From the dvd booklet; probably copyrighted:
Act One:
The black African Othello has returned to Venice victorious after recapturing Cyprus from the Turks on behalf of the Adriatic Republic. In reward he asks the Doge to grant him citizenship, which the latter immediately confers on him - despite his origins. But Othello's ambitions are even loftier: he has secretly married Desdemona, daughter of the politically influential Elmiro. However, Elmiro has other plans for Desdemona: he hates Othello because of his skin colour and intends to marry Desdemona to Rodrigo, who is passionately in love with her.
Desdemona seeks advice from her confidante, Emilia. She has been worried ever since a letter and a lock of her hair that she wanted to send to Othello fell into her father's hands. In order not to give herself away, Desdemona let her father believe that the letter was addressed to Rodrigo. If Othello sees the love token in the hands of another, he will believe her to be unfaithful. Desdemona's fears are all too well founded: the letter and lock of hair have fallen into Iago's possession. Iago also once hoped to win Desdemona's hand in marriage and now wants to take his revenge on her as well as Othello, whom he misleads into believing is his friend.
Elmiro hastily announces the wedding, but to Rodrigo's dismay Desdemona defies her father. When Othello joins them, he declares before the entire company assembled to celebrate his victory that Desdemona has sworn her love and fidelity to him. Desdemona confirms her oath, whereupon Elmiro curses his daughter. Her despair is increased by Rodrigo's and Othello's threats.
Act Two
Rodrigo cannot accept being rejected by Desdemona. When she reveals to him that Othello is her husband, he threatens to kill the Moor. Desdemona decides to find Othello in order to save him.
With the help of the love letter and the lock of hair it is easy for Iago to convince Othello completely of Desdemona's infidelity. He is resolved to kill her. Rodrigo demands that Othello renounce Desdemona; instead, Othello challenges him to a duel. Desdemona intervenes. In utter terror and at the same time stung by Othello's cool attitude, she falls into a faint. She regains consciousness in Emilia's arms. The news that Othello is still alive gives her only a brief respite: Elmiro's appearance culminates in a complete rupture between him and Desdemona.
Act Three
Desdemona has given up all hope of seeing Othello again, as he has been sent into exile. Emilia cannot console her. Desdemona's sorrow is echoed in the sad song of the gondolier. To give vent to her feelings, Desdemona sings the song of Isaura, who died of a broken heart under a weeping willow. She bids farewell to Emilia, says a prayer and goes to bed.
With Iago's connivance, Othello has stolen into her bedroom. While a storm rages outside, he vacillates between love, self-hatred, jealousy and vengefulness. When Desdemona wakes up, she protests her innocence - to no avail. Othello announces to her that Iago has murdered Rodrigo, her alleged lover, and kills her.
But Rodrigo is alive: he explains to Othello that Iago admitted his intrigues before falling by Rodrigo's hand. The latter is now prepared to relinquish Desdemona. The Doge also speaks of reconciliation, and Elmiro of a possible marriage, whereupon Othello kills himself.
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query othello. Sort by date Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query othello. Sort by date Show all posts
Sunday, August 4, 2019
Tuesday, August 21, 2018
All Night Long (1962), 9 b/w, ws
1h 31min | Drama, Music* | 6 February 1962 | b/w, ws
Director: Basil Dearden
Stars: Patrick McGoohan, Keith Michell, Betsy Blair, Paul Harris, Marti Stevens, Richard Attenborough.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054614/
(watched out of sequence because disc just arrived today)
~23 songs in the Soundtracks.
The cast list above represents the following characters Iago (Johnny Cousins), Cassio (Cass), Emilia (Iago's wife, Emily), Othello (Rex), Desdemona (Delia), Rodrigo (Rod).
The fact that the jazz musicians are there onscreen makes it more plausible for the soundtrack to be so strongly present, as contrasted with a film like Anatomy of a Murder ('59), where we don't see the band providing the driving jazz music. But the fact that they're playing such edgy music, not mellow jazz, is very appropriate to the tale being told.
