Othello is a
1995The year 1995 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* March 22 - The Dogme 95 movement is officially announced in Paris by Danish directors Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg....
film based on
William ShakespeareWilliam Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's preeminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
's
tragedyTragedy is a form of art based on human suffering that, paradoxically, offers its audience pleasure...
of the
same nameOthello, the Moor of Venice is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in approximately 1603, and based on the Italian short story "Un Capitano Moro" by Cinthio, a disciple of Boccaccio, first published in 1565...
. It was directed by
Oliver ParkerOliver Parker is an English film director.Parker was born in London, the son of Lady Gillian, a writer and GP, and Sir Peter Parker, a railway executive...
and stars
Laurence FishburneLaurence John Fishburne III is an American actor of screen and stage, as well as a playwright, director, and producer. He is perhaps best known for his roles as Morpheus in the Matrix science fiction film trilogy, Cuba Gooding, Jr.'s character's father Furious Styles in Boyz N The Hood, "Cowboy...
as
OthelloOthello is a character in Shakespeare's Othello . The character's origin is traced to the tale, "Un Capitano Moro" in Gli Hecatommithi by Giovanni Battista Giraldi Cinthio. There, he is simply referred to as the Moor....
,
Irène JacobIrène Marie Jacob is a French-born Swiss actress considered one of the preeminent French actresses of her generation. Jacob gained international recognition and acclaim through her work with Polish film director Krzysztof Kieslowski, who cast her in the lead role of The Double Life of Véronique...
as
DesdemonaDesdemona, as a name, may refer to:* Desdemona , a fictional character in William Shakespeare's play Othello * Desdemona , a soprano role in the 1816 opera Otello by Gioachino Rossini...
, and
Kenneth BranaghKenneth Charles Branagh is a Northern Irish actor and film director.- Early life :Branagh, the second of three children, was born and brought up in Belfast to working class Protestant parents Frances and William Branagh, a plumber and joiner who ran a company that specialised in fitting...
as
IagoIago is a fictional character in Shakespeare's Othello . The character's source is traced to Giovanni Battista Giraldi Cinthio's tale "Un Capitano Moro" in Gli Hecatommithi . There, the character is simply "the ensign". Iago is a soldier and Othello's ancient...
. This is the first cinematic reproduction of the play released by a major studio that casts an African-American actor to play the role of Othello, although low-budget independent films of the play starring
Ted LangeTheodore "Ted" William Lange is an American actor, director, and screenwriter best known for his role as the bartender, Isaac Washington, in the TV series The Love Boat.-Early life and acting career:...
and
Yaphet KottoPrince Yaphet Frederick Kotto is an American actor, known for numerous film roles, and his starring role in the NBC television series: Homicide: Life on the Street.-Early life:...
predated it.
The film follows the story of the play closely, but cuts many lines.
Othello is a
1995The year 1995 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* March 22 - The Dogme 95 movement is officially announced in Paris by Danish directors Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg....
film based on
William ShakespeareWilliam Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's preeminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
's
tragedyTragedy is a form of art based on human suffering that, paradoxically, offers its audience pleasure...
of the
same nameOthello, the Moor of Venice is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in approximately 1603, and based on the Italian short story "Un Capitano Moro" by Cinthio, a disciple of Boccaccio, first published in 1565...
. It was directed by
Oliver ParkerOliver Parker is an English film director.Parker was born in London, the son of Lady Gillian, a writer and GP, and Sir Peter Parker, a railway executive...
and stars
Laurence FishburneLaurence John Fishburne III is an American actor of screen and stage, as well as a playwright, director, and producer. He is perhaps best known for his roles as Morpheus in the Matrix science fiction film trilogy, Cuba Gooding, Jr.'s character's father Furious Styles in Boyz N The Hood, "Cowboy...
as
OthelloOthello is a character in Shakespeare's Othello . The character's origin is traced to the tale, "Un Capitano Moro" in Gli Hecatommithi by Giovanni Battista Giraldi Cinthio. There, he is simply referred to as the Moor....
,
Irène JacobIrène Marie Jacob is a French-born Swiss actress considered one of the preeminent French actresses of her generation. Jacob gained international recognition and acclaim through her work with Polish film director Krzysztof Kieslowski, who cast her in the lead role of The Double Life of Véronique...
as
DesdemonaDesdemona, as a name, may refer to:* Desdemona , a fictional character in William Shakespeare's play Othello * Desdemona , a soprano role in the 1816 opera Otello by Gioachino Rossini...
, and
Kenneth BranaghKenneth Charles Branagh is a Northern Irish actor and film director.- Early life :Branagh, the second of three children, was born and brought up in Belfast to working class Protestant parents Frances and William Branagh, a plumber and joiner who ran a company that specialised in fitting...
as
IagoIago is a fictional character in Shakespeare's Othello . The character's source is traced to Giovanni Battista Giraldi Cinthio's tale "Un Capitano Moro" in Gli Hecatommithi . There, the character is simply "the ensign". Iago is a soldier and Othello's ancient...
. This is the first cinematic reproduction of the play released by a major studio that casts an African-American actor to play the role of Othello, although low-budget independent films of the play starring
Ted LangeTheodore "Ted" William Lange is an American actor, director, and screenwriter best known for his role as the bartender, Isaac Washington, in the TV series The Love Boat.-Early life and acting career:...
and
Yaphet KottoPrince Yaphet Frederick Kotto is an American actor, known for numerous film roles, and his starring role in the NBC television series: Homicide: Life on the Street.-Early life:...
predated it.
