Miss Marple Posted February 21, 2010 Share Posted February 21, 2010 We will be reading this later in the semester. I would like to see a live performance, but I doubt we will have a production locally. Is there a good performance available on dvd? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Wallace Posted February 21, 2010 Share Posted February 21, 2010 We will be reading this later in the semester. I would like to see a live performance, but I doubt we will have a production locally. Is there a good performance available on dvd? For some reason, Othello is cursed with dreadful performances, the nadir of which includes (I kid you not) the guy who played "Isaac the bartender" on the old show Love Boat tackling the title role. Let's say his skills were stretched to their limit by joking with Cap't. Stubing. I'm also not wild about white actors doing blackface (Yes, I'm talking about YOU, Laurence Olivier and Orson Welles), nor am I wild about the very self-consciously stagey productions out there. My personal favorite is the one directed by Kenneth Branagh and starring Laurence Fishburne (An actual actor of color in the title role! Whoda thunk it?). Though not perfect, the picture is compelling. There is some brief nudity and some (clothed) actions that look like coupling. Please evaluate before you watch it with kids. Fishburne is dramatic and powerful, easy to believe as a wartime general whose personal charisma was intriguing and sexy. Irene Jacob strikes a lovely balance between innocence and sexuality, a difficult-to-achieve midpoint necessary for Desdemona's murder to be credible or explicable. Oddly enough, I didn't find Branagh's Iago as compelling as, say Michael C. Hall's portrayal of Dexter Morgan -- which, in my opinion, I should have, and for many of the same reasons. However, I think it overall is the strongest version out there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abbeyej Posted February 21, 2010 Share Posted February 21, 2010 Not to be obnoxious, but the Fishburne Othello was actually directed by Oliver Parker (brother to Nathaniel Parker). I agree -- I didn't "love" this version, but it's the best I've seen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Wallace Posted February 22, 2010 Share Posted February 22, 2010 Not to be obnoxious, but the Fishburne Othello was actually directed by Oliver Parker (brother to Nathaniel Parker). I agree -- I didn't "love" this version, but it's the best I've seen. Oops!! I stand corrected! Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Marple Posted February 22, 2010 Author Share Posted February 22, 2010 OK, thanks for the advice. Looks like I'll have to preview it first. I'd like to show it to my co-op class, but we do have a variety of sensitivity levels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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