Rated 7 on 2015-05-06, I'm bumping it far up today. That's because I've studied Otello the opera and subsequently watched a completist production of Othello, so I've thought about the story upon which this is based. And I had the good fortune of wanting to pay close attention today, and being awake enough to do so.
The things I liked so much:
- Rex shares a (recurring?) nightmare with Delia that she has left him, and he wants her always by his side to reassure him. He hasn't been quite so controlling in reality, since she's played tourist while he worked.
- Johnny wants to break up the Rex/Delia marriage to bring her into the band he's trying to form. While married to Rex, she hasn't wanted to work.
- Instead of a handkerchief, the treasured token is a cigarette case, which Johnny lifts from where it was casually left, and stashes some weed in there. Then he gets Cass to partake, and to temporarily take custody of the case.
- Cass's girlfriend is the subject of discussion, which can be misinterpreted as Cass discussing Delia.
- Johnny records some remarks that he edits into "evidence" of the lies he's been feeding to Rex.
- Rex doesn't kill Delia, but comes close. He also almost kills Cass, and also physically attacks Johnny.
- Here's 1 negative: Johnny seems to go free, except that no one present will likely work with him.
So, I love the writing, the use of the Othello material, the music, the performances, the direction.
The Rank Org., dir. Dearden; 9
Wednesday, November 28, 2018
Othello (1951), 8 and Filming 'Othello' (1978), 8 {nm}
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
Othello (1995), 8
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: Oliver Parker
Stars: Laurence Fishburne, Kenneth Branagh, Irène Jacob, Nathaniel Parker, Michael Maloney, Anna Patrick.
IMDb trivia: "The first time an African-American was cast in the title role in a movie version of Othello."
I had watched this online a week or so ago, and ordered the disc.
I like this a lot. KB's Iago is extra creepy, perhaps because he's a handsome man, and when he addresses the camera it grabs my attention more than others. LF's Othello gives us plenty of emotions.
Rated 6.9 (8,389)
distr. Columbia, dir. Parker; 8
Sunday, July 8, 2018
Verdi: Otello (1986), 8 and BBC Othello (1981), 8 {nm}
1h 58min | Drama, Music | 12 September 1986
Director: Franco Zeffirelli
Lorin Maazel ... conductor / music producer
Stars: Plácido Domingo, Katia Ricciarelli, Justino Díaz.
Alberto Testa ... choreographer
I did not read the opera books before watching this. I know the basic plot well enough, but found myself distracted by some minor characters whose identity I didn't know. Reading the books afterward didn't help. So I looked for a production of the play Othello online, and found the '81 BBC version (3h23m, dir. Jonathan Miller, Amazon Prime) with Anthony Hopkins and Bob Hoskins as Otello and Iago, respectively.
And now I see why I didn't understand those minor characters: the librettist chopped off the beginning of the play and most of Iago's interaction with Rodrigo throughout. In the film he's only used for opening exposition, and mentioned near the end (that Cassio killed him, but I knew not why). This is much more explicit in the play, but really is not essential to Otello's story, nor do we need more evidence of Iago's evil.
In the opera, I didn't pick up that Emilia was Iago's wife, again introduced fully in the beginning of the play. In the play, she gives the handkerchief to Iago; in the opera, he takes it from her forcibly. But since Iago is her husband, it makes sense that she does not reveal the providence of the handkerchief when she knows it's causing trouble.
I learned from the opera books that listing the character names is not enough. Which voice should be cast (tenor, etc.) is important, but also needed are the relationships and/or professions. Penguin did not provide that here, but Simon did. Martin is much too wordy for previewing the story, but very handy for finding a particular plot turn, since they visually break up the scenes and include which character sings what.
