au719334 It's about jealousy, it's about racism, it's about manipulation, but the underlying message is love. Geoffrey Sax tried to pull off Shakespeare's Othello, by bringing it to modern day context. However, the actors were not convincing enough to pull this off. There were extra bodies to help put everything in to perspective, however, John Othello, played by Eamonn Walker, over reacted a lot in this film, causing for the down fall of Keeley Hawes, Dessie Brabant, eventually ending in Dessie's death. Ben Jago, played by Christopher Eccleston, was seen as the main character in the film. He didn't give enough evidence for Dessie to be cheating on Othello, with Michael Cass, played by Richard Coyle. Instead he just played a friend to all and gave one reason as to why she "was" cheating. In the play, it took a lot more convincing from Iago to make Othello even suspect anything. This change made the movie more about rage for the wrong reasons, than what the book was based off of. However, the movie did have a few good points. It turned the army scenes into more a racist group toward blacks, where Othello is the main chief of the police squad. These scenes are made believable by the raging crowds, and burning fires. You are able to sense the amount of racism in the movie, more so than you can in the book. This book plays up the modern day scenes by making it much easier to understand, than the Shakespearian times it was written in. In the play Iago (Jago) gets tortured at the end, but in the film he gets his satisfaction, and gets Othello's position. He never gets what he deserves and is never caught for telling the lie to Othello until it is too late. I saw this as a downfall in the movie, because I feel that the villain is granted his treasure of the promotion out of lying, and in the book, he is found out by Rodrigo. Overall, the movie could have done a better job based on the play than what it did. I feel that the director of the movie left out some of the most important parts of the play that were mentioned or there to make the play flow, or make it more of a tragedy. I would say that you should read the book first, in order to understand all of the events that happened in the movie, otherwise you may find yourself lost, and confused.

dr_foreman Modernizing Shakespeare is a tough business. People who hate the Bard's archaic language and subject matter are unlikely to be lured into watching one of his plays, even if the dialog has been brought up-to-date. And Shakespeare purists usually resent seeing his beautiful poetry translated into contemporary blather. I belong to the latter camp, so sadly, I was annoyed that this version of "Othello" not only modernizes the setting, but also the language, of Shakespeare's classic play. My (perhaps elitist) attitude is, if it ain't broke, don't fix it...That said, there is much to recommend here. Staging the drama during Rodney King-like race riots was an inspired idea. It's also good to see Othello and Iago (here called Jago) interact as friends before Othello is promoted; we get proof of their friendship and mutual trust before things turn sour. Sadly, two nice touches do not a great adaptation make; the other changes are not so effective."Othello" may be particularly tough to modernize because the hero is so fatally flawed, and in ways which make modern viewers uncomfortable. He's suspicious, jealous, easily duped, and very possessive of his wife. The last of these qualities seems particularly reactionary today. Of course, there are still controlling and abusive men around - lots of them - but such behavior is becoming more and more unacceptable. Othello is, by today's standards, a sexist. And he's a sexist who's constantly tricked by a much cleverer man! So I have some problems admiring Othello; he's less of a tragic hero than an utter mess. Somehow, his flaws seem less overwhelming in Venice of the past than in London of today. I wish screen writer Andrew Davies had done something to make him less passive and ingenuous.Despite these problems, Walker gives a forceful performance as Othello. His charisma carries the day when the script fails to give him anything interesting or proactive to do. Eccleston runs wild as Iago/Jago, really relishing his rants and asides; I enjoyed watching him. Hawes is slightly dull as Desdemona (you may find yourself wondering "what's all the fuss about?"), and I couldn't believe that Cassio is played by Jeff from "Coupling!" Normally, I like to see sitcom actors in serious roles, but I just couldn't stop associating him with his silly "Coupling" character, so ultimately his presence was distracting.Geoffrey Sax's always-stylish direction held my interest, but was not quite up to his usual standard. Like the other aspects of the production, he came up just a little short this time. Despite the wealth of talent on display here, the end result is a so-so adaptation of a problematic masterpiece.

AlabamaWorley1971 From the writer who brought us the devilish Francis Urquhart in the HOUSE OF CARDS series comes this wonderful modern retelling of the Shakespeare play. After John Othello (Eamonn Walker) is given the job of superintendent in the wake of a racial police scandal, Ben Jago (Christopher Eccleston) schemes to ruin his one-time friend. Christopher is perfectly lean and hungry as Jago. Eamonn Walker plays the role so soft-spokenly, it becomes even more nerve-wracking as he's driven mad by jealousy. Originally aired in the US on MASTERPIECE THEATER, and beautifully shot for a TV production. (8/10)

dinaia Othello's story is moved nowadays when prejudices, racisms and all kinds of discriminations are constantly fought. The modern 'Othello' has two guidelines or two focuses: (1) racism and (2)sexual love.(1)On the one hand Othello proves a rational, humanistic and open attitude against discrimination, (2) on the other hand he questions the 'purity' of his woman, even her purity before her marrying him. It seems a little bit strange that a man that fights prejudices finds hard to accept that his wife had a life before him (although she didn't have much of life, as we find out) and cannot find the wisdom in him to give her the benefit of the doubt.But we know that Othello must kill Desdemona and a large part of the film focuses on Othello's obsession for her (Desdemona aka Dessie). There needs to be built the kind of love and sexual jealousy that leads to murder. And it is believable, but only if we take it out of the context and we ignore the status of this modern Othello. But if we take into consideration the forward-thinking context of today's story and the leading position of Othello in this context...well, I raise at least one eyebrow looking at Othello's actions.