 |  | Finally a black Moor...Mr. William would have been pleased |  |
For his directorial debut Oliver Parker has chosen a great cast: the always incredible Laurence Fishburn as Othello, and the famous Shakespearean "maniac" Kenneth Branagh as Iago. Like Laurence Olivier, Branagh is another talanted actor, whose name is forever linked to the name of William Shakespeare in the movie industry. However, it's Fishburn who truly carries the film on his shoulders. His portrayal of Othello, with all that mixture of love and hate, devotion and betrayal, passion and intense jealousy, growing slowly into paranoia, makes a deep impression and a strong understanding of who Othello truly was. A very good interpretation of the Shakespearean classic standing in a row with Olivier's, Welles' and Bondarchuk's Othellos with one very major plus - finally a black Othello...
June 10, 2008I've watched 3 other filmed Othellos (see my other reviews) and I liked Brannagh the best as Iago. Fishburne's Othello is enjoyable yet somehow affected, Desdemona can't really figure out how to pronounce english let alone speak elizabethan/jacobean prose, but Brannagh is great! I watched this film and Olivier's with my roommate who is NOT an english major/afficianado and she could understand him -- go figure. Brannagh does what he does best and he isn't anything other than himself playing Iago but he is still quite enjoyable. Fishburne hasn't trained classically but still does a decent job (and he's HOT). The only contention I have is that Parker sacrificed content for brevity,sliced and diced with the lines, gave some speeches to other characters, and relied on the sexual scenes a little much for my tastes. C'mon, look at the cover! I think it's a great starter Othello to give you the overview of the story, though.
May 19, 2008 | | 21st Century Shakespeare? | |
I should, perhaps, disqualify myself as a reviewer of this admittedly lush production, because I found the first twenty minutes of it so dismayingly bad that I did not care to watch the rest. In what I take to be an effort to make Shakespeare accessible to audiences raised on Bruce Willis and Matt Damon, director Oliver Parker delivers something emotionally incoherent, clumsy, shallow, and crass. Branagh, Fishburne, and Jocob seem to inhabit different dramatic universes. I was unable to believe that their characters had any real connection with one another. This was particularly--and painfully--true of the scene in which Fishburne's Othello deflowers Jocob's Desdemona. Exciting bedroom games for some, I suppose, but for me it was Shakespeare made vapid.
March 22, 2008 | | Great movie for the classroom! | |
I'm a teacher who taught Othello this semester and this video REALLY helped bring the script alive! Excellent choice for the Shakespeare buff or someone looking to expand their horizons.
January 8, 2008The cover of the movie is somewhat misleading. It is not erotic or full of sex (I know this may disappoint some-sorry). I do not think there is any nudity in it at all actually, except for a brief scene in the background of Desdemona behind a sheer curtain.
Moving on...it is a good flick, but does not follow Shakespeare's playscript verbatim. Laurence Fishburne plays a powerfully moving Othello, and I though Kenneth Branagh gave an excellent rendition of Iago.
December 2, 2007More reviews at Amazon.com ...
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