Othello

Rating:
Summary: Shakespeare & Welles--A Brilliant Combination!
Review: If people today remember Orson Welles at all, it is probably as the pitchman who would "sell no wine before its time." The more "film literate" might know him as the director of "Citizen Kane." Most, though, will be unaware that he directed a number of other outstanding pictures that rank among the very best. "Othello" is one of those.

Incredibly, "Othello" was filmed over a three year period from 1949 to 1952, in nine different cities in Morocco and Italy. Welles never did assemble adequate financing for the film, so he was forced to shoot in a series of small spurts. They would work until his money ran out, then he would rush off to take acting jobs to raise cash to start filming again.

One scene-between Othello (Orson Welles) and Iago (Michael MacLiammoir) on the beach-starts on one continent and ends on another, a full year later. Somehow, though, Welles kept the whole picture alive in his head. He also improvised when he had to. On the day when they were to film Iago's attempt to murder Cassio (Michael Laurence), the necessary costumes had not yet arrived. Welles quickly moved the action to a Turkish bath where he could dress his actors in only towels and sheets. It is now one of the most effective scenes of the film.

As was typical of Welles, he took many liberties with Shakespeare's text, trimming it to a tight ninety-one minutes and cutting out the comedy. The story now begins and ends with the funerals of Desdemona (Suzanne Cloutier) and Othello; scenes not contained in the orginal, but done here to good effect. (For those of an auteurist bent, "Citizen Kane" and "Mr. Arkadin" also open with the deaths of the main character.)

The first words of the film, spoken by Iago are, "I hate the Moor." Thus Welles tells us right from the beginning what the play is about. (He later did the same thing in "The Trial.") Iago hates Othello and he will stop at nothing to bring about his downfall. He chooses Othello's wife Dedemonna as his tool to undo him, cunningly manipulating the Moor until his natural jealousy turns to murderous madness.

A familiarity with Shakespeare's play will help ease viewers' passage through the film. The action is sometimes confusing, a fact not aided by the total dubbing of the dialogue-much of it by Welles himself. Although, his brilliant vision may have been hampered by his scant resources, it was not destroyed. Welles remained committed to telling the story visually, as well as through Shakespeare's prose, and he succeeded magnificently.

This is no mere filmed play. It is a stunning work created by one of the greatest artists the cinema has ever known. If, ultimately, it is more Welles' "Othello" than Shakespeare's, we are still the richer because of it.

Rating:
Summary: Shakespeare & Welles--A Brilliant Combination!
Review: If people today remember Orson Welles at all, it is probably as the pitchman who would "sell no wine before its time." The more "film literate" might know him as the director of "Citizen Kane." Most, though, will be unaware that he directed a number of other outstanding pictures that rank among the very best. "Othello" is one of those.

Incredibly, "Othello" was filmed over a three year period from 1949 to 1952, in nine different cities in Morocco and Italy. Welles never did assemble adequate financing for the film, so he was forced to shoot in a series of small spurts. They would work until his money ran out, then he would rush off to take acting jobs to raise cash to start filming again.

One scene-between Othello (Orson Welles) and Iago (Michael MacLiammoir) on the beach-starts on one continent and ends on another, a full year later. Somehow, though, Welles kept the whole picture alive in his head. He also improvised when he had to. On the day when they were to film Iago's attempt to murder Cassio (Michael Laurence), the necessary costumes had not yet arrived. Welles quickly moved the action to a Turkish bath where he could dress his actors in only towels and sheets. It is now one of the most effective scenes of the film.

As was typical of Welles, he took many liberties with Shakespeare's text, trimming it to a tight ninety-one minutes and cutting out the comedy. The story now begins and ends with the funerals of Desdemona (Suzanne Cloutier) and Othello; scenes not contained in the orginal, but done here to good effect. (For those of an auteurist bent, "Citizen Kane" and "Mr. Arkadin" also open with the deaths of the main character.)

The first words of the film, spoken by Iago are, "I hate the Moor." Thus Welles tells us right from the beginning what the play is about. (He later did the same thing in "The Trial.") Iago hates Othello and he will stop at nothing to bring about his downfall. He chooses Othello's wife Dedemonna as his tool to undo him, cunningly manipulating the Moor until his natural jealousy turns to murderous madness.