Adaptation
The film follows the story of the play closely, but cuts many lines. In addition it adds scenes not in the play, including a sex scene between Othello and Desdemona, dreams in which Othello imagines Desdemona's supposed affair with
CassioMichael Cassio is a fictional character in William Shakespeare's Othello. The source of the character is the 1565 tale "Un Capitano Moro" by Cinthio; Cassio is unnamed in Cinthio but referred to as "the squadron leader." In the play, Cassio is a young and handsome lieutenant under Othello's...
, a scene in which Desdemona dances for Othello and a final scene in which the bodies of those killed are
buried at seaBurial at sea describes the procedure of disposing of human remains in the ocean, normally from a ship or boat.-Modern burial at sea procedures:...
.
Cast
| Characters |
| Role |
Actor |
| Othello Othello is a character in Shakespeare's Othello . The character's origin is traced to the tale, "Un Capitano Moro" in Gli Hecatommithi by Giovanni Battista Giraldi Cinthio. There, he is simply referred to as the Moor....
|
Laurence Fishburne Laurence John Fishburne III is an American actor of screen and stage, as well as a playwright, director, and producer. He is perhaps best known for his roles as Morpheus in the Matrix science fiction film trilogy, Cuba Gooding, Jr.'s character's father Furious Styles in Boyz N The Hood, "Cowboy...
|
DesdemonaDesdemona is a character in Shakespeare's Othello .Shakespeare's Desdemona is a Venetian beauty who enrages and disappoints her father, a Venetian senator, when she elopes with Othello, a man several years her senior and not of her race. When her husband is deployed to Cyprus in the service of the...
|
Irène Jacob Irène Marie Jacob is a French-born Swiss actress considered one of the preeminent French actresses of her generation. Jacob gained international recognition and acclaim through her work with Polish film director Krzysztof Kieslowski, who cast her in the lead role of The Double Life of Véronique...
|
IagoIago is a fictional character in Shakespeare's Othello . The character's source is traced to Giovanni Battista Giraldi Cinthio's tale "Un Capitano Moro" in Gli Hecatommithi . There, the character is simply "the ensign". Iago is a soldier and Othello's ancient...
|
Kenneth Branagh Kenneth Charles Branagh is a Northern Irish actor and film director.- Early life :Branagh, the second of three children, was born and brought up in Belfast to working class Protestant parents Frances and William Branagh, a plumber and joiner who ran a company that specialised in fitting...
|
| Cassio Michael Cassio is a fictional character in William Shakespeare's Othello. The source of the character is the 1565 tale "Un Capitano Moro" by Cinthio; Cassio is unnamed in Cinthio but referred to as "the squadron leader." In the play, Cassio is a young and handsome lieutenant under Othello's...
|
Nathaniel Parker Nathaniel Parker is an English actor best known for his role as Detective Inspector Thomas Lynley in the British television series The Inspector Lynley Mysteries, based on the novels by Elizabeth George.-Personal life:...
|
| Roderigo |
Michael Maloney Michael Maloney is an English actor.Born in Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, Maloney's first television appearance was as Peter Barkworth's teenage son in the 1979 drama series, Telford's Change....
|
| Emilia Emilia is a character in the tragedy Othello by William Shakespeare. The character's origin is traced to the 1565 tale, "Un capitano Moro" from Giovanni Battista Giraldi Cinthio's Gli Hecatommithi. There, the character is described as young and virtuous, is referred to simply as the ensign's wife,...
|
Anna Patrick |
| Montano |
Nicholas Farrell Nicholas Farrell is an English stage, film and television actor. His early screen career included the role of Aubrey Montague in the 1981 film Chariots of Fire. In 1983, he starred as Edmund Bertram in a television adaptation of the Jane Austen novel, Mansfield Park...
|
BiancaBianca is a fictional character in William Shakespeare's Othello . She is Cassio's jealous lover. Despite her brief appearance on stage, Bianca plays a significant role in the progress of Iago's scheme to incite Othello's jealousy of Cassio. Bianca is traditionally regarded as a courtesan,...
|
Indra Ové -Career:Her most notable appearance was in Interview with the Vampire, where she worked with Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt portraying a New Orleans whore. She has also had a small role in The Fifth Element as a VIP Stewardess, Othello and had a small role in Resident Evil...
|
| Lodovico |
Michael SheenMichael Sheen, OBE is a Welsh actor. Having worked with screen writer Peter Morgan on five films, Sheen has become best known for his portrayals of well-known public figures: Tony Blair in The Deal, The Queen, and The Special Relationship, David Frost in both the stage production and film version...
|
Reception
The film was not a financial success, grossing only $2.1 million in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
on its $11 million budget. It received largely positive reviews, especially for Branagh's Iago.
Janet MaslinJanet Maslin is an American journalist. She is best known as a film and literary critic for The New York Times.-Personal:Maslin graduated from the University of Rochester in 1970, with a B.A. degree and a major in mathematics . She was once married to record producer Jon Landau...
wrote in the
New York Times "Mr. Branagh's superb performance, as the man whose
MachiavellianMachiavellianism is, according to the OED, "the employment of cunning and duplicity in statecraft or in general conduct", deriving from the Italian Renaissance diplomat and writer Niccolò Machiavelli, who wrote Il Principe and other works...
scheming guides the story of Othello's downfall, guarantees this film an immediacy that any audience will understand." Branagh was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award for his performance, although in the Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a
Supporting Role category despite the fact that Iago has more lines than any other character in the original play (1047 to Othello's 856).