#870: WELLES, Orson: Othello (1952/1955)

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WELLES, Orson (United States)
Othello [1952/1955]
Spine #870
Blu-ray


Gloriously cinematic despite its tiny budget, Orson Welles's Othello is a testament to the filmmaker's stubborn willingness to pursue his vision to the ends of the earth. Unmatched in his passionate identification with Shakespeare's imagination, Welles brings his inventive visual approach to this enduring tragedy of jealousy, bigotry, and rage, and gives a towering performance as the Moor of Venice, alongside Suzanne Cloutier as the innocent Desdemona, and Micheál MacLiammóir as the scheming Iago. Shot over the course of three years in Italy and Morocco and plagued by logistical problems, this fiercely independent film joins Macbeth and Chimes at Midnight in making the case for Welles as the cinema's most audacious interpreter of the Bard.

1952 Version

93 minutes
Black & White
Monaural
1:37:1 aspect ratio

1955 Version

91 minutes
Black & White
Monaural
1:37:1 aspect ratio
Criterion Release 2017
Director/Writers


Based on the play by William Shakespeare.

A

Film Rating (0-60):

60

The Extras

 The Booklet

Ten-page wraparound featuring an essay by film critic Geoffrey O’Brien.

Commentary

From 1995 featuring filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich and Orson Welles scholar Myron Meisel.

Filming “Othello”

Welles’s last completed film, a 1979 essay-documentary.

Short film

Return to Gleennascaul, a 1953 short film made by actors Micheál MacLiammóir and Hilton Edwards during a hiatus from shooting Othello.

Interview 1

With Welles biographer Simon Callow.

Souvenirs d’”Othello”

A 1995 documentary about actor Suzanne Cloutier by François Girard.

Interview 2

With scholar François Thomas on the two versions.

Interview 3

With Ayanna Thompson, author of Passing Strange: Shakespeare, Race, and Contemporary America.

Interview 4

From 2014 with scholar Joseph McBride.

Extras Rating (0-40):

39

60 + 39 =

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