Both productions were not stage-bound. Zeffirelli took the opera much bigger, with grand stone halls and rustic wooden courtyards for sets, and even showed us the endangered ship in the storm to begin the story. We get a grand feast with Mediterranean entertainment (woman dancers, and whirling dervishes) to celebrate Otello's triumphant return. Desdemona and Cassio are both blondes, and Iago looks too much like the minor characters, but when he casts his evil face and/or sings, I know who he is. FZ's biggest personalization was that, instead of Iago getting away, as all my opera books portrayed the ending, Otello manages to throw a spear across the room right through his torso; I much prefer that death to his disappearance. A lot of the subtitles turn out to be actual Shakespeare text, since I recognized some lines in the play.
The play went the other direction to free itself from the stage; it became more intimate. The characters mumbled some of their introspection/plotting, and BH's Cockney accent made him difficult to understand at times (hooray for video subtitles). The set looked like a British castle, and their costumes had the Elizabethan neck flounces that also made me think we're in England instead of Cyprus. Good to see Iago brought to justice, however cruel & unusual it might be.
In neither production do I really understand how Ot(h)ello, portrayed as an excellent level-headed leader, can so easily succumb to Iago's manipulations. Perhaps it's a good thing for the island that he does not become its governor, because he has no concept of jurisprudence; he accepts tall tales as fact with the flimsiest "verification."
Although this took the better part of a day, it was worth it.
opera film, dir. Zeffirelli, cond. Maazel; 8
BBC, dir. Miller; 8
Wednesday, December 19, 2018
Much Ado About Nothing (1993), 7 {nm}; Much Ado About Nothing (1984), 6 {nm}
Young lovers Hero and Claudio, soon to wed, conspire to get verbal sparring partners and confirmed singles Benedick and Beatrice to wed as well.
Director: Kenneth Branagh
Writers: William Shakespeare (play), Kenneth Branagh (adaptation)
Stars: Kenneth Branagh (Benedick), Emma Thompson (Beatrice), Keanu Reeves (Don John), Kate Beckinsale (Hero), Denzel Washington (Don Pedro), Robert Sean Leonard (Claudio), Michael Keaton (Dogberry).
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107616/
borrowed disc
Notes: KB & ET married: 8'89-10'95; RSL was the star of Swing Kids ('93).
I like not the plot, despite its similarity to Othello, probably because it makes light of the evil-intended deceptions. I didn't like the priest compounding the deception to redeem Beatrice; Claudio may have been unstable enough to sacrifice himself ala R&J.
This version is far better than the BBC's, because the acting is livelier, the performance is shorter, and the "evidence" of Hero's betrayal was shown to us, which I did not see in the BBC version.
In the Wikipedia article which offers a chronology of the plays, this is attributed to 1598-9, and is 18th of the 37. Taming of the Shrew (1590-1) is 2nd (Beatrice reminds me of Kate), Romeo & Juliet (1595) is 11th, and Othello (1603-4) is 26th.
Rated 7.4 (41,368)
distr. Goldwyn, dir. Branagh; 7
Benedick and Beatrice fight their merry war of words. But when Beatrice's friend, Hero, is humiliatingly jilted by Benedick's best friend, Claudio, Benedick has to choose which side he's on.
Director: Stuart Burge
Writer: William Shakespeare (play)
Stars: Cherie Lunghi (Beatrice), Katharine Levy (Hero), Jon Finch (Don Pedro), Robert Lindsay (Benedick), Robert Reynolds (Claudio), Vernon Dobtcheff (Don John), Michael Elphick (Dogberry).
The women wear lovely gowns, but they and the performances are rather stiff. Of course, I watched the Branagh version first (and again after), and this suffers by comparison. It does not help that I only recognize the actress playing Beatrice, so learning who is who was more of a chore that I'm not sure I mastered. (I also fell asleep a lot, and backtracked each time.)
