Perry Kate Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Ensofter Overrated and overhyped

Lucybespro It is a performances centric movie

Matialth Good concept, poorly executed.

paid in full Your enjoyment of this film will depend on the reasons why you are seeing it. I will tell you a little bit about WHY i DECIDED to view this movie so that you can understand the context of this review. -I had read the first few scenes of the play -I am an african descent living in north america -i am a prospective playwriting student -i am a part-time screenwriting student -about a month ago i made a lukewarm commitment to finish all movies that i start watchingNow that you know where i am coming from, I will tell you that I am very pleased with this film,with the story that shakespear tells us, and with the adaptation. The film takes us on a roller coaster of superb acting and of emotions. It is absolutely worth your time. It can be watched again because the story can resist the test of time. In my opinion, Shakespear was a genius and credits to the adaptation.

profgandalf Students often ask me why I choose this version of Othello. Shakespeare's text is strongly truncated and the film contains material which earned it an "R" rating.I have several reasons for using this production: First, I had not seen a depiction of the Moor that actually made me sympathetic to Othello until I saw Fishburne play him. I saw James Earl Jones and Christopher Plummer play Othello and Iago on Broadway, and it was wonderful. Plummer's energy was especially noticeable. But in spite of Jone's incredible presence both physically and vocally, the character he played just seemed too passive to illicit from me a complete emotional purgation in the Aristotelian sense. Jones, in fact, affirmed what I felt when in an interview he noted that he had played Othello as passive--seeing Iago as basically doing him over. Unfortunately this sapped my grief for the character destruction. Thus, I felt sympathy for Jone's Moor but not the horror over his corruption by an evil man. In contrast, Fishburne's Othello is a strong and vigorous figure familiar with taking action. Thus, Iago's temptation to actively deal with what is presented to Othello as his wife's unfaithfulness is a perversion of the general's positive quality to be active not passive.1 The horror of the story is that this good quality in Othello becomes perverted. Fishburne's depiction is therefore classically tragic.Second, Fishburne is the first black actor to play Othello in a film. Both Orsen Wells and Anthony Hopkins did fine film versions, but they were white men in black face.2 Why is this important? Why should a Black actor be the Black man on the stage?3 Certainly in Shakespeare's day they used black face just as they used boys to make girls. Perhaps then, the reason is the same. Female actors bring a special quality to female roles on the Shakespearian stage because they understand best what Shakespeare's genius was trying to present. A gifted black actor should play the moor because his experience in a white dominated culture is vital to understanding what Shakespeare's genius recognized: the pain of being marginalized because of race. An important theme in Othello is isolation caused by racism. Although it is a mistake to insert American racism into a Shakespearian play, there can be little doubt that racism is still working among the characters. Many, including Desdimona's father, think that a union between a Venetian white Christian woman and a North African black Christian man is UNNATURAL.Third, Shakespeare was never G rated. He never has been. His stage productions were always typified by violence and strong language. But Shakespeare's genius uses these elements not as sensationialism but for artistic honesty.

Syl My college professor says that Othello may be Shakespeare's finest drama. I don't know if I agree with him yet. I bought this video version of the film. First I love Kenneth BRanagh as Iago, he was perfectly complicated and worked very well in this adaptation. SUrprisingly, he didn't direct it but played a role. Lawrence Fishburne shows that American actors can play Shakespeare just as well as British actors can do. not that there was a British vs. American issue about it. In fact, if we all work together then Shakespeare can reach the masses which it richly deserves to do. Apart from other Shakespeare tragedies, this is dealt with the issue of race. Something that has existed since the beginning of time. The relationship between Iago and Emilia could have been better and shown the complicatedness of their union together. While Othello loves Desdemona with all his heart, he is weak for jealousy and fears losing her to a non-Moorish man like Cassio. It's quite a great scene at the end of the film but I won't reveal the ending. IT's just worth watching. I think they edited much of the lines to 2 hours but they always edit Shakespeare.

duane19 I think this is a excellent adaptation. The scenery's wonderful (Cala Violina is a magnificent place and that's why the film was familiar to me because I go there often on holiday and the rock Othello's sat on is the one on which I used to catch crabs when I was younger... ^^), the actors, especially Branagh, are superb and I even was surprised by Laurence Fishburne's performance... Well everything's good, I think (although I don't like Othello saying 'Amen' like 'Hey men' instead of 'aaah men', and the place where Desdemona is in Venice is not the rights place, but those are details...) So, it's a very good film you Shakespearians should know. Welles' Othello possibly remains the best one because of its script. The ending's better because it's quicker but the text got much changed from the play. Also, the music of Othello (1995 version) composed by Charlie Mole is very beautiful I think.