Day 40: Othello in Film

Othello (2008) TV movie, starring Carlo Rota as Othello.

This CBC TV movie starred Carlo Rota, who many viewers know from his roles on Little Mosque on the Prairie, Nikita and 24.

O (2001) Starring Mekhi Phifer and Julia Stiles

Setting Shakespeare in high school is a common adaptation and one that often works well, particularly for dramas. Who's more dramatic than teenagers? In O, Othello is Odin James (Mekhi Phifer), Desdemona is Desi (Julia Stiles), Iago is Hugo, Roderigo is Roger, Emilia is Emily, and Michael Cassio stays the same. Instead of the Venetian army, most of the characters are on the high school basketball team. It was originally slated to be released in 1999 but was postponed after the Columbine High School shooting.

Othello (1995) Starring Laurence Fishburne

It's hard to believe that this movie marked the first major motion picture adaptation of Othello which featured an African American actor in the lead role. It came out the same year as the infamous O.J. Simpson trial, causing critics at the time to draw parallels between the real life case and the movie about a black man accused of killing his white wife.

Othello (1952) Starring Orson Welles

And then there were the racist adaptations of Othello featuring white actors in blackface, most notably Orson Welles (above) and Laurence Olivier (below). It seems neither Welles nor Olivier was willing pass up an opportunity to show off their skills at making terrible Shakespeare movies, especially if the other one had done it first (they were a competitive pair). They were also not willing to pass up an opportunity to wear blackface in order to play the part, it seems. *shudder*

Othello (1965) Starring Laurence Olivier