This version leads me to appreciate Branagh's writing all the more. One line I caught here and doubt is in the '93 version seemed to be anti Semitic. Plus all the physical action (and the gorgeous outdoor setting) of the '93 add immensely to the understanding as well as the enjoyment of the play. I did not find anything in this version that supplemented/enhanced anything over the shorter version.
Rated 8.0 (186)
BBC, dir. Burge; 6
Thursday, June 20, 2019
Tutto Verdi: Otello (2008), 7+
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: Peter Schönhofer
Conductor: Riccardo Muti
Stars: Aleksandrs Antonenko, Marina Poplavskaya, Carlos Álvarez.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1510822/
25th Verdi opera, 26th major work.
Premiere 1887, Teatro alla Scala, Milan
(NB: Aida premiered 1871, Requiem 1874)
Time: The late 16th century.
Place: A coastal city on the island of Cyprus.
Filmed at Großes Festspielhaus, Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria
I was very disappointed that this was filmed in a non-Italian, Large opera house, with 2,179 seats. (Contrast with Teatro Regio di Parma, the most frequent venue in this set, with 1,200 seats.)
The stage had a slanted, elevated platform, dressed somewhat differently for various scenes. Here's how much I wasn't drawn into this: I don't know if they put a bed onstage for Desd's demise. They projected images on the backdrop.
This Otello is the same tenor as in the 2015 Met production I strongly disliked (production was distracting from the story, Iago was meh.)
This Iago is ok. But again stage business distracted: twice I saw him pull the stage curtain closed when he was going to sing to us (s/b himself), and seemingly wanted to prevent people in the story from hearing.
Desd. looked the part (was that a wig? long blonde hair looked real), but her voice was too mature, too mezzo?
Costumes were fine.
If this were my first Otello, I would never have noticed how wonderful the story is. The plus might be generous.
Fewer than two chapters in the Great Course, plus reference to 4 chapters in the Great Course for Opera overview. Verdi was a traveling conductor (of his own works), and gentleman farmer/manager of his land holdings, had retired from composing. He first met with Boito (librettist) in '79.
Per the 2012 featurette, without naming the source of world-wide most-performed rankings, this is 8th among Verdi's operas, 28th among all operas. (another source-less list of the top 100; Operabase Statistics).
Rated 8.2 (6); 5 8's and a 9, mine will be the first 7.
Unitel, cond. Muti; 7+
Monday, November 5, 2018
Verdi: Otello (1992), 7
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: Brian Large
Conductor: Georg Solti
Stars: Plácido Domingo, Kiri Te Kanawa, Sergei Leiferkus; corresponding to Otello, Desdemona & Iago, respectively.
Yet another Otello by PD in my collection, the other being the Zeffirelli film from '86, which I rated 8 almost exactly 4 months ago.
PD was fab, as was KT. I liked some of the costumes for those 2 as well.
Reasons this is rated lower:
- My preference for film, where the director can plan more precisely on what we will see. For instance, although I saw Emilia pick up the handkerchief, I never saw it passed from Emilia to Iago. I saw Iago with it later, taunting Cassio. (Full disclosure: back in July I also watched the play, so maybe the opera film didn't really make me notice the passing either.)
- Rodrigo was an oldish bald guy (of little rank), so why the heck was Iago pretending to help him win the queen away from the Moor? I suppose later we learn how awful Iago is, so we can attribute it to his sociopathic scheming. It just made me wince when I saw this Rodrigo.
- This Iago didn't make me want to hate him or watch his machinations. That's partly due to my familiarity now with the story, but the film did the wonderfully blasphemous thing of setting Iago's monologue (where he tells us he's created in the image of a cruel god) in a beautiful church. It's also due to the casting; he's a bit bland somehow.
- This version did not show me Iago getting caught (he just ran out of the room with many trailing him.)
Still recommended, but when I want to see Otello, I'm reaching for the film, unless I want to see KT.
