A Critique of Film Adaptations of Othello – Book/Movie Report – thunderhorse336
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A Critique of Film Adaptations of Othello
Garrett Fink01 March 2016Period 1Who 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.

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(2016, 04). A Critique of Film Adaptations of Othello. EssaysForStudent.com. Retrieved 04, 2016, from
“A Critique of Film Adaptations of Othello” EssaysForStudent.com. 04 2016. 2016. 04 2016 < "A Critique of Film Adaptations of Othello." EssaysForStudent.com. EssaysForStudent.com, 04 2016. Web. 04 2016. < "A Critique of Film Adaptations of Othello." EssaysForStudent.com. 04, 2016. Accessed 04, 2016. Essay Preview By: thunderhorse336 Submitted: April 25, 2016 Essay Length: 1,006 Words / 5 Pages Paper type: Book/Movie Report Views: 515 Report this essay Tweet Related Essays Film Critique on the Deer Hunter Since 1968, there have been at least 25 films made that portray the events of the Vietnam War. Historians have to ask themselves when watching 1,426 Words  |  6 Pages Critique of a Film Script Critique of a Film Script Star Wars: A New Hope In this critique, I will be discussing how Star Wars: A New Hope, can be 797 Words  |  4 Pages Has Technologies Birth to Film and Photography Played a Vital Role in the Destruction of Art in Its Traditional Sense, or Has Art Naturally Adapted into Other Criteria as a Liberal Movement? The definition of art is a creative production that can vary on its materials, this is a highly generalised definition as there are other things 1,013 Words  |  5 Pages Film Adaptations of Charlie & the Chocolate Factory In this paper I am going to examine the two film adaptations made from Roald Dahl’s book: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I will introduce 3,993 Words  |  16 Pages Similar Topics Critique Schnarch Othello Commeent Get Access to 89,000+ Essays and Term Papers Join 209,000+ Other Students High Quality Essays and Documents Sign up © 2008–2020 EssaysForStudent.comFree Essays, Book Reports, Term Papers and Research Papers Essays Sign up Sign in Contact us Site Map Privacy Policy Terms of Service Facebook Twitter

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Critique Of Film Adaptations Of Othello And Branagh Adaptations Of The Play Othello. (June 8, 2021). Retrieved from https://www.freeessays.education/critique-of-film-adaptations-of-othello-and-branagh-adaptations-of-the-play-othello-essay/