Shakespeare's Othello retold in modern London; racial tension in the police force collides with jealousy and revenge. An officer suspects his new bride of infidelity.Shakespeare's Othello retold in modern London; racial tension in the police force collides with jealousy and revenge. An officer suspects his new bride of infidelity.Shakespeare's Othello retold in modern London; racial tension in the police force collides with jealousy and revenge. An officer suspects his new bride of infidelity.
- Won 2 BAFTA Awards
- 12 wins & 5 nominations total
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Storyline
Did you know
- Quotes
[first lines]
Ben Jago: It was about love, That's what you've got to understand. Don't talk to me about race, don't talk to me about politics, It was love, simple as that. She loved him as well as she knew how, he loved her more than any man should love a woman. Tragedy, right? No other word for it. I loved him too, you know.
- ConnectionsReferenced in 500 Days of Summer (2009)
As I have only seen one filmed adaptation of "Othello" (Tim Blake Nelson's well-done teen drama "O"), I picked this version up with great curiosity, wondering what direction it would take. Set in present-day London amid growing racial tensions, John Othello (Eamonn Walker) is a straight-arrow cop whose honesty and courage earns him a promotion to Police Commissioner; his best friend and confidant, Ben Jago (a wonderfully over-the-top Christopher Eccleston), is poisoned with jealousy at this, thinking it is a racially/politically motivated move at a position that is rightfully his. Caught in the middle is pure-hearted Dessi (Keeley Hawes), Jago's intermediary to Othello's destruction.
This "Othello" is a gritty, hard-hitting, and compelling production; the contemporary elements are integrated with ease (cell phones, DNA testing, Internet sites, handguns, etc.), the dialog has been substantially modified for modern ears, yet retains the tragic poetry of Shakespeare's text, and the triangle of key performers is of skilled equality. Eamonn Walker is a toweringly confident Othello, with a winning smile and perceptive eyes that portend everything from rapt euphoria to poisonous jealousy to homicidal rage; Eccleston has a field day with Jago, the bitter, bigoted cop once bound by devotion to his friend, now bound by the devotion to tear him to shreds; Hawes has a smaller but no less substantial role, and comes across as a confident, strong, intelligent woman who knows herself, and is not merely a pawn.
While the entire production is gripping, there are several scenes in particular that stand out: Othello's fearless address to a gang of citizens rioting outside the police station over the beating death of a black man goes from palpable tension to calm seamlessly; Jago's raging 'aside' upon learning of Othello's promotion--his bigoted, blustery rant as he stalks down the corridors of New Scotland Yard swings between sarcasm and seriousness, aided by Eccleston's ability to keep the character grounded in reality; and the scene where Othello, stricken with a full-blown paranoia over his wife's (seeming) misdeeds, tears through their apartment looking for incriminating evidence, filmed in a dizzying style that recalls Roman Polanski's "The Tenant." As a meditation on the frailty of love and the perils of trust, Shakespeare's "Othello" taps into emotions and manipulations that still exist in society; this film faithfully recreates those sentiments through impassioned performances and inspired direction (by Geoffrey Sax). Don't let the words "Masterpiece Theatre" deter you from seeing "Othello"--it really IS that good.
(Note: "Othello" is not rated, but would merit an "R" for violence, sexuality/nudity, and some harsh profanity.)
- Jonny_Numb
- Jul 10, 2007
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- Otelo
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- Runtime1 hour 40 minutes
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