|
Othello | 
| Directors: Stuart Burge, John Dexter (ii)
Actors: Laurence Olivier, Maggie Smith, Joyce Redman, Frank Finlay, Derek Jacobi
Studio: Warner Home Video
Category: DVD
List Price: $19.98
Buy New: $11.64
You Save: $8.34 (42%)
New (39) Used (6) from $11.64
Rating:  21 reviews
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dvd-video, Original Recording Remastered, Subtitled, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled), French (Subtitled)
Rating: Unrated
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 166 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: WARD111210D
UPC: 085391112105
EAN: 0085391112105
ASIN: B000QGE8IS
Theatrical Release Date: 1965
Release Date: August 14, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand New and Factory Sealed Item Fast Shipping
| |
| Similar Items:
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
Laurence Olivier's extravagant performance as the jealous Moor of Venice had its origins on stage at London's National Theatre; this 1965 film is a straight rendering of that production, shot on a soundstage with spare backdrops. However much the resulting artifact can actually be described as a film, one must feel gratitude just for the preservation of Olivier's pinwheeling turn. Yes, it's theatrical: the blackface make-up, the exotic gestures, the rumbly voice. Olivier doesn't connect organically with the character, but builds layer upon layer of effect until reaching critical mass; then his Othello explodes across the stage, keening in rage or flopping in agony. Before being encouraged to doubt his spotless wife Desdemona (Maggie Smith), Olivier's Moor flashes a broad grin that stands as a beacon of his shallow self-confidence; after the coin drops, his body hunches in misery. If Olivier dominates, this film nevertheless presents a marvelous Iago, by Frank Finlay, the evil engineer of the plot. It may just be Finlay's physical and vocal resemblance to comic Peter Cook, but he seems to embody the sarcasm and "sick" humor of the 1960s in his Iago--and his dry style is far more attuned to the movie camera than Olivier's. Olivier, Finlay, and Smith were all nominated for Oscars, as was Joyce Redman, as Iago's hapless lady. For a real shock, and a great lesson in Olivier's chameleon talent, watch Othello and then view the brief promotional film shot during filming, included on the DVD--you'll be astonished that the gray-haired gentleman, near sixty and with clunky eyeglasses, is the same volcanic performer that just erupted for 166 minutes on film. --Robert Horton
Product Description
Studio: Warner Home Video Release Date: 08/14/2007 Run time: 166 minutes Rating: Nr
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 16 more reviews...
 Is there such a thing as TOO black? May 19, 2008
Sara C. Oliver (San Francisco, CA)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Okay, so I had to analyze and compare 4 different film versions of Othello for a post-graduate class & this was one of them. Everyone in the class liked it the least, thought Olivier was "too black," and considered his comments about learning to become the otherness of Othello by watching/observing monkeys quite offensive. Olivier plays Othello without any real heart and I didn't care too much about his character. Though this is a complete and about as unabridged film version as you can get, which mimics the appearance of a stage presentation, I didn't even enjoy Iago (my favorite character). For some reason, they all take a backseat to "the great" Olivier. Seriously, look at the cover. "The greatest Othello ever by the Greatest Actor of our time"??? Enough, already!
 Recommended December 14, 2007
B. J. Miceli (Boston, MA United States)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I'm essentially of 2 minds about this film. On the one hand, I was consistently impressed by the sheer inventiveness of Olivier's use of the text. The only word which really suffices is "musical". He really made the verse come to life, elegantly, even terrifyingly at times. His Othello is larger than life and completely overshadows the others. The scene where he subdues a man (does he strangle him?) with one hand is magnificent.
On the other hand, I am not the least bit bothered by a white man playing the role of a black man in a play like this (surely the first Othello was a white man and the point is that Othello is an outsider, a foreigner, and different; maybe a production should use a white Othello surrounded by black Venetians and Cypriots); it is called ACTING. However, I found Olivier just a little, how shall I say this?, trying too hard to be an Afro-Caribbean. I cannot believe that Othello should sound a little like a Jamaican. I would add that the makeup is stage makeup, so being offended by the large red lips and long lashes is a little silly. It is done that way so that the facial features can be seen from many feet away in the theater. It might have been a good idea to consider toning it down for the film.
If you love Shakespeare, give this a try. Like all masterpieces it lends itself to many, many valid interpretations. This is more than a filmed play, but something less than a movie. Although I would add that with such fine acting (from everyone in the cast), I was not really looking at the sets and costumes. Just as in opera where the music and words are enough to create a mood and drive a plot, the words and their intense and majestic declamation are enough here.
 Not wisely but too well December 14, 2007
Don R. Paxson (Topeka, KS USA)
Olivier in a magnificent production. It is amazing how the DVD versions of his films are so much better than the old VHS.
Realize This Is A Film Of A Stage Performance September 22, 2007
Shakespeare (The Maine Woods)
3 out of 6 found this review helpful
I had the great fortune to see the Olivier "Othello" twice at the Old Vic, once seated middle stalls, once seated in first row mezzanine. It was titanic . . . mythic, poetic, incredibly athletic, primal. Every muscle of his legs, arms and chest suggested a huge prowling panther; his feet were the paws of a great clawed cat, an uncaged magnificent wild beast moving over a savannah. There is nothing in Shakespearean stage history to equal the emotional physicality, operatic scope and Olympian power of Olivier's stage performance. I saw it happen not once, but twice: absolutely Himalayan each time, different each time. Nothing but legendary, thrilling Grand Opera performances by the likes of Chaliapin or Olivero match Olivier's display of "fire from heaven."
