A Critique of Film Adaptations of Othello

Garrett Fink

01 March 2016

Period 1

Who Did It Better?

A Critique of Film Adaptations of Othello

     The Welles and Branagh adaptations of the play Othello, by William Shakespeare, both hold strongly to the central theme of the play; however, the Branagh version stands out over the Welles adaptation. In the scene when Othello must confront the Senate of his love for Desdemona, and Desdemona must make her ultimate choice to live with her father or Othello, Branagh carefully used sound elements and body language to make his adaptation the superior choice.

     Both plays start the third scene of Act 1 with Brabantio confronting Othello about his love for Desdemona. In the Welles version, both Othello and Brabantio are relaxed during the meeting and speak very respectful. While Othello was “rude in [his] speech” and acknowledges it, there was a lack of tension when the two were conversing (I.iii.81). This scene was driven by the anticipation “that [Othello] had ta’en away this old man’s daughter” and that Othello would have to not only been confronted by Brabantio but also by the entire Senate of Venice (I.iii.78). Brabantio’s voice fluctuation helped generate some idea of tension; however, the majority of their conversation is monotonous which takes away from the stress of their conflict. Since Othello is trying to portray his love for Desdemona, he should have tried to put more inflection while he spoke.

     Contrasting greatly with Brabantio’s uptight personality and turgid body position, Laurence Fishburne in Branagh’s portrayal played Othello very well with his choice of body language through his relaxed stance and calm speech. Brabantio tended to keep his arms crossed and be viewed from a low angle shot which gave him an authoritative and uninviting presence. While he cannot directly yell or show his anger to Othello, he conveys it through his sharp glares. On the other hand, Othello spoke peacefully and added more emotion and contrast through his speech “of [his] whole course of love” to show that he truly cared for Desdemona and instilling empathy into Brabantio (I.iii.91).

     Welles also fell short on the musical standpoint on this adaptation as well. While the movie was filmed in 1955 and was much harder to add certain elements, Welles scarcely used any sound other than the sound of the speaker’s voice. The lack of music allowed the viewer to focus solely on what was being said; however, there was a missed opportunity to create contrast between the two conflicting characters. Brabantio’s “particular grief/ is of so floodgate and o’erbearing nature” and with his sudden wave of emotion, additional sounds, such as loud and forceful music, could have taken his emotions and reinforced them into the viewer by getting the viewer to understand how angry and upset he was at the loss of his only daughter (I.iii.55-56).

     Branagh took advantage of music to add an extra level of depth to the emotion in the scene. In Branagh’s version of the play, he adds an extra textual scene to show how Othello and Desdemona could have possibly met. In this scene, light and peaceful music is played in the back during Othello’s speech when he is telling Brabantio of “the soft praise of peace” that happened when they met to give Othello the more emotional interpretation of his lines that was necessary to add more contrast between Othello and Brabantio (I.iii.82). The music then stops when Brabantio talks to create a sudden shift in tone. While the scene was not technically in the play itself, it was a great addition to add contrast to Othello’s love-blinded actions to Brabantio’s anger at the loss of his daughter.