Customer Reviews

Othello [The Tragedy of Othello] by Orson Welles - Import, All Regions

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Controversial and weird, this eccentric masterpiece adds a dimension to Othello present in no other film version: the frenzied mindlessness of evil. Welles' fast cutting, shortening of the play, plus the incredible performance of the legendary Dublin stage actor Michael Macliammor all add to this effect.

Welles himself portrays a stuttering, flubbering and blustery Othello. Yes, it looks a little canned -- see his similar walk through his relatively poor Macbeth. Here, however, it simply works in context, egged on by the extraordinary Macliammor (who in real life tutored boy Welles when he escaped to Dublin before his Mercury Theatre days). So Orson here, among a lot else, returns the compliment, resulting in one of the most fascinating stabs at Shakespeare caught on film in century 20. Some are troubled by Maclaimmor's face as a uniform mask of evil. But this simply shows how the performance is registering on a subconscious level. Also, both the performances and direction owe a lot to the silent film era and early German film expressionism, heavy influences on Welles who is too often held up (and then roughly put down) as boy genius gone bad.

No, evil is not very interesting at all, finally. Those who have yet to face that bald fact out of life itself may balk at this production. There are also controversies over whether Welles ever really "finished" it (the fact is he "finished" quite little in his life), and about this restoration by his daughter Beatrice, recently slandered in a new Welles bio. I vote for Beatrice. The new soundtrack and music are simply necessary to make this film palatable, and the images are dazzlingly restored. Truth is, Welles goes in and out of vogue and not even viewable versions (much less scholar-certified definitive versions) of all his works are yet, to this date, available. Would the naysayers be happier if Beatrice Welles just collected royalties and went on a Paris Hilton ego trip? What some segments of the public these days seem to expect to be handed to them, duty free, is almost as appalling and parasitic as Macliammor's Iago.

Everything here works up to the horrific finale and the inspired final frames. This is an Othello you will never forget, even if you only see it once. Sure, one needs to see other great Othellos if you can find them (Olivier's differently eccentic version is scarce as hen's teeth). But this grand and bold experiment will teach you a lot about both the play and its horrific, eternal subject matter -- what the American writer Louis Auchincloss called "motiveless malignancy." Next to Macliammor's Iago, Olivier's Richard III looks like an upstanding worthy fellow.

Excellent acting with Orson Wells as Othello. The Lawrence Olivier version is impossible to find. There are newer films of Othello such as the Lawrence Fishburn one but I cannot use them in my school classroom because they are rated R and the Orson Wells version is approved by the school district. My students found the film noir version interesting with the stark black and white and odd camera angles that increased tension in the viewer to match the tension in the play.

Visually stunning in many scenes, this is a fascinating example of Orson Welles cinematic genius and a confusing and frustrating rendition of Shakespeare's Othello.

If Welles had had the time and money to complete the film, it is possible that it could have been as great as many of Welles' idolaters say it is (and it isn't).

Made in the early 1950s, Othello was filmed in the European fashion, which meant that the dialogue was to be dubbed in later. Consequently, the dialogue is often at odds with the action on the screen. Welles' Othello seems emotionally subdued in one scene, yet his voice rages with passion. Robert Coote, who portrayed the dupe Roderigo, evidently wasn't available when it came time to dub his scenes so we are treated to Welles' effeminate falsetto coming out of Coote's mouth. Hilton Edwards' Brabantio mouths his lines like a fugitive from an Italian 1950's Son Of Hercules epic.

In one particular instance, Welles made a true virtue of necessity. According to one account, the costumes were unavailable for the scene of Roderigo's attempt on Cassio's life so Welles set the scene in a Turkish bath. It's a great scene.

The acting is somewhat spotty. Welles brings a lot of smoldering emotion to his role. However, he tends to stalk through several scenes as if auditioning for a remake of Dracula.

Micheál MacLiammóir seemed to interpret the malevolent Iago's primary motivation as constipation. His facial expression never changes and he moves from scene to scene as if he had a stick up his backside.

Fay Compton's Emilia is refreshing. She offers the one consistently good performance throughout. Too bad her screen time is only about six minutes total. It's an absolute relief to watch her and her speech on the nature of men and women is one of the few that doesn't suffer from the dubbing.

Welles ran out of money and he may have lost interest in the film as well. So, we don't know what his final cut would have looked like. However, his style in Othello seems heavily influenced by Sergei Eisenstein's Ivan The Terrible and Alexander Nevsky. Lots of dark, people running in and out of shadows, huge vaulted chambers, faces either cloaked or creased by shadows, odd camera angles. Very moody.

Lots of jarring jump cuts, too. I don't know if this was Welles' plan or, like the soundtrack, just using what the present day restorers had to work with.

All in all, this is probably a must for all true fans of Orson Welles (and Fay Compton) but a mild curiosity for lovers of Shakespeare.

When I ordered this title, together with Welles' "Macbeth" and "Falstaff (Chimes at Midnight)", I was highly suspicious and doubtful about the true quality potential, since I had read that "Othello" and "Macbeth" were a Korean pressed DVD, and "Chimes at Midnight" (as "Falstaff" was originally called by Welles himself) a Brazilian one.

Once I did receive the package, not only was I impressed by the excellent condition of the three, but once watched them on my top of the line system, I could not believe my eyes, nor my ears.

The images on all three were crystal clear and finally there were just very unnoticeable scratches and some very tiny specks, but really nothing to be compared with older and shabbier versions, including VHS tapes of yesteryear.

All three were filmed in Black and White and now the contrast and the Grayish shades have been finely restored to their original values as if they had been printed today.

The sound, in particular, and especially in "Othello" is in an unbelievable 2.0 Stereo Surround, of course completely reworked and minutely re-sychronized in the 1990s and the dialogues a finally sharp and clear.

