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Othello (1952)
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All reviews for Othello
Othello (1952, Orson Welles) ****
by
CinemaRian
in
CinemaRian Blog
hasn't rated it.
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"Othello is one of Orson Welles' masterpieces, and is the best Shakespeare film that I have seen, even better than Kenneth Branaugh's Henry V. In fact, in some ways, it's better than the play it's based on, which I read in high school. The only people who will probably hate the film are Shakespeare purests, as Welles the screenwriter made major cuts and added narration not found in the original. What results is a streamlined and more beleivable version of an obviously good but convoluted play. For reasons that are only hinted at, Iago (Michael MacLiammoir), a soldier in the Venician army, hates his Moorish commander, Othello (Welles). Othello has just secretly married Desdemona (Suzanne Clouteir), the daughter of a senator, whom he loves passionatley. Iago plots his commanders destruction by making him think that Desdemona is having an affair with Cassio (Michael Laurence), Othello's friend an fellow soldier. Tragedy results for everyone. Welles' version of the Shakespeare clas ... "
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Othello
by
sarcastig
in
As cool as a Fruitstand
loved it.
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"Wow. I mean, wow.Othello opens with a funereal procession, heavy dramatic music playing. The shots are truly black and white, in that there are barely any greys: the figures are just black silhouettes set against a forbidding fortress. A man in a cage hangs overhead. This is a tragedy, there's no mistaking it, and when the title card comes up, accompanied by some -by now stereotypical- lute music, it's a jarring contrast.This is how Shakespeare adaptations should be done. This is how theater adaptations should be done, period. Welles both enhances the theatricality here, and at the same time uses every tool and possibility offered by the medium of cinema. One breathtaking shot follows another: in some, the characters are dwarfed against the backdrop of the Essaouira fortress, insignificant and powerless, and in the next they can be seen looming ominously large, filmed from below, often set against a monochrome sky.It's o "
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Othello
by
sarcastig
in
As cool as a Fruitstand
loved it.
Was this review helpful?
[Be the first to tell us!]
"Wow. I mean, wow.Othello opens with a funereal procession, heavy dramatic music playing. The shots are truly black and white, in that there are barely any greys: the figures are just black silhouettes set against a forbidding fortress. A man in a cage hangs overhead. This is a tragedy, there's no mistaking it, and when the title card comes up, accompanied by some -by now stereotypical- lute music, it's a jarring contrast.This is how Shakespeare adaptations should be done. This is how theater adaptations should be done, period. Welles both enhances the theatricality here, and at the same time uses every tool and possibility offered by the medium of cinema. One breathtaking shot follows another: in some, the characters are dwarfed against the backdrop of the Essaouira fortress, insignificant and powerless, and in the next they can be seen looming ominously large, filmed from below, often set against a monochrome sky.It's o "
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