The Moorish general Othello is manipulated into thinking that his new wife Desdemona has been carrying on an affair with his lieutenant Michael Cassio when in reality it is all part of the scheme of a bitter ensign named Iago.
Director: Orson Welles
Stars: Orson Welles, Micheál MacLiammóir, Robert Coote, Suzanne Cloutier.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0045251/
I can't say I watched this very carefully. The discs have both the '52 European release and the '55 US version, but the differences seem superficial and/or too subtle for me to detect.
At 93 minutes, this is of course a much-abridged version of the 3h+ play. The basics and important details are preserved, but many rich nuances are redacted. If someone were launching their first study of the play, this might be a place to start before trying to absorb the entire text. For me, having seen the Verdi opera in 2 different productions and 3 other films of the play, this is a welcome addition.
The extra features are worthwhile, including the short-ish video essays on disc 1. The best extra is the feature-length essay by Welles listed below.
Rated 7.7 (6,489)
distr. UA ('55 USA), dir. Welles; 8
1h 24min | Documentary | 10 July 1978
Essay film shot for TV including Orson Welles reflections on Othello close to the Moviola, a chat with Hilton Edwards and Micheál MacLiammóir and fragments of a conversation with the audience in Boston after a screening of the film.
Writer/Director: Orson Welles
Stars: Orson Welles, Micheál MacLiammóir, Hilton Edwards.
Welles could have made money just by selling recordings of his raconteur ramblings. This is more organized and planned than rambled, but given that some footage is lunch conversation with MM & HE, it rambles, pleasantly so; I particularly liked their definitions contrasting jealousy and envy. Although some of the shorter video essays on disc 1 covered some of the same factual history of the film, Welles' words and voice are extremely welcome. He is, if not completely objective, working hard to tilt neither toward self-aggrandizement nor self-pity.
Rated 7.5 (307)
indie, dir. Welles; 8
