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Othello

Play trailer Poster for Othello R 1995 2h 4m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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68% Tomatometer 41 Reviews 64% Popcornmeter 5,000+ Ratings
Heroic general Othello (Laurence Fishburne), the only African in the Venetian army, is carrying on a courtship with white noblewoman Desdemona (Irène Jacob). Their hasty marriage causes some political upheaval, but the military leader is quickly dispatched to halt an invasion on Cyprus. Once there, Othello's lieutenant, Iago (Kenneth Branagh), who believes Othello has wronged him, conceives a plan to get revenge by convincing the new husband that his wife is unfaithful.

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Othello

Othello

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Critics Consensus

Perhaps less than the sum of its parts, Othello is still highly entertaining, and features excellent performances from Laurence Fishburne and Kenneth Branagh.

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Critics Reviews

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Anna Smith Time Out 01/26/2006
A highly engaging attempt at Shakespeare's most domestic tragedy. Go to Full Review Janet Maslin New York Times 05/20/2003
Mr. Branagh's superb performance...guarantees this film an immediacy that any audience will understand. Go to Full Review The Hollywood Reporter 10/15/2002
Davies has done an admirable job of condensing the sprawling action. Go to Full Review Randall King Winnipeg Sun Feb 25
3.5/5
Parker must be praised, not only for eliciting uniformly strong performances from his cast, but for staying faithful to the play. Go to Full Review Sheila Reid Women in the Life 05/13/2022
Laurence Fishburne does one helluva job portraying the famous Moor straight out of the pages of Shakespeare. Go to Full Review Mal Vincent The Virginian-Pilot 02/25/2022
3/4
Anna Patrick is particularly impressive in the usually overlooked role of Emilia. Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Stephen C @bob25009 May 31 Success in 2 hours and 4 minutes. See more Alec B @Alec97 02/27/2024 90s erotic thriller Shakespeare is a choice . . . and while it doesn't really work on the whole I do like Branagh's Iago. Truly his weirdest performance. See more Liam B @RT51681084 06/05/2023 I'm not generally a fan of movie based on books or plays. Books don't have the luxury of using visuals, so generally the only way story can be delivered in them is via dialogue. This leads to many moments throughout the movie where the visual element can be taken advantage of, putting these movies at an inherent disadvantage compared to completely original movies. For what it's worth though, "Othello" does at least have a semi-engaging plot line. Iago is quite an interesting character. He plays the role of a deceiver, but avoids lying wherever possible. He's a master manipulator, and watching his exploits makes the movie at least somewhat engaging. The movie makes uses a clever metaphor with its irony: it uses post and meta irony respectively to represent when Iago has the other characters right where he wants them compared to when he is on the back foot. Generally, the performances throughout the movie were fine, so no complaints there. None of the other characters did nearly as much as Iago did during the film, which is ironic since Othello is the main character. Overall, it was ok, but I think an re-imagining of Othello made specifically for the big screen would have been more entertaining. See more Steve D @RT35616104 02/18/2023 If you are a fan of the play this is the Othello not to be missed. See more Evan M @RT28061058 08/15/2021 Solid character performances for a straightforward Shakespeare adaptation. See more 01/03/2021 Smoldering closeup version to maximize the charisma of Fishburne, Branagh and Jacob as the lead-centric Othello despite the large number of extras See more Read all reviews
Othello

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Cast & Crew

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Oliver Parker

Director

Laurence Fishburne

Othello

Irène Jacob

Desdemona

Kenneth Branagh

Iago

Nathaniel Parker

Cassio

Michael Maloney

Roderigo

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Othello

Othello (1995) Othello (1995) Othello (1995) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis Heroic general Othello (Laurence Fishburne), the only African in the Venetian army, is carrying on a courtship with white noblewoman Desdemona (Irène Jacob). Their hasty marriage causes some political upheaval, but the military leader is quickly dispatched to halt an invasion on Cyprus. Once there, Othello's lieutenant, Iago (Kenneth Branagh), who believes Othello has wronged him, conceives a plan to get revenge by convincing the new husband that his wife is unfaithful.
Director
Oliver Parker
Producer
David Barron, Luc Roeg
Distributor
Sony Pictures Entertainment, Castle Rock, Columbia Pictures
Production Co
Castle Rock Entertainment, Columbia Pictures Corporation
Rating
R
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Dec 15, 1995, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Jan 9, 2009
Box Office (Gross USA)
$2.2M
Runtime
2h 4m
Sound Mix
Surround
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