A familiarity with Shakespeare's play will help ease viewers' passage through the film. The action is sometimes confusing, a fact not aided by the total dubbing of the dialogue-much of it by Welles himself. Although, his brilliant vision may have been hampered by his scant resources, it was not destroyed. Welles remained committed to telling the story visually, as well as through Shakespeare's prose, and he succeeded magnificently.

This is no mere filmed play. It is a stunning work created by one of the greatest artists the cinema has ever known. If, ultimately, it is more Welles' "Othello" than Shakespeare's, we are still the richer because of it.

Rating:
Summary: This is what a DVD conversion should be!
Review: It's a shame that this was a "lost" film for so long; but the care in restoring it and putting it on DVD should be a landmark for other classic films that need to move to new technology. The recording of the musical score, and the film restoration of Welles great vision should serve as a benchmark for other efforts.

Rating:
Summary: The greatest Shakespeare film adaptation ever!
Review: Orson Welles is arguably the best director of all time, and this is certainly the best Shakespeare adaptation on film. Fantastic locations, beautiful shots, and Welles is deeply moving in the title role. A must see and must have. For a terrific reading, see Michael Anderegg's chapter in Orson Welles, Shakespeare, and Popular Culture.

Rating:
Summary: Welles tackles the Bard
Review: Orson Welles was a master showman, handling theatrical, radio and cinematic chores with both gusto and verve. But, following the phenomenal CITIZEN KANE (at its time, an annoyance) he never again had final cut of his own pictures. And in that time he became more and more creative in his financial money-making. OTHELLO falls victim to this. With beautiful scenery, costumes and Shakespearian performers, the film should just jump from the screen. But, much of the photography (especially outdoors) is beyond restoration recovery and dialogue still exists over non-speaking visuals. Much has been said about the restoration, and it is excellent, but I find what is left is an extremely terse telling of the Moor's story. Filled with risky editing, some interesting and some perplexing, we shoot around from image to image. All of this surrounded by a musical score that is nicely restored (or rescored) but not one worthy of too many listens. Fans of Welles and Shakespeare are going to want to enjoy this film and will probably round up their reviews like I did but it does not show a hiugh point in Welles' artistic output... the DVD also contains a press junket-type documentary on the restoration.

Rating:
Summary: Welles tackles the Bard
Review: Orson Welles was a master showman, handling theatrical, radio and cinematic chores with both gusto and verve. But, following the phenomenal CITIZEN KANE (at its time, an annoyance) he never again had final cut of his own pictures. And in that time he became more and more creative in his financial money-making. OTHELLO falls victim to this. With beautiful scenery, costumes and Shakespearian performers, the film should just jump from the screen. But, much of the photography (especially outdoors) is beyond restoration recovery and dialogue still exists over non-speaking visuals. Much has been said about the restoration, and it is excellent, but I find what is left is an extremely terse telling of the Moor's story. Filled with risky editing, some interesting and some perplexing, we shoot around from image to image. All of this surrounded by a musical score that is nicely restored (or rescored) but not one worthy of too many listens. Fans of Welles and Shakespeare are going to want to enjoy this film and will probably round up their reviews like I did but it does not show a hiugh point in Welles' artistic output... the DVD also contains a press junket-type documentary on the restoration.

Rating:
Summary: Somebody already said what I wanted to say and did it better
Review: Read the review by Neville Blender. I couldn't add anything to his thoughts.

Rating:
Summary: A neglected classic restored to glory
Review: The restoration team that resurrected this film deserve more than our thanks. They have given us back a film by a master, working with all his considerable, improvisational wit and style. Orson Welles is, by far, the 20th Century's best filmmaker. In company with "Touch of Evil," "Citizen Kane" and "F for Fake," his masterful adaption of Shakespeare's "Othello" is one of his best films. The thousands of hours of devoted work done by the filmmakers who helped restore this masterpiece (enhancing sound effects, painstakingly matching what had been a criminally out-of-sync soundtrack to the players' mouths, digitally sharpening the film's every frame) is shown to great effect in this DVD. For anyone interested in modern film, Welles' new "Othello" is an essential addition to a DVD film "library."

