Othello is a 2001 British television film starring Eamonn Walker

Eamonn Walker

Eamonn Walker is an English film, television and theatre actor. In the United States, he is known for playing Kareem Said in the HBO television series Oz, for which he won a CableACE Award, and elsewere as Winston, the gay, black thorn in Alf Garnett's side in In Sickness and in Health and John...

, Christopher Eccleston

Christopher Eccleston

Christopher Eccleston is an English stage, film and television actor. His films include Let Him Have It, Shallow Grave, Elizabeth, 28 Days Later, Gone in 60 Seconds, The Others, and G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra...

 and Keeley Hawes

Keeley Hawes

Keeley Hawes is an English actress and model, known for many television roles. She is best known for her roles as Zoe Reynolds in Spooks and Alex Drake in Ashes to Ashes and Lady Agnes in the remake of Upstairs, Downstairs...

. It is an adaptation in modern English

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

 of William Shakespeare's play Othello

Othello

The Tragedy of Othello, 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 scripted by Andrew Davies

Andrew Davies (writer)

Andrew Wynford Davies is a British author and screenwriter. He was made a Fellow of BAFTA in 2002.-Education and early career:...

 and directed by Geoffrey Sax

Geoffrey Sax

Geoffrey Sax is a British film and television director, who has worked on a variety of critically acclaimed and popular drama productions in both the UK and the United States....

.

Plot

The film is narrated by Ben Jago

Iago

Iago 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 . He is the husband of Emilia,...

, a corrupt police detective who is prepared to manipulate those around him to get what he wants, even the people he loves.

After the Commissioner of London's Metropolitan Police

Metropolitan police

Metropolitan Police is a generic title for the municipal police force for a major metropolitan area, and it may be part of the official title of the force...

 Sinclair Carver is caught using racist

Racism

Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...

 language he is forced to resign. The Home Secretary and Prime Minister choose John Othello, a black policeman and Jago's best friend, to be the next Commissioner as a publicity stunt after a reporter praises him for ending a riot. Jago, Carver's second-in-command, feels that Othello stole his chance to become Commissioner himself, as he had been the favourite for the job. Jago plots to take revenge on Othello by ruining his life and driving him out of his new job.

Jago posts on a neo-Nazi website about Othello's marriage to Dessie Brabant, a wealthy white woman, leading her to be attacked in the street. When Othello asks Jago to lend him a man to look after her during the day Jago suggests Michael Cass, an attractive inspector and known womanizer, to look after Dessie. Jago also seduces Dessie's best friend, Lulu, to try to get information about Dessie's past and her relationship with Cass.

During this Othello has Jago look into the death of Billy Coates, a black drug addict, who was battered to death by three policemen claiming it was self-defense. He discovers, via PC Alan Roderick, that the three policemen actually went to Coastes' flat with the intention of attacking him. Jago sympathises with Roderick and offers protection in return for him testifying against the other three policemen. Upon discovering this Othello is given all the credit. Furious that he has once again been overlooked by Othello, Jago decides to ruin the case. Roderick is called to give evidence at the trial causing the other policemen to rebuff him. The day he is called to trial he is found dead from an overdose

Drug overdose

The term drug overdose describes the ingestion or application of a drug or other substance in quantities greater than are recommended or generally practiced...

, and it is suggested that Jago overdosed Roderick with alcohol, knowing he was on anti-depressants. Jago offers to take the blame, but Othello refuses, telling him that he is the "only person [he] can trust."

Through Jago's prompting and several misunderstandings between Dessie and Cass, Othello begins to become paranoid that Dessie is having an affair. Jago suggests they use DNA

DNA

Deoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in...

 to test whether Dessie and Cass sleeping together. During a televised interview Othello has a breakdown and even attacks Cass in a car park. Jago starts to feel guilty, but decides that it is out of his hands. Nonetheless he tells Othello that he got the DNA tests back, confirming that Dessie is having an affair.

