I originally came to this movie out of a desire to see every second of Ian McKellen doing Shakespeare that I could, but there’s a lot of other great things in here as well. As with several other movies I’ve reviewed, this is a filmed stage production that needs to be judged as such, but clever use of the stage and some wonderful acting bring it to life.
I’ve seen comments that this seems to be set in a US Civil War Era, and though the costumes resemble it, I think they served more to call to mind a militarized, hierarchical society than to specifically anchor it in the Civil War. Most of Othello takes place on an isolated military base, and I think the easily recognizable military garb served to recognize that fact. The militarism of the society was very important to understanding a lot of the characters in this production. They didn’t try to turn it into a Civil War story or really set it during the war, they just used costumes from the period to hint at the militarism of the society and setting.
The space was also used very cleverly. Despite there only being one set, by using different props and camera angles, they created the feel of a number of different locations, and it actually took me until partway through the play to notice that each scene was the same set reconfigured. That definitely served to diminish the “filmed stage play” effect and made it feel more like a traditional movie with a number of different sets.
I have to admit, I went into this slightly skeptical about Ian McKellen’s casting as Iago, mainly because, at the time I first saw this, I thought of him primarily as Gandalf: a wholly benevolent character if there ever was one. I just wasn’t sure that after giving such a marvelous portrayal of Gandalf that he could deliver evil convincingly.
I shouldn’t have underestimated him. In fact, Ian McKellen’s ability to portray extremely loveable characters well worked in his favor here, since his Iago was charming throughout. There’s an extent to which Iago’s intelligence and power is very attractive, and McKellen embodied that excellently. He also avoided the trap of playing an Iago so evil that every other character must be dumber than wood to fall for him. He played Iago very much as the soldier: job oriented and a bit stiff throughout, even when alone. This dutifulness played into his ability to come off as “honest” because he seemed very much like the paragon of military virtue. Despite his formal carriage as a soldier, and in part because of it, he wormed his way into every character’s affections. He was sweet and loving with each of them, in a slightly stiff way, and very physical in their interactions. He often hugged, stroked and touched his “friends”, setting them at ease and building an easy intimacy with them. He could, at times, play the entertainer, drawing people together and making them laugh so he could manipulate events as he desired. Especially in the scene when they first arrive at Cyprus, he alone was able to make Desdemona laugh, and his misogynistic tirade came off mostly as a joke he put on to please her.
His misogyny, however, was blatantly clear in his relationship with Zoe Wanamaker’s Emilia. Though he buttered everyone else up with dexterity, he treated her with either apathy or contempt. He didn’t need her and he didn’t view her as a potential problem to him, so he didn’t bother keeping up any sort of charade with her. She was clearly besotted with him and so she did the favors he asked for without the need for him to work any charms with her. The most he ever did was the occasional rough kiss, after which he would thrust her away again: just enough to keep her attached and assert his dominance. Because of the utter lack of charade he showed with her, when she eventually caught on to him, her realization seemed natural and horrifying: he wasn’t just cruel to her, he was cruel universally, to everyone, and she alone was in the situation to realize this.
Though Iago’s motivation for what he does is always opaque, he did seem to have some genuine feelings for Desdemona in this production. When Othello first said that he planned to kill her, Iago objected just a bit too quickly and with just a bit too much force. The sudden, genuine feeling behind that interjection made his desire for her to live seem very real, though he later reined in this desire. His feelings for her next became apparent when she cried on him after Othello began treating her badly. Emilia was explaining to him what happened as he comforted Desdemona, cradling her and slowly stroking her neck and hair. When Emilia’s back was turned, he pressed his face into Desdemona’s neck and closed his eyes. It crossed the line from his normal friendly touching to something more sensual, and seemingly slightly beyond his control. The combination of little touches like this made you wonder if he felt some sadness for her death at the end, as he looked on over the dead bodies with a face as inscrutable as ever.
My only issue with McKellen’s performance was his tendency to mumble, whisper and generally make it difficult to understand what he was saying. Though the emotional clarity of his acting never wavered, I often had difficulty understanding his words despite being very familiar with the play. I found this strange, since I usually find McKellen a very easy actor to understand. However, the quiet turning of gears in his mind during the soliloquys worked very well, and the emotional clarity of his performance carried it through when the vocal clarity was lost.
However much a good production of Othello relies on a strong Iago, Othello is not a play like Hamlet where pretty much everything rests on the quality of your lead. It’s more similar to a play like Lear, needing an extremely strong ensemble cast. For the most part, this production delivered on that front as well.
Willard White, a Jamaican-British operatic bass played a formidable, dignified Othello, despite lacking the verbal dexterity of some of the other actors. He is much more an opera singer than an actor, and occasionally, that was a bit too clear. Some of his acting seemed a little overdone at times, but there were so many other good parts of his performance that I was willing to overlook that. The first thing you notice about him is his immense stage presence: he instantly commands every room he walks into. With his deep commanding voice and physical stature, everything about him gives an impression of dignity. This immense dignity is very defining of Othello’s character, so I thought casting White was a very good decision, despite his relative lack of experience acting.
