paid in full Your enjoyment of this film will depend on the reasons why you are seeing it. I will tell you a little bit about WHY i DECIDED to view this movie so that you can understand the context of this review. -I had read the first few scenes of the play -I am an african descent living in north america -i am a prospective playwriting student -i am a part-time screenwriting student -about a month ago i made a lukewarm commitment to finish all movies that i start watchingNow that you know where i am coming from, I will tell you that I am very pleased with this film,with the story that shakespear tells us, and with the adaptation. The film takes us on a roller coaster of superb acting and of emotions. It is absolutely worth your time. It can be watched again because the story can resist the test of time. In my opinion, Shakespear was a genius and credits to the adaptation.

Syl My college professor says that Othello may be Shakespeare's finest drama. I don't know if I agree with him yet. I bought this video version of the film. First I love Kenneth BRanagh as Iago, he was perfectly complicated and worked very well in this adaptation. SUrprisingly, he didn't direct it but played a role. Lawrence Fishburne shows that American actors can play Shakespeare just as well as British actors can do. not that there was a British vs. American issue about it. In fact, if we all work together then Shakespeare can reach the masses which it richly deserves to do. Apart from other Shakespeare tragedies, this is dealt with the issue of race. Something that has existed since the beginning of time. The relationship between Iago and Emilia could have been better and shown the complicatedness of their union together. While Othello loves Desdemona with all his heart, he is weak for jealousy and fears losing her to a non-Moorish man like Cassio. It's quite a great scene at the end of the film but I won't reveal the ending. IT's just worth watching. I think they edited much of the lines to 2 hours but they always edit Shakespeare.

duane19 I think this is a excellent adaptation. The scenery's wonderful (Cala Violina is a magnificent place and that's why the film was familiar to me because I go there often on holiday and the rock Othello's sat on is the one on which I used to catch crabs when I was younger... ^^), the actors, especially Branagh, are superb and I even was surprised by Laurence Fishburne's performance... Well everything's good, I think (although I don't like Othello saying 'Amen' like 'Hey men' instead of 'aaah men', and the place where Desdemona is in Venice is not the rights place, but those are details...) So, it's a very good film you Shakespearians should know. Welles' Othello possibly remains the best one because of its script. The ending's better because it's quicker but the text got much changed from the play. Also, the music of Othello (1995 version) composed by Charlie Mole is very beautiful I think.

artemis_5 You do not get more dark or tragic than "Othello" and this movie captures the play fairly well, with outstanding performances by Lawrence Fishburne and Irene Jacob. Fishburne's expresses to the viewer Othello's torment as he falls prey to Iago's lies very convincingly, even providing a realistic epileptic episode. Jacob is the loving and loyal wife who becomes either the instrument of Iago's revenge against Othello, or the object of his wrath (it is not clear which since no motive for Iago's behavior is offered). Although Kenneth Brannagh (sp?) displays his usual talent for Shakespeare in this movie, he is somewhat marginalized. The characters of Cassio and Emilia also wander in and out of scenes even though they, like Iago, seem more crucial to the plot. I have not checked the movie against the play to see how many lines were cut out, but I know that Shakespeare tends to develop his characters, even the seemingly unimportant ones, very well.If I had any criticism of the movie it would be that the story unfolds too quickly, and that the relationships between some of the characters are not laid out more. The director had a great cast, and no one offered a bad performance. The relationship between Cassio and Othello and that between Emilia and Desdemona need to be further developed earlier in the film. I have a feeling that they were closer to each other than the movie suggests, although you get a sense of this very late into the movie. Also, Othello and Desdemona need more time together. Although their anguish is convincing, the amount of interaction they have with each other makes it seem like they just met. On the other hand, maybe the did just meet---like Romeo and Juliet.In brief: good performances, too short.