Shakespeare in Performance: Film
Othello (1981, Jonathan Miller)
| Title | Othello |
|---|---|
| Year | 1981 |
| Release Locations | GB |
| Director | Jonathan Miller |
| Medium | Color video |
| Length | 3 hrs, 30 mins |
| Audience | college and university general public |
| Play Connections | Othello (teleplay) |
| Series | The Shakespeare Plays |
Description
The most surprising feature of this Othello is the downgrading of Othello's blackness in favor of portraying the Moor as a light-skinned Arab. The director, Jonathan Miller, felt that over concern with the complexion of the Venetian general had often obscured the play's deeper meanings. As Miller would have it, fundamentally the play is about jealousy, a condition not confined to members of the black community. Even so, Othello's blackness is a stage tradition that dies hard, especially in light of the classic performances by such actors as Paul Robeson and James Earl Jones. For the settings, Miller and his designer, Colin Lowrey, emulated the Renaissance paintings of De La Tour and Tintoretto, while a palace in Urbino inspired the antechamber of the Cyprian palace in which so much of the action transpires
Description from Shakespeare on Screen : an International Filmography and Videography by Kenneth S. Rothwell and Annabelle Henkin Melzer. ©1990 Kenneth S. Rothwell. Cited by permission. — Added 2008-11-14
Cast Overview
Production Team and Crew Overview
| Director | Jonathan Miller |
|---|---|
| Producer | Jonathan Miller |
| Composer | Stephen Oliver |
| Costumes | Ray Hughes |
| Lighting | John Treays |
| Production | Colin Lowrey |
Production information courtesy of: Kenneth Rothwell