Oh, To Hell!

The Tragedy of Othello, The Moor of Venice (1952)

There are conspiracy theory stories surrounding William Shakespeare. The first says that he could not have written the playwrights by himself looking at his non-aristocratic family background. People like Earl of Oxford Edward de Vere and Sir Francis Bacon are some of the likely candidates who are the possible real authors. Another theory is, of course, the alien intervention of infusing wisdom to mankind to improve them culturally.

So with that background, I decided to watch Orson Welles' presentation of Othello. Seriously, I was clueless about Othello - I never had the chance to read it.

The black-and-white movie made in 1952 with many versions- the one I watched is the 1992 restored version. It starts with a funeral procession and backtracks to the unceremonious union of matrimony of Othello (a Moor, a North African general of the Venetian army) and Desdemona. His jealous 'comrades', Diago and Cassio stir the serenity by instigating Desdemona's father to accuse Othello of winning her heart through witchcraft. Othello manages to convince the royal courts of his noble intentions through his flowery rendition of love speech.
In the meantime, war breaks out with Cyprus. Othello leads his army to war, bringing his wife along. In midst of war, Diago manages to start a rumour that Desdemona has a soft spot for Cassio. Diago also manages to start a mayhem within the army by getting Cassio intoxicated. Cassio is humiliated by Othello.
Being the wolf in sheep's clothing that he is, he even manages to cast the seed of doubt in Othello's mind on Desdemona's fidelity. By placing Desdemona's handkerchief in Cassio's cell, Diago convinces Othello of her vice. The enraged general smothers her on the same matrimonial bed that she allegedly soiled. Emilio, Desdemona's maid and Iago's wife realizes her husband's ill intent and vouchers for Desdemona's chastity. Frustrated, Othello commits suicide. Cassio becomes Governor of Cyprus and Iago is apprehended.

Spoken in old poetic English complemented with excellent acting from Orson Welles as a broody morose filled general is an interesting watch. I get the feeling that many actors that we know like Sivaji Ganesan (maybe noisier), Marlon Brando and P. Ramlee (In 6 Jahanam) have followed his way of acting.