Despite his commanding presence, Desdemona and Iago both held power over him. Desdemona’s power was demonstrated most clearly in two different scenes where he placed her on a chair so she looked down on him. The first was when he first arrived at Cyprus, and he circled around her, looking up at her and declaring his love. The second time he did it, he was yelling at her and condemning her, but it showed how she was still in power over him, and he was still looking up at her at that point. When he came into the bedroom to kill her, for the first time he stood over her. In addition to suggesting her power over him, lifting her up above him suggested his almost god-like veneration of her in the beginning, which turned into abhorrence as the story progressed.
One important aspect of this Othello was that he did not understand the Venetian standards of physical contact: though all the native Venetians are comfortable with liberal physical contact between genders, Othello held himself physically distant from everyone but Desdemona. Though he was by no means the stereotype of the culturally alien Moor, part of his problems stemmed from his inability to read the meaning behind physical interactions between his wife and other men.
Imogen Stubbs brought Desdemona to life in a way that made you really care about her. I think Desdemona can often feel very flat and too angelic to evoke any real emotion. However, Stubbs’ Desdemona was a very real person. She was sweet, lively and funny, clearly possessed by the gleeful spirit of new love. Everything excited her, and her constant girly flirtation with Othello said a lot about their relationship. As infatuated as they were, her attachment to him was fundamentally an immature one, and she was not able to gauge his emotions very well, or communicate with him beyond her usual mode of adolescent flirtation. This lack of understanding between them made his growing distrust of her realistic, as did her open and intimate relationships with both Iago and Cassio. To a man like Othello who was not good at reading the physical relationships between men and women, her interactions with them could seem very suspicious. She, however, wouldn’t have even thought about those relationships in a sexual way because of her combination of naiveté and universal goodwill.
I absolutely adore Emilia, and I thought Zoe Wanamaker did a fairly good job with her. She was infatuated with Iago, or at least in need of some affection from him. He treated her roughly and she understood his capacity for cruelty better than anyone else. She was a generation older than Desdemona, both wiser and more bitter, and instead of Desdemona’s girlish excitement she had a dignified stillness to her. Her relationship to Desdemona was kind but not especially warm at first. In the beginning of their conversation before Desdemona’s death, Desdemona gave her a hug, and she responded stiffly. However, Desdemona’s charm had her smiling shortly as they talked, and before she left she hugged Desdemona fiercely. Her concern and love for her seemed to be that of an older sister figure, despite her slight hesitation to express affection.
All of that was before she realized what had happened. Suddenly, this quiet, reserved woman just exploded. The look on her face just as she realized, first Iago’s part and then her own, was perfect. Even Othello was intimidated by the force of her rage. Iago was also suddenly afraid of her, since she was the one person he hadn’t concealed himself enough in front of. She still cared for him, almost begged him to say he hadn’t told Othello, but when he didn’t deny it she had reached a point where she no longer cared at all what happened. She is the only character in Othello who ever holds real power over Iago, and I thought she handled the scene wonderfully.
Cassio was played as a bit of an idiot by Sean Baker, with a naïve, sexless adoration for Desdemona, and a gentle attitude with everyone else. His treatment of Bianca came off much less cruel that it usually seems since he seemed to have the same wide-eyed joking attitude towards everything and everyone, not just her. Even after stabbing Montano in the stomach, he was still giggling, and he seemed to visit Desdemona mostly to kiss her hand and not out of real concern for his job.
Another interesting choice was to cast Marsha Hunt, a black woman as Bianca. Though there are no racial comments made about her, she is openly derided by every character, including the ones who are always respectful of Othello. It complicated the nature of their relationship to race, because it demonstrated that they were willing to disrespect a black woman if she was of a lower class. Their respect for Othello didn’t necessarily stem from a lack of racism, but from a respect for his status. I’m not sure if that added racial dynamic was intended to be included when she was cast, and she did a good job as another woman helplessly devoted to a man who didn’t deserve her.
The one poor performance came from Michael Grandage as Roderigo, who consistently overdid it throughout the film. In one scene he threw himself on the ground, pounding his fists and yelling. It was ridiculous. Though that was the worst moment of his overacting, I think that sums up fairly well what was wrong with his performance.
The only other issue for me was that this was a very slow-paced film. I’m not advocating for more cutting of the text, but I do think it could have been paced up a little bit. I wouldn’t say it was boring, but at times the pace seemed almost glacial.
Overall however, it was an excellent production, carried by a strong cast and excellent direction. I’ve seen it three times now, and each viewing has been just as interesting as the others. As with any good production, it bears multiple viewings, with new subtleties coming through each time.
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