studio.

Those quibbles aside, this film offers great photography, great editing, and great acting. Welles has a field day casting his large shadow on walls, striding through scenes crisscrossed by pillars and iron bars, and reeling about like a sort of Moorish Kane. He does all this while making the descent of Othello into the clutches of the green-eyed monster completely believable.

Rating:
Summary: Another Welles Gem
Review: This is one of Orson's best. Considering how long it took to complete, it is a marvel of a feat. The only thing not great about it is the audio in terms of the words matching the mouths. That's somewhat clear in most of Welles' movies, so if you like his movies, that won't matter. Watch this movie, it is truly riveting.

Rating:
Summary: Visually stunning, but I can't hear a word they're saying!
Review: Welle's never had final cut after Kane. Everything from Ambersons on was in some way shape or form re-edited or "fixed" by it's producers. Occaissionally it was minor interferrence (like "The Stranger" or "Touch Of Evil"). Frequently is was outright (possibly malicious) butchery like "...Ambersons", or "...Shanghai".

But "Othello" seems to fall into the category of stupidity and incompetence. It's theoretically possible there was something wrong with the DVD I received, but I doubt it. Apparently, running out of money, Welles hired a low-end post-prod house, who used their worst staff to complete this film.

Thirty five years later it was restored (not completely, unfortunately), had is musical score reconstructed and re-recorded, and it's tracks re-mixed. Unfortunately there wasn't much they could do abut the dialog, which remains muffled and often out of sync.

But to the FILM:

The score is STUNNING. The Images are STUNNING. What's left of the performances is good to excellent. Othello is Welles flexing his design muscles beyond the pyrotechnics of Kane and Touch of Evil.

"Othello" is essentially a series of perfectly composed static shots -- very much like an Eisenstien film (Alexander Nyevsky or Ivan The Terrible come immediatly to mind). Shot in a real Castle, and brilliantly photographed by at least three DOPs, I think it may be the best designed of all Welle's films. Here Welles doesn't use the long take, or mise-en-scene to get himself out of trouble: it's all editing, dramatic compositions and lighting.

And once again he shows himself to be the master.

The music is still extrodinary. The transcribing and re-recording are wonderful, and the soundtrack should be released as a seperate item. Think "The Haunting" (Robert Wise), with touches of Bernard Herrman and you'll get the idea. Even in this department Wells was breaking new ground.

But for all this great stuff, ultimately (for me, at least) it's a magnificent failure. Once again we get a temping glimpse of what Welles might have been.

For fans, a must see. For everyone else, a curiosity.

Rating:
Summary: Not for purists, poor sound quality
Review: While I have great respect for Welles as both an actor and director, the fact that this was done more or less as a pet project of his over several years is readily apparent. As a Shakespeare purist, I also found his reworking of the text off-putting. If you're not familiar with the original play, you may have difficulty following this film version. Finally, much of the audio is difficult, if not impossible in some spots, to understand. According to the extras documentary, to produce this version the restorers speed up and slowed down the film stock to match it up with the audio and vice versa which in the end leaves the film with a jumpy disjointed feel to it and a sound quality that often sounds like someone is playing a 45 record at 33 rpm. I found this frustrating because to me Shakespeare is all about the lyrical quality of words. In my opinion, that is lost in this film. As cinema and Welles' history, it's interesting. As a good representation of Shakespeare's work, it's only mediocre at best. Obviously, I was disappointed with this purchase.

Rating:
Summary: The Great One does it again!
Review: You see, I am one of these people who believe that Orson Welles is the perfect Shakespearian actor. He has the voice (that awesome voice!), he has the native talent, and he has the passion that makes him.

I am glad that his genius is preserved and restored on this DVD. In fact, the documentary on the restoration process of this film is worth the price of the DVD itself, if you are into the "Learning Channel" type of things. This film would have been lost, and Welles perfect interpretation of the Bard would have been forever gone.

Welles, due to the "Citizen Kane" feedback, had to scrounge for money, and so this project appears jumbled at times, and here and there the lips are out of synch with the soundtrack, since the overdubbed the voices after filming. There are also some continuity problems with Welles blackface paint. But Venus de Milo is a beautiful statue, even without the arms.

This "Othello" was filmed on location, so the ambiance is perfect, with the canals, the only Italian building, and the long Italian faces that bespeak of character and pith. The cinematography is pure Gregg Toland, so you feel like you are looking at a series of high-art Renaissance paintings, and not just a blur of people speaking archaic English.

Welles does take some liberties with the script, but that is his prerogative. The story flows, and you get the feel and essence of the story, which is not as easy as it seems. I am glad that it was preserved or future generations.

Rating:
Summary: The Great One does it again!
Review: You see, I am one of these people who believe that Orson Welles is the perfect Shakespearian actor. He has the voice (that awesome voice!), he has the native talent, and he has the passion that makes him.

I am glad that his genius is preserved and restored on this DVD. In fact, the documentary on the restoration process of this film is worth the price of the DVD itself, if you are into the "Learning Channel" type of things. This film would have been lost, and Welles perfect interpretation of the Bard would have been forever gone.

Welles, due to the "Citizen Kane" feedback, had to scrounge for money, and so this project appears jumbled at times, and here and there the lips are out of synch with the soundtrack, since the overdubbed the voices after filming. There are also some continuity problems with Welles blackface paint. But Venus de Milo is a beautiful statue, even without the arms.

This "Othello" was filmed on location, so the ambiance is perfect, with the canals, the only Italian building, and the long Italian faces that bespeak of character and pith. The cinematography is pure Gregg Toland, so you feel like you are looking at a series of high-art Renaissance paintings, and not just a blur of people speaking archaic English.

Welles does take some liberties with the script, but that is his prerogative. The story flows, and you get the feel and essence of the story, which is not as easy as it seems. I am glad that it was preserved or future generations.