As Ian McKellen does today with his world tour of "King Lear," Olivier alternated "Othello" with Chekov "comedy," in his case "Uncle Vanya" with Michael Redgrave, Joan Plowright, Max Adrian, etc.
The most important thing to realize about this film, therefore, is that it in no way captures the actual theatrical experience which set the stage aflame in London and St. Petersburg in 1964. The camera is always too close. Always. Olivier in general, and his "Othello" in particular, needed to be seen on a stage at a distance of at least 30 feet to get the full scope and power of what he did. This filming is utterly unfair. We need many, many more sustained long shots; we need to see his legs and feet as he prowls, which is half the characterization; we need the resonance of a huge theater to get the operatic oratory Shakespeare composed for Burbage. Othello on stage is not spoken: he is sung. Just study the text. Listen to Verdi's incomparable "Otello." There is not one minute in this film that is fair or representative of what Olivier actually achieved theatrically. Yes, many of the gestures, the blocking, the delivery of lines are techniques he employed in his performance. His "tricks." But we see them from too close a vantage. They seem overdone, ham, over the top -- precisely because his interpretation and performance are scaled for an arena, not a camera.
I have never understood why he approved the release of this film. Of all classical actors, Olivier knew the necessity to scale back, reinterpret and nuance a close-up filming of his acting. Remember Archie Rice? Why he didn't insist on distance and long shots, given the nature of his interpretation of Othello, is inexplicable. It is the worst disaster in filming a great stage performance that has ever been released. It requires alert and constant memory of his performances to "know what he was doing" as I watch the film. I have shared it with students of Shakespeare for years, and none of them sees what I KNOW is or was there. My memory is a far, far more honest representation of Olivier's characterization of Othello than can be seen in this film. I'm embarrassed by it, to the point of listening to the full length recording put out at the time rather than watching this desecration of arguably the most fiery, extraordinary physical stage performance of the 20th Century.
All this said, however, TRY to see through the film to the performances. Piece out his imperfection with your thoughts. Use your imagination. Watch it as if at a distance. Add the torso, legs and especially the feet. Release his arms, gestures and faces from the screen into an arena. To watch this film and even comprehend it, let alone enjoy it, you simply must use your active imagination. If you have not been to great theater and opera all your life, you are going to have a tough time telling what the universal international acclaim is about. The only performance of a Shakespearean tragic hero that is comparable these days is McKellen's world tour of "King Lear." But there again, you have to be there in the theater to get it - at $3000 a ticket on the scalper's market. The DVD he will put out will not be the performance he is giving 160 times this year. He will never make the same mistake Olivier did, and try to "capture" the scope of his theatricality on film. Unlike Olivier, who was less than ordinarily intelligent, McKellen is a man with a mind who knows we expect Gandalf Redux at the movies. He will reinterpret, scale down, look for an entirely new vocabulary of gestures, looks, and vocal powers that match the medium. We who miss his stage performance miss his Lear - even if we get a truly wonderful DVD with Ian McKellen as Lear when the tour ends. Incidentally, Olivier failed continually in attempts at "King Lear," whom he finally interpreted for DVD (in his dotage and his own words) as "just an old fart."
Incidentally and in closing, the VHS and DVD release have been significantly altered by pan-and-scan from the original filming. The original film was shown at the National Theater in London, and though the vantage was far too close, there was indeed more widescreen and distance. I was at least satisfied after seeing the original film on the large screen in a great theater, even with its faults. But what we have in the video and DVD release is unconscionable. See if you don't agree, after watching this ruined treasure, that Frank Finlay's Iago is much more effective and real than Olivier's Othello. Then reflect that on stage together, Finlay was totally eclipsed, to the point where he received uniformly poor reviews for his "colorless acting." It's all a question of the medium. Live theater can be filmed perhaps, but never captured - especially as in this case where it films a proud and fearsome panther ranging over hundreds of miles as the actor walks dozens of feet.
The Moor Of Venice August 21, 2007
Movie Lover (Wisconsin)
I wrote my AP English essay junior year in high school about the Moor of Venice. I have seen every version of this play that has ever been committed to film, which is no small feat for a woman who adores the Bard as I do. I am an African American woman and I have heard about the fact that some think that his portrayal of the moor to be stereotypical, well, I don't think so. I think that there is nothing so sweeping as the way that he brings this play to life, Othello is not my favorite Shakespeare play, possibly the third favorite but there is something in the truth of Othello that I think is deeply stirring, it is the truth of self-esteem. He thinks himself a lowly creature, despite the fact that he is a great general and is acclaimed by many even the trials that he has been through in his life. Olivier makes you feel that, he wrung tears from me the frist time that I saw him in this performance, like a floodgate, I wanted to hold this wounded man to my heart, he was flawless and seamless, I lost Olivier in this movie, he was purely the character. I think that if I were trying to get someone to understand the subtle nature of Othello this would be the performance that I would suggest, I am so glad that I saw it one night on cable when I could sleep. He outshines all others who have attempted this part, ALL OTHERS. I mean I have seen the Laurence Fishburne portrayal and its good and it has its moments but this one is amazing. I didn't notice his lips being red really, but when you are that dark, the inner part of your lips are redder by contrast. When I saw it I was floored, his voice,the sheer emotion, glorious.
I am going to buy this version because I think it belongs on the shelf with my four and a half hour version of Hamlet.
|
|
|
| |
