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| Otello | |
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 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Franco Zeffirelli |
| Screenplay by | adaptation:
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| Based on |
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| Produced by |
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| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Ennio Guarnieri |
| Edited by | Peter Taylor |
| Music by | Giuseppe Verdi (fromOtello) |
| Distributed by | Cannon Films |
Release date |
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Running time | 122 minutes |
| Countries |
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| Language | Italian |
Otello is a 1986 film based on theGiuseppe Verdioperaof the same name, which was itself based on theShakespearean playOthello. The film was directed byFranco Zeffirelli and starredPlácido Domingo in thetitle role,Katia Ricciarelli asDesdemona andJustino Díaz asIago. For the film's soundtrack,Lorin Maazel conducted the Orchestra and Chorus of theTeatro alla Scala. The film premiered inWest Germany on 28 August 1986 and received a U.S. theatrical release on 12 September 1986. It was nominated for aBafta Award and aGolden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film.
With only a few exceptions, the film follows the same plot as the opera. Iago plots and brings about Otello's downfall by convincing him that his wife Desdemona is engaged in an affair with the young lieutenantCassio, provoking Otello to murder her in a blind rage. However, in a major change from the opera, Otello kills Iago at the end by throwing a spear at him, while in the stage version he only wounds him with his sword.
Menahem Golan andYoram Globus ofCannon Films worked out a deal with popular operatictenorPlácido Domingo to finance him in a film version of an opera. They wanted the singer to appear in an adaptation ofVerdi'sIl trovatore. Domingo, however, suggested instead that they filmOtello, his signature role. While working with Italian directorFranco Zeffirelli on a stage production ofTosca at theMetropolitan Opera, Domingo discussed the possibility of collaborating again on another opera film. They had previously made television versions ofCavalleria rusticana andPagliacci together, as well as a theatrically released film of Verdi'sLa Traviata. Zeffirelli agreed to direct Domingo inOtello.[1]
Shooting was scheduled to begin in 1985 atHeraklion,Crete. Soon before the filming was to start, Mexico City was devastated by a massive earthquake. Domingo cancelled all his engagements in order to help with rescue efforts. Once the project came close to being scrapped, Domingo agreed to appear in Crete for the filming. Zeffirelli later recalled that the tenor used his hard work onOtello to help forget the traumatic sights in Mexico of the injured and dead (which included some of his family members).[1]
For the most part, the film follows the original score of the opera with several noticeable exceptions. The entire "Willow Song" ("Salce, salce"), Desdemona's solo aria, which is largely considered one of the most beautiful moments in the work, is omitted. However, her "Ave Maria", which follows immediately, is retained in the film. There are, at various points, smaller additional cuts in the music, such as the moment at the end of the storm scene when the chorus is cut short and the film skips to therecitativo between Iago and Roderigo. This contrasts with stage productions ofOtello, where the opera is rarely cut. There are also two additions: the extra music from the rarely performed third act ballet (written for the opera'sParis premiere) is inserted into the festivities of the first and third acts in the film.
In some scenes, Zeffirelli was able to use the medium of film to show aspects of his interpretation that could not be done onstage. In the movie, when Iago is informing Otello about Cassio's supposed dream in which he apparently said to Desdemona, "Let us hide our loves", we see Cassio singing the words, not Iago, as in the original stage version. Here Zeffirelli is showing the audience the image of Iago's fabricated dream as Otello is imagining it. Another of Zeffirelli's interpretive decisions was to show, complete with screams and sound effects, a flashback of marauding soldiers attacking an African village and snatching Otello (as a baby) from his mother, while the adult Otello and Desdemona sing their Act I love duet.
On the soundtrack album of the opera, released byEMI, the music is presented with no cuts or additions, as it is whenOtello is performed on the stage. The soundtrack album, however, has not proved to be as popular as Plácido Domingo's first recording of the opera, conducted byJames Levine and released in 1978 byRCA Victor.
Otello was namedBest Foreign Film of 1986 by the U.S.National Board of Review of Motion Pictures.[2] It was nominated for aBafta Award for the Best Foreign Language Film in 1987, but the award was won byAkira Kurosawa'sRan. In the same category, it was also nominated for aGolden Globe. It was nominated for anAcademy Award forBest Costume Design but lost toA Room with a View. The film was also entered into the1986 Cannes Film Festival.[3]
Leonard Maltin, in hisMovie and Video Guide, called the film "nearly flawless".Vincent Canby inThe New York Times, however, criticized Zeffirelli for some of his alterations to the opera's music.[4] In an interview inOpera News, the film's star,Plácido Domingo, expressed similar displeasure in the movie's musical cuts. He also complained that the synchronization of the soundtrack with the film was improperly done, rendering the music half a step lower than it was recorded. In regard to his interpretation of Otello, he felt that some cameracutaways undermined what he was trying to express in his characterization. Overall, he deemed it a "good film" that "could have been better".[5]
Stanley Kauffmann ofThe New Republic when reviewing Otello in 1986 described the movie as Franco Zeffirelli's best film.[6]
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