Rating:
Summary: Welles' indomitable spirit in the face of penury shines...
Review: THE TRAGEDY OF OTHELLO: THE MOOR OF VENICE/ US/France/Italy/Morocco 1952 (3.5 STARS)

The recent restoration of Othello brings to cinematic space the magic of another masterpiece from Orson Welles. To think that a whole master negative of this film (which won the Best film at Cannes in 1952) was lying abandoned in a New Jersey warehouse, was discovered by accident and is the reason for this print that we now have access to, is enough to send shivers down the spine of any Welles-phile.
•Mise-en-scene: Like with many of his other works involving especially Shakespeare, be prepared for Welles' licenses and personal interpretation of subject matter pertaining to Othello. Yet at the end, we are left with a feeling of deep tragedy and loss for Othello, played by Welles himself, and though we feel that Othello was quite an idiot, we at least feel that he was a very unfortunate idiot at that!
•The problem may have been that the critical scene where Iago poisons Othello's mind and fuels his suspicion is scrappy and left unexplored. This may well have had little to do with Welles' artistic choices, and more with his monetary situation at the time. Welles' penury through his European sojourn is widely known and the passion with which he would invest into his films, every penny earned through moonlighting his booming voice and above-average acting skills is legendary, and should put this in context.
•The figure behavior of Micheál MacLiammóir is utterly convincing as the detestable Iago who is consumed by jealousy and rage at being overlooked as the second-in-command. But the person to steal our hearts is Suzanne Cloutier who portrays the fair-dame Desdemona. She is every bit as dainty as we would have imagined her to be.
•The stripped down set design works wonderfully for the film and even though budgets may have been the driving force, Othello's barren palace is preceded only by the barrenness of his blinding jealousy and irrational actions.
•Cinematography: As we have come to expect, Orson Welles has a unique cinematic language, through which he creates a Wellesian world of skin-burning close ups, dutched crazy world-frames and low angle shots to create a tense atmosphere of foreboding. But there is no better example of exploring and using frame depth than in Othello. Time and again Welles plays with foreground element to reveal psychologically subjective and meta-diagetic moods while cleverly using the depth in the frame to forward the narrative and plot the next progression. The title shots of the film are harrowing in their effect, with the interplay of high-contrast earth and sky contours that at once establish the mood for an intense cinematic experience.
•Sound & Editing: The restored version has a brand-new soundtrack mentored by Welles' daughter, and while it enhances the experience to telling effect, it is irony to note that just the new soundtrack cost much more than what Welles assembled the whole film for. The fact that parts of the film were shot MOS and other parts used ADR is distracting due to the obvious lack of lip-sync, but in the final analysis, we watch Welles with reverence almost as if on a visit to Sunday Mass, paying homage, never once forgetting that were are witness to a filmmaker stripped of resources, devoid of many essential tools, but one with indomitable spirit who refused to be cowed-down. Othello is magical in its story telling and another worthy showcase of the genius of Orson Welles.

Rating:
Summary: Put Out Thy Light!
Review: This film blew me away! I always know what I am looking forward to in an Orson Welles film; brilliant camera angles over lapping dialogue and that masterfull voice but I was floored by how well all of those aspects are used in Othello. It's hard to believe it was four years in the making and that the production of this film was marred by unusual circumstances but welles never gave up and the beauty is on screen to marvel at. Welles was a master of Shakespeare since a child so the dialogue flows as if second nature to him and the rest of the seasoned veterans handle it just as well and that is the key to this film. Welles always had pure facial emotion working in his favor and when those huge glowing eyes of his is used in the final scenes as he kills Desdamona its as if headlights of danger are piercing through his face and the dark almost unbearable lighting can't hold back those eyes or the viewers emotions and the soundtrack that damn haunting score never looses it's pacing simply amazing. Finaly Welles' fluxuating girth comes in handy his Othello is so imposing and commanding that u to would fear the repercussions of his hand if you betray him! Just cut out all the lights unplug the phone and watch with amazment at the best adaption of Othello ever made! McLiammour plays Iago with such contempt and an under lying lust for the moor that another level of depth is revealed. The opening is all out dramatic and ever the more shoking and draws you into the story instantly! Welles' reworking of the dialogue and dramatic use of the camera and lighting makes the flick ever so frightening and perverse! Doves flying above in a clear sky, the shores crashing against the waves as Othello is told by Iago of his wife's deceit or the gripping of the knife being shoved into Welles' by himself to redeem himself for the crime he has committed against his love! Shakespeare has never been told with the passsion upon which Welles tells it!