Otello

I have always loved the poetry and intensity of Shakespeare's dialogue in Othello, and I have also found the play one of his more dramatically concise ones. This Othello from Russia is excellent, and very interesting as well. It is handsome to look at, the photography flows nicely and the locations are splendid. The symbolic palette to emphasise Othello's contrasts between physical and temperamental is also interestingly used. The film is smartly written and intelligently adapted and it is directed beautifully by Sergei Yutkevitch. The story is on the most part compelling though I did think Othello and Desdemona's relationship was on the underdeveloped side and I was in two minds as whether the decision to downplay Othello's increasing rage worked, in a way it made the relationship between Othello and Iago convincing but at the same time this side to Othello is a big part of the play and character, to downplay it made the jealousy angle less intense than it ought to be. What the story does do wonderfully is put more emphasis on the corruption of Othello's nobility by Iago's scheming. The whole false confidante(like when the two coo like turtle-doves in one scene) and manipulation of Othello is very well-executed here. The final scene is also very moving. The performances are very good, the best being the superbly scheming Iago of Andrei Popov. Sergei Bondarchuk is not quite in the same league as Orson Welles and Laurence Olivier but still makes for a handsome and commanding Othello, while Irina Skobtseva's Desdemona is appropriately delicate and affecting. All in all, excellent on the whole. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Sergei Bondarchuk is the third actor to play Othello on film following Emil Jannings in 1922 and Orson Welles in 1952.

Husband and wife team Bondarchuk and Irina Skobotseva are splendid. He is nobility of character incarnate and she is by far the most 'taking' Desdemona I have seen. I cannot agree with the previous reviewer who opines that their relationship is 'under-developed'. Their tenderness for each other is manifest. Bondarchuk however lacks not just the passion but also the pride which allows him to be so easily convinced of his wife's alleged infidelity. Experience teaches us that the actor playing Iago can very often steal the show but here director Sergei Yutkevich does not allow the excellent Andrei Popov to throw things off balance. Good work also from Vladimir Soshalsky as Cassio and Antonina Maksimova as Emilia.

Yutkevich had long cherished a desire to film this piece and has used the superb translation by Boris Pasternak. It is beautifully shot by Yevgeny Andrikanis with a powerful score by Aram Khachaturian.

The director has taken the play out of the proscenium arch and utilises the glorious coastal scenery of the Crimea and the Genoese fortress at Soudak.

I would not hesitate to recommend this film to students of the Bard and indeed anyone to whom this wondrous play is unfamiliar.