On a scale from 1 to 3, I would say that the 1952 "Othello" restoration receives a 1 (for being the best one of the lot), followed by 2 "Chimes at Midnight" and 3 "Macbeth".

Mind you, all three have been fully restored in sound and picture quality and the DVDs honor the memory of a giant such as Orson Welles.
It is just that probably, due to the original sound material used on "Macbeth" in 1948, by today standards, although the sound is also very clear and
somewhat rounded up, it still sounds a bit shrill to the ears in some parts of the film.

But believe me, all three, starting with the masterpiece of the lot, "Othello", are well worth their price.

Amazing is only the fact, that although the restoration of all three was done in the United States, they never saw the light as regular Studio library DVD releases (perhaps too shy?), and only the Koreans and the Brazilians has the good taste and the guts to transfer them.

Of course, considering the treatment that Orson Welles received from the Studios back in those days, I doubt he would very much mind if some other Nation represents him more honorably than the Nation that owes him so many masterpieces such as "Citizen Kane". "The Magnificent Ambersons", "The Lady from Shanghai" and "Touch of Evil".

This only proves one thing, still nowadays.
No one is a prophet in his own homeland.

Pity, since the Studios these days, could really profit from people like Orson Welles or say, Stanley Kubrick.

They badly need such visionaries to work for them.

But alas, their corporate nature makes them blind, deaf and mute to such geniuses.

O for a muse of fire...

Highly recommended for all who love good and great Cinema as it should be done.

Orson Welles spent four years putting together this movie. Always out of money, filming off the land all over Europe and Africa, it's a miracle the thing ever got made. It's a marvel of editing: within a 5-second scene, there may be a difference of two years and a thousand miles shown. He hated the voices of some of the major actors and redubbed them - poorly, so that words and lips aren't synchronized. He employs fast cutting and other Wellesian visual techniques, but he took great liberties with the Bard. In pieces the movie has high points - the Turkish bath scene, for example - but as a whole it's disappointing. Welles spent so much time filming and editing that he forgot it eventually was going to be shown to an audience. It's a movie only Welles could appreciate. (Presumed lost for 35 years, a copy finally turned up in New Jersey in 1992.)

Macbeth is Orson Wells at his best. He captures the essence of the "reluctant " general. Lady Macbeth is the personification of the "behind the scenes wife" pushing her man (who she loves deeply) to acchieve greatness that thry both ardently desire.

Orson Welles worked on and off for four years to complete his remarkable adaptation of OTHELLO, which was filmed in Morocco and Italy. When cash was short, Orson would take acting jobs ("The Third Man," for one) in order to fund his pet project.

Winner of the Palm d'Or at Cannes in 1952, THE TRAGEDY OF OTHELLO: THE MOOR OF VENICE was released in America three years later and was briefly shown in only two cities. The movie literally disappeared after that-- the negative assumed lost somewhere in France. Forty years later, Orson's daughter searched and eventually located this one and only silver nitrate master in New Jersey, of all places.

In pristine condition visually, restoration was only needed for the audio track. The Chicago Symphony re-recorded note-for-note the original score and this new track was "flown in." The results, picture and sound-wise are superb! Pictorially, OTHELLO is by far Orson's best work-- its beautiful scenery, imaginative edits, angles and lighting make for a movie that visually rivals the greatest works of the silent era, and in fact would stand up well in that genre.

As for the tragedy of the jealous Moor-- those unfamiliar with Renaissance-era English may at times wonder if the actors are speaking a foreign language! Yet, because of strong visuals the storyline isn't hampered by this. Welles's OTHELLO is the epitome of great film making. Along with Anthony Hopkins in TITUS (1999), it's by far my favorite screen version of Shakespeare. (CAMEOS: Joseph Cotten as a senator and Joan Fontaine as a page.)


Parenthetical number preceding title is a 1 to 10 viewer poll rating found at a film resource website.

(7.8) The Tragedy of Othello: The Moor of Venice (USA/France/Italy/Morocco-1952) - Orson Welles/Micheál MacLiammóir/Robert Coote/Suzanne Cloutier/Hilton Edwards/Nicholas Bruce/Michael Laurence/Fay Compton/Doris Dowling (uncedited: Joseph Cotten, Joan Fontaine)

also the finest of Mr. Welles's efforts, including the remarkable and essential Touch of Evil (Restored to Orson Welles' Vision).

And one of the best low-budget productions ever made, inclding the admirable efforts of Mr. Alex Cox (see is X Films: True Confessions of a Radical Filmmaker.

This is all you will need to see of Othello on film, and it can never be improved upon, despite the several recent efforts, including the updating O (Two-Disc Special Edition).

I was fortunate once long ago, some forty years ago in fact, to see the great James Earle Jones (whose King Lear must never be missed) perform as Othello, despite his age he was very energetic in it, at Connecticut's Goodspeed Opera House, and as live Othello there could be no finer. Here we have the greatest yet on film (please, Mr. Pacino, do not go here!).

You can grasp the full import of this great tragedy here, and much of the finest poetry from the play, in this extraordinary rendition. Any film-maker can learn from the master in observing the craft of this film as well, in camera angles, in staging, in low budget methods.

What I cannot find on my copy of this DVD are the extras, any extras, regarding the restoration, etc. But who needs it. Just watch this movie. It is great, and needed, a tale of ultimate justice foretold silently from the start, a justice which may come too late, but which ineluctably comes.

Watch this great film. Then read the book as well, most favorably at The Oxford Shakespeare: Othello: The Moor of Venice (The Oxford Shakespeare) or their new Othello (2009 edition): Oxford School Shakespeare.

We find here much to learn, and much to admire.