Critical Analysis of Elvis Mitchell's (Film Critic) Review of Movie Adaptation of Othello - 'O'

Dear Mr Mitchell
I strongly agree with your review of the film adaptation of ‘Othello’.
It is evident that the director tried to make Othello “more lifelike by [bringing} it down to a younger audience.” This is attempted through drug abuse: a contemporary Elizabethan audience would not be able to relate to this as it is a recent convention. This is much more identifiable to today’s society. However, the outside influence of drugs completely eradicates Iago’s linguistic manipulation. Shakespeare is renowned for powerful language: in the original play some of the most beautiful words are placed in Iago’s mouth. None the less, this timeless theme is lost.
This also means there are no soliloquies present from Iago. The writer could have perhaps incorporated soliloquies quite easily into the movie, as he does at the end. Iago’s soliloquies are a dramatic device often used by Satan in Mystery Plays which an Elizabethan audience would be able to identify with. Soliloquies provided a way for the actor to connect with the audience, confiding in them making the plot clearer. Iago’s soliloquies, if included, would have provided substance to his motives. Without this literary device we do not believe in Iago’s reasons behind his animosity hence the relationship between Iago and the audience is altered.
As you cleverly pointed out, due to “all the conflicts {being} laid out in fairly simple terms” key themes of feminism and racism are diluted. Othello remained a victim of racism throughout the original play, yet in the adaption the only evidence of racism is a couple of insults. During the Elizabethan era, the white race was superior to any other due to the strong sense of hierarchy. Racism is unacceptable in society today however in certain parts of the world prejudice nature and something that is hard to avoid. The director failed to take advantage of the setting of the movie. The movie was set in the South of America which notorious for its prejudice. This was the perfect setting to portray racist characters due to the racist environment. The movie would have had more substance as an adaptation had Mr Blake Nelson incorporated more of the originals plays discrimination into the modern adaptation.
I feel that your review fails to highlight the misconception on Desdemona “Dessi” in the movie. In the Elizabethan era women were viewed as either prostitutes or virtuous. There was no in-between. This is not the case today. In the play, an Elizabethan audience identifies with Desdemona as a virtuous character while Bianca is the distasteful prostitute. This image fails to come across on screen. Even to a modern audience, where women are a lot more sexual than ever, ‘Dessi’ is rather provocative. Her language is less than lady-like, the opposite of the composed character Shakespeare created. It would have been the norm for a girl of Desdemona’s age to be respectful and cautious in a place renowned for its religious beliefs. Again, the director failed to take advantage of the plays setting. The movie is not an adaption of a timeless play, it is an adaption of Othello that clearly believes the theory that ‘sex sells’.
Your concluding point is that “O” is rated R …. for violence [and] strong language’. I conclude by saying a perfect adaptation could have been achieved without the use of ‘violence, strong language [and] drug abuse’.
Yours sincerely,
Catherine