Product Details

• Actors: Laurence Olivier, Maggie Smith, Joyce Redman, Frank Finlay, Derek Jacobi
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, HiFi Sound, NTSC
• Rated: Unrated
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Warner Home Video
• VHS Release Date: September 1, 1998
• Run Time: 167 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6304071825
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #216,173 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Laurence Olivier's extravagant performance as the jealous Moor of Venice had its origins on stage at London's National Theatre; this 1965 film is a straight rendering of that production, shot on a soundstage with spare backdrops. However much the resulting artifact can actually be described as a film, one must feel gratitude just for the preservation of Olivier's pinwheeling turn. Yes, it's theatrical: the blackface make-up, the exotic gestures, the rumbly voice. Olivier doesn't connect organically with the character, but builds layer upon layer of effect until reaching critical mass; then his Othello explodes across the stage, keening in rage or flopping in agony. Before being encouraged to doubt his spotless wife Desdemona (Maggie Smith), Olivier's Moor flashes a broad grin that stands as a beacon of his shallow self-confidence; after the coin drops, his body hunches in misery. If Olivier dominates, this film nevertheless presents a marvelous Iago, by Frank Finlay, the evil engineer of the plot. It may just be Finlay's physical and vocal resemblance to comic Peter Cook, but he seems to embody the sarcasm and "sick" humor of the 1960s in his Iago--and his dry style is far more attuned to the movie camera than Olivier's. Olivier, Finlay, and Smith were all nominated for Oscars, as was Joyce Redman, as Iago's hapless lady. For a real shock, and a great lesson in Olivier's chameleon talent, watch Othello and then view the brief promotional film shot during filming, included on the DVD--you'll be astonished that the gray-haired gentleman, near sixty and with clunky eyeglasses, is the same volcanic performer that just erupted for 166 minutes on film. --Robert Horton

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Olivier's politically incorrect masterpiece, July 16, 2007

By 

Clifford Mack "disgruntled scripter" (Los Angeles, CA.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Othello (DVD)

True, you have to get past the blackface make-up, the bright red lips, the false eyelashes; but once that surface is accepted, a great performance is there to be appreciated. Olivier is the blackest Othello I've ever seen, the most 'African', in his movements, the wilds of his emotion, the warrior-like curses and threats as he beats his chest and curses his fate. Many thought it was a ham acting, excruciatingly over the top; for me it was a courageous, dangerous performance, walking the line between terror and pity throughout. His voice is astonishing and his delivery unique and musical and frightening and tender. I thought it was his bravest, and greatest, performance. I'm glad it was recorded as a filmed play and not 'opened up' as a movie, which would have diluted the intensity of the performance. Highly recommended, with the above caveats about the makeup.

27 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Moor Of Venice, August 21, 2007

By 

Marlina "Neena" (Middleton, WI, United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Othello (DVD)

I wrote my AP English essay junior year in high school about the Moor of Venice. I have seen every version of this play that has ever been committed to film, which is no small feat for a woman who adores the Bard as I do. I am an African American woman and I have heard about the fact that some think that his portrayal of the moor to be stereotypical, well, I don't think so. I think that there is nothing so sweeping as the way that he brings this play to life, Othello is not my favorite Shakespeare play, possibly the third favorite but there is something in the truth of Othello that I think is deeply stirring, it is the truth of self-esteem. He thinks himself a lowly creature, despite the fact that he is a great general and is acclaimed by many even the trials that he has been through in his life. Olivier makes you feel that, he wrung tears from me the frist time that I saw him in this performance, like a floodgate, I wanted to hold this wounded man to my heart, he was flawless and seamless, I lost Olivier in this movie, he was purely the character. I think that if I were trying to get someone to understand the subtle nature of Othello this would be the performance that I would suggest, I am so glad that I saw it one night on cable when I could sleep. He outshines all others who have attempted this part, ALL OTHERS. I mean I have seen the Laurence Fishburne portrayal and its good and it has its moments but this one is amazing. I didn't notice his lips being red really, but when you are that dark, the inner part of your lips are redder by contrast. When I saw it I was floored, his voice,the sheer emotion, glorious.
I am going to buy this version because I think it belongs on the shelf with my four and a half hour version of Hamlet.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Magnificent Pinnacle of Drama, July 31, 2004

By 

blockhed "blockhed" (UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Othello [VHS] (VHS Tape)

This is Olivier's finest performance, although Archie Rice runs it close. Anyone even minimally familiar with Shakespeare criticism knows that, as the play is written, the Moor's tragic flaw is not that he is prone to jealousy, but that he over-dramatizes his self-image. He exaggerates his role in life as a great military commander, with excessive rhetorical relish, and sees himself as a man for whom personal honour and glory are of greater intrinsic importance than anything else, including love, loyalty and forgiveness. This is why and how Iago succeeds in making such a fool of him.

The role itself is therefore ideally suited to Olivier's over-the-top theatrical style. To complain that this is a filmed stage play is idiotic, since it never pretends to be anything else. That is exactly what it sets out to be: a permanent record on film of a stage production. It is also idiotic to protest that Olivier is a white man playing the part in black make-up: that is how Shakespeare wrote it, 400 years ago, and there is nothing that can now be done to alter it, like it or not.

Olivier's performance is utterly compelling. Only the semi-literate, or those with the aesthetic sensitivity of a rhinoceros, can fail to be gripped and transfixed by this superb interpretation of one of the most diabolically well-written masterpieces of European theatre. It is interesting to note that such is Shakespeare's genius for stage-craft that even modern ten-year-old American kids (of normal intelligence) can easily follow the development of the drama, in spite of the apparently archaic language.

Finlay's Iago and Redman's Emilia match Olivier. Maggie Smith's Desdemona is very fine, although I see the role played by someone just a touch more delicate and vulnerable. The stage direction is masterly, and the few simple sets are also excellently conceived. Shakespeare's tragedies are, by their very nature, overpowering works: Olivier understands the timing and significance of every word, and delivers the lines in a manner entirely appropriate to their original creation. I haven't seen all the other Othellos by the many other actors, but can only suspect that their performances, whether by white players or black, must fade and pale by comparison.

These comments relate to the BHE dvd version, digitally remastered by Warner, which also includes a fragmentary interview with Anthony Hopkins, cast profiles, as well as a brief account of Shakespeare's sources for the play, and its theatrical history.