BTW, ratings on IMDb are reversed: this is higher than the film by almost 1.5 pts (8.6 [66 votes] vs. 7.2 [441 votes]). I suspect that's because the film as more than 30 min shorter, and opera purists want the whole thing, not just parts. I'm not so pure.
BTW, ratings on IMDb are reversed: this is higher than the film by almost 1.5 pts (8.6 [66 votes] vs. 7.2 [441 votes]). I suspect that's because the film as more than 30 min shorter, and opera purists want the whole thing, not just parts. I'm not so pure.
BBC, Covent Garden & more, cond. Solti; 7
Friday, June 2, 2023
LA Opera Otello; 8
Attended this live opera last night (Thu 1Jun23) on a LW outing, $34 for bus and opera. Seat W63, which is rear orchestra (orch range rows A-Z, seats 1-68 in W). Had to check in at 5pm; returned at 11:45pm.
I liked it. OK staging/costumes. Great music/singing. Acting/direction was ok - elicited some laughs behind me. Orchestra-level audience was a good mixture of ages/races.
The bottom line: I'm a cinema person. I'd much rather suffer the occasional whinge at a video director's choice than have a static master-shot view from the back 40. (My group ticket was labeled as $10, but on the website, seat U56 is priced $174 for the final performance, a Sunday matinee.)
I was looking forward to this being my first (opera) production with an actual black Otello, only for it to be lost by the physical distance between us. I considered bringing binoculars, but mine are so large & heavy; I would have needed elbows on armrests most of the time (and I had zero time on armrests). Besides, peering through a device restricts your vision of side action that may be important; a director is prepared for such things. So Live Opera from a poor seat is not a good experience. I'm used to seeing faces up close, and that enhances opera just as much as other visual arts. (I wondered during the perf how large were Verdi's theatres.)
Enjoyed the lecture (missed the beginning) by conductor Conlon. Little of the history was new to me. I liked his musical insights: the kiss music, which reminds me of the love/death in Tristan und Isolde, prem 1865; Otello prem 1887) in the first act repeats at least twice in the opera, notably at the end.
The bus trip was pleasant enough. Loved that we sailed through the traffic inbound using the HOV lane. Great to look at some LW scenery from the height of the bus seat (over parked cars), and to see how much taller downtown LA has become.
Saw a couple of bunnies on the walk home (midnight!), and heard an owl hooting (or a recording thereof) near the main entrance/Regency Terrace. Glad to see actual barricades at the main exit, redirecting cars to a second lane at the entrance; didn't observe whether pedestrians would also be blocked.
Music: Giuseppe Verdi
Libretto: Arrigo Boito, based on the play Othello by William Shakespeare
World premiere: February 5, 1887, at the Teatro alla Scala (Milan, Italy)
LA Opera has previously presented Otello in 1986, 1989, 1995 and 2008. (The 2023 production is a revival of the 2008.)
Cast:
Otello: Russell Thomas
Desdemona: Lucia: Rachel Willis-Sørensen*
Iago: Igor Golovatenko
Cassio: Anthony Ciaramitaro ‡
Lodovico: Morris Robinson
Emilia: Sarah Saturnino* †
Montano: Alan Williams †
Roderigo: Anthony León †
Herald: Ryan Wolfe †
Creative team:
Conductor: James Conlon
Original Production: John Cox
Director: Joel Ivany*
Set and Costume Designer: Johan Engels
Lighting Designer: Jason Hand*
Chorus Director: Jeremy Frank
Children's Chorus Director: Fernando Malvar-Ruiz
Fight and Intimacy Director: Andrew Kenneth Moss
* LA Opera debut
† Member of the Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program
‡ Former member of the Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program
Performed in Italian with English supertitles
An LA Opera co-production with Opéra de Monte-Carlo and Teatro Regio di Parma
Estimated running time: three hours, 15 minutes, including two intermissions
Venue: Dorothy Chandler Pavilion (135 North Grand Avenue, Los Angeles, 90012)
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