12 Best Film Adaptations Of Shakespeare's Tragedies

Based On: Othello

Adaptation:

This retains the play's setting and dialogue. Laurence Fishburne plays Othello (the first African-American to do so in a major film), Kenneth Branagh plays Iago and Irene Jacob plays Desdemona. The film adds some silent scenes such as a burial at sea at the end.

This film adaptation isn't massively cinematic aside from some clever symbolic images (such as Desdemona and Cassio reflected in a dagger), so this is just a filmed version of the play; it's a good one at that though. The play Othello is a magnificent, borderline genius tragedy and since the film already has such a brilliant script, that's half the battle already won. It isn't the most complex adaptation you could hope for, with the film settling for a fairly basic descent into madness, but it's still a faithful retelling that has all the best lines and tells the story coherently.

It's also very well-acted. Kenneth Branagh is a very good (if overly camp) Iago while Irene Jacob, despite her distracting accent, does fine work as Desdemona, but Laurence Fishburne is the film's MVP. His quiet but tortured performance is unforgettable and he makes for a fantastic Othello.

On the whole, the film is somewhat uneven but it's thoroughly competent, highly enjoyable and pleasingly straight-forward. Othello's heart-breaking ending is something any adaptation has to get right; luckily, this delivers a devastating finale that won't fail to give you goosebumps, cementing this as a very moving retelling of a masterpiece.