That night Othello returns home to confront her. When Dessie denies it Othello kills her in a fit of anger. Worried when they don't get a response at the door, Jago and Lulu break into the flat to find Dessie dead. Jago tells Othello that the tests were negative and Dessie was innocent. Realising that he had been manipulated, Othello asks Jago why he did it, to which Jago states that Othello took what was his; despite everything, however, Jago states that he still loves Othello and always will.

Jago and Lulu wait outside for the police to arrive when Othello commits suicide

Suicide

Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...

. Shortly after the Home Secretary and Prime Minister decide to choose a more reliable pair of hands for the Commissioner, choosing Jago.

The film ends with Jago stating that it wasn't about race or politics but love, "simple as that."

Cast

Character in the play Othello	Character in Othello (2001)	Actor
Othello Othello The Tragedy of Othello, 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...	John Othello	Eamonn Walker Eamonn Walker Eamonn Walker is an English film, television and theatre actor. In the United States, he is known for playing Kareem Said in the HBO television series Oz, for which he won a CableACE Award, and elsewere as Winston, the gay, black thorn in Alf Garnett's side in In Sickness and in Health and John...
Iago Iago Iago 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 . He is the husband of Emilia,...	Ben Jago	Christopher Eccleston Christopher Eccleston Christopher Eccleston is an English stage, film and television actor. His films include Let Him Have It, Shallow Grave, Elizabeth, 28 Days Later, Gone in 60 Seconds, The Others, and G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra...
Desdemona Desdemona (Othello) Desdemona is a character in William Shakespeare's play 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. When her husband is deployed to Cyprus in the service of the...	Dessie Brabant	Keeley Hawes Keeley Hawes Keeley Hawes is an English actress and model, known for many television roles. She is best known for her roles as Zoe Reynolds in Spooks and Alex Drake in Ashes to Ashes and Lady Agnes in the remake of Upstairs, Downstairs...
Michael Cassio Michael Cassio Michael Cassio, or simply 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...	Michael Cass	Richard Coyle Richard Coyle Richard Coyle is an English actor.-Early life:Coyle was born in Sheffield, England to Irish parents. He began his acting career after a stint working on a ferry entertaining passengers, where he was told by a theatre director that he had a talent and should pursue it further...
Emilia Emilia (Othello) 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,...	Lulu	Rachael Stirling Rachael Stirling Rachael Atlanta Stirling is an English stage, film and television actress. She is a two-time Olivier nominee for her stage work, but is best known for her performance as Nancy Astley in the BBC drama Tipping the Velvet.-Personal life:...
Roderigo Roderigo Roderigo is a fictional character in Shakespeare's Othello . He is a dissolute Venetian lusting after Othello's wife Desdemona. Roderigo has opened his purse to Iago in the mistaken belief that Iago is using his money to pave the way to Desdemona's bed...	PC Alan Roderick	Del Synnott Del Synnott Del Synnott is a British actor, perhaps best known for playing Froderick in Princess of Thieves and DC Alan Carter in Murphy's Law...
Duke of Venice	Sinclair Carver	Bill Paterson
Brabantio Brabantio Brabantio is a character in William Shakespeare's Othello . He is a Venetian senator and the father of Desdemona. He has entertained Othello is his home countless times before the play opens, thus giving Othello and Desdemona opportunity to fall in love...	James Brabant	Joss Ackland Joss Ackland Sidney Edmond Jocelyn Ackland CBE , known as Joss Ackland, is an English actor who has appeared in more than 130 films and numerous television roles.-Early life:...

Motives

The film adopts several of the suggested motives for Jago's actions. Firstly, is his failure to be promoted and jealousy over Othello's high position, which he feels should be his.

Finally, the film adopts a modern idea of the 21st century proposed at the time, inferring that the relationship between Othello and Iago is one of repressed homosexuality

Homosexuality

Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...

. Jago states that "It was about love, simple as that". This could be taken as a double meaning: 1.) Being the love between Othello and Dessie, and 2.) The repressed love Jago has for Othello. This is further hinted at by his refusal to let Lulu masturbate him during their foreplay, and his stating that "[He] loved [Othello] too".