Othello the Tragedy of the Moor

I'm flabbergasted by the low rating here! Particularly since my impression was that when this production first aired, it received generally favourable reviews from the press.

I'll freely admit: I'm no Shakespeare expert. But over the years I've watched a dozen filmed versions of his plays, from big budget Hollywood spectacles, to simple recorded versions of theatre productions, from Sean Connery as Macbeth to Mel Gibson as Hamlet to Christopher Plummer as Prospero. My favourite Shakespeare movie is Zefferelli's Romeo & Juliet. But, honestly, this production of Othello stands very near that.

Maybe it's my lack of expertise on Shakespeare that helped my enjoyment -- I'm not noting what lines have been cut, or which speeches shortened. I can only take it for itself -- and I found it exceptionally compelling. More than I expected given that, for a contemporary audience, Othello's actions are more those of a creepy stalker than a tragic figure who loved "not wisely". But they managed to make the story poignant, and Othello sympathetic.

I thought the look of the thing was sumptuous, the use of colours, the light and shadows -- I liked just looking at it. They go for a weird hybrid of an intimate film with stage-like sets, creating a unique atmosphere, almost a bubble meta-reality. Carlo Rota is very good, making Othello both sympathetic and warm at first, and dangerous and threatening toward the end. I actually liked the quirky kitchen scenes, as they presented a softer, more cultured side to the character -- making his transformation into a wrathful killer more disturbing (even though I'm sure there was an aspect of an "in joke" as earlier in his career, Rota hosted a cooking show!) The cast was quite good. When Graham Abbey was in The Border, an article had mentioned his theatre background, which was hard to reconcile with his jock-like character in that series, but here he proves that classical expertise. Matthew Deslippe was nicely duplicitous as Iago. Even supporting turns were noteworthy, such as Peter Donaldson, or Emma Campbell (as Emilia) in the climax. As for Christine Horne -- other commentators on the IMDb were critical of her, but I thought she was exceptional. She brought strength and intelligence to an otherwise passive role, making Desdemona someone you could root for and more than just a victim. You could believe that she and Othello had a true relationship in better times, that she was more than just arm candy to him.

As a lay person, I thoroughly enjoyed this. I believed in the characters and emotions, despite the tongue-twisting dialogue -- believed in them as flesh and blood people, not just roles in a famous play -- and found it ultimately quite emotional. I generally understood what was happening in the scenes (not always the case for me and Shakespeare!). I thought it was tightly paced and very well acted and a haunting, atmospheric production.

In an attempt to keep the runtime under two hours, the filmmakers understandably had to cut much of the original text. Unfortunately, instead of a snappy and accessible flick, the result was a rushed and underdeveloped story, both for Shakespeare enthusiasts and casual moviegoers alike. I have studied Othello many times and seen various performances, while my father has never read the play. Due to the disjointed feel of the film, he was confused throughout the beginning regarding the motives, while I was feeling cheated as Shaikh chose to omit some of the most celebrated and best speeches and scenes. These cuts also affected how realistic the characters were. I didn't give two beans about Shaikh's Emilia, even though I consider her to be one of the saddest and most unfortunate characters in Shakespeare's play. Graham Abbey as Cassio was quite good, but his appearances were so pruned that it was hard to get a good look at him. Stratford veteran Peter Donaldson was excellent as Brabantio, but most of his scenes were also cut. Matthew Deslippe would no doubt be an effective Iago elsewhere, but in a production where so much has been spared, it is hard to truly collude with the villain-- to get into his head-- to hate and enjoy him; instead, Iago was just sort of another character, one that we couldn't really be bothered to think about very much at all. As Shakespeare's worst villain, it was (to say the least) disappointing. Christine Home played Desdemona, the victim of Othello's naive rage, with a sort of frankness that felt detached from the tragic action. Her plain delivery bordered on the tedious, and I was moved neither to fear nor pity when the Moor finally put out the light. Carlo Rota, however, was exceptional in the titular role of the jealous general. He supported the entire show and managed to preserve what little tragedy was left in Shaikah's otherwise malnourished hodgepodge. Four of my stars go to him; Donaldson and Abbey can share the last one.

That there are flaws in this attempt at Othello cannot be denied. Its length is not one of these--Orson Welles' Othello is only three minutes longer. Shaikh does not have Welles' genius for stunning visuals, but then, who does? However, there are some errors in the choice of setting for some of the scenes. In particular, the meeting with Ludovico is set in a kitchen--an intensely public and political scene (the public and formal nature of which adds to the outrageousness of Othello's conduct) is set in a private and domestic area.

Likewise, the story does not slow down at the moment of greatest tension (the whole scene starting with Othello's line "It is the cause . . .") Lines are cut everywhere, that is dictated by the time constraints, but it hurts to see then cut to speed up this scene. In this way particularly, the pacing of the story as a whole is off.

The most serious flaw is in the portrayal of Desdemona. This Desdemona seems to take contemptuous offence at Othello's accusations. Her demeanor reminds me of girls in high school. One might plausibly imagine a woman having this kind of reaction, and might find that the unswerving loyalty and devotion which Shakespeare wrote for this character to be implausible or antifeminist. But Shakespeare knew what he was doing. Desdemona's reaction may not represent the norm (as Emilia's does) but in the end she is right not to blame Othello because his jealousy is not natural to him--it has to be created by Iago. And her goodness makes it harder for Othello to do what Iago has convinced him he must do. The struggle between what Othello's mind (as influenced by Iago) and his heart (as influenced by Desdemona's behaviour) are telling him is the basis of the dramatic tension in the lead up to the murder. A Desdemona who blames Othello (wrongly) for falsely accusing her takes away half this tension and deflates the climax of the story.

Nevertheless, this telling of the story is clear and won't put you to sleep. I've seen much worse. Carlo Rota's performance is commendable and Nazneen Contractor as Bianca is splendid. Everyone else is at least adequate.

I'm giving an extra star here because Othello is portrayed as a North African. Ever since Paul Robeson this play has been a vehicle for the American Civil Rights Movement, not surprisingly considering its generally favourable take on miscegenation. In light of certain racist remarks in the 19th century suggesting that it would be impossible to visualize Othello as a sub-saharan African man, it was necessary to play him as such a man.

That has been done, and many times over, with great success, and it is time to turn the page and realize that Shakespeare almost certainly intended Othello to be Moroccan. Moroccans were hot news in Elizabethan England, but nobody knew anything about or had ever seen a sub-saharan African, and were not likely to write about them. What is more, the culture clash between Islamic North Africans and Westerners is now a hot topic, and talk about "honor killings" comes to mind when we see this Othello. It is to be hoped that this is the start of a trend, and we will see Othello's otherness explored in new ways in the future.