I finished Othello a few weeks ago, and I played Desdemona ( we were reading it aloud) and I saw this song, I didn't sing the song or anything. I just said "Sing songs sing songs." We saw the movie after we were finished and when I heard her sing the song, I fell in love with it, immediately and began singing it to myself in class... I love this song, for I understand it now and how it relates to Othello...
pretty actress.. suits the role! .. .n she's sung the song beautifully... ws touched.. just saw the movie.. m short of words... shakespeare's poetry is exquisite!! ...and the way he develops his characters is incredible.. hve 2 study othello for my semester exms so thot watchin d movie wud b a gud place 2 start... :-)
I'm sorry, this pissed me off; it didn't work right at all to me. The "Barbary" speech was cut - NO. That is such a beautiful and important speech; it should never be cut. The song wasn't in the correct tune, but I guess it can be a little more interchangeable.
What pissed me off the most was her acting. This scene needs to show how Desdemona is gone before she is killed; Irene wasn't nearly dreamy, slow, sad or detached (sp?) enough.
I like how she sings it. I first saw Irene in "The Secret Garden". This scene is definitely not an Iago moment, so I'm glad we don't see him at all in this little scene.
Somebody help me. I have to do a research paper on Othello. I am focusing on the feminist perspective of Othello. I have been searching online for sources and haven't been successful. All I've found are essays that you can be purchased. I'm looking for academic, scholarly sources.
My favorite scene in the movie. You can't help but feel the heaviness of Othello's heart and Desdemona's impending doom, and yet both are so beautiful.
Shakespeare's just so damn great even in his minor scenes. So old and yet so new. Can't get over this writing - so great that I don't even care that everyone thinks so. The melody here is also very nice of course.
@MaximisedInsight This isn't a minor scene at all - it foreshadows how Desdemona almost knows her death is coming, and how utterly and devestatingly lost she has become. It's almost as if she was gone before she was killed. Irene failed at it - she sped through it, didn't frame ANYTHING, and lost the entire magic of the song. >.<
@PaintedMaypole26 I agree that 'minor scene' might be debatable here, though I do think it is in the sense that cutting it in part or even entirely doesn't make the Othello-centred play unwatchable. Yes, Parker omits some of the foreshadowing (the 'died singing it' leaves a bit of it, though) and focuses more on O's madness and then Desdemona's childlike unworldliness. I think this works, though, and don't quite see what you find rushed about it. Not the bathing scene, surely!?
@MaximisedInsight I agree that it doesn't destroy the play, but it does cut a huge part of the character developement of Desdemona. I am playing Desdemona right now, and that may leave me being a bit more picky, but my director (a renown Shakespearian analyst) stresses so often how the Willow scene needs to be dreamy, sad, slow, and meaning. I just saw a pretty girl with a lilting accent singing a song. Any meaning that should have been there didn't seem to
@PaintedMaypole26 and the bathing was just a setting, it wouldn't've mattered to me whether she was bathing or getting her hair brushed - the song itself was not nearly dreamlike, sad or meaningful enough. Just a pretty girl singing a song fairly quickly. The magic didn't seem to spark like it should've.
this scene is beautiful. We were watching this movie in y 12th grade english class and I cant get this scene out of my head. I have the whole song memorized already ^_^
@violetavalery Ha ha, I'm so stupid, you're absolutely right. I don't know why I wrote "widow" (I know this story very well). But, in honour to the truth, this WILLOW song, is so lacking of sadness and passion. I'm sure you've heard Verdi's or Rossini's version (I know it because of your nickname, which I believe should be writen with a double T). This one just does not work for me.
I know its foreshadowing but you have to wonder whether she starts singing it because she knew she was going to die, and the real question is, at the end, did she fight for her life or give up? According to some critics, this song points to her giving up on her life.
, ...I can't see how its her mother who died since she says: "My mother had a maid called Barbary
Her mother's maid named Barbary died singing the song after her lover proved mad. It does--in a way-- point at her giving up on her life. But, it works more at foreshowdowing and as a commentary of the conditions in which women lived. It is important to note the placement of the song in the conversation between Emelia and Desdemona.
I love this scene in the movie! Othello is one of my favorite Shakespearean tragedies and I am a huge fan of lawrence fishburn...this movie is forever in my heart, from Desdemona's song of willow to Othello's final speech ='( I just love this movie!
I love this scene, it is my favorite in the play. I think Desdemona is a very complex character. I know everyone remember's her innocence first but I personally remember her selflessness & bravery most. To leave everything for a man who murdered her in the end and as she died she still loved him. I know she is fitional but that kind of faithfulness is a beautiful concept all the same.
I wish I understood the song better. She's sitting by a sycamore tree saying willow? Is she broken hearted because she wants the sycamore to be something it's not?
By all means see this movie. I think it is one of the most underrated movies of the 1990's. Irene Jacob is so beautiful, and Ana Patrick (the woman doing the bathing) gives an extraordinarily poignant performance in what is often a throwaway role. The sweet sincerity and subtle eroticism of this scene sets the stage for the horror and tragedy and senseless loss that will follow.
This scene and her hauting little song has been poured inside me since I first saw it in 1995. It's a challenge not to cry when I see it after a week or two.
mine as well...iago is in my opinion a renaissance version of the modern pyscho that people date, and when the end it the individual is like 'if i can't have YOU no one will!"
his character is very disturbing, yet beautifully crafted.:D..
This scene, when I first saw the movie, almost made me cry. It still tears me up a little, what with what happens to Desdemona later. I loved the book so much, and this scene made me love the movie.
Haunting in the truest sense -- I saw this one time and thought I'd forget about it, then a couple of days later I found myself singing it. I've been coming back to this ever since -- the more I hear it the more I'm moved. ^^;
It's OK. Irene Jacob is a fine actress but she's horribly miscast as Desi. Julia Ormond would have been interesting in this role. Fishburne and Branagh have their moments but they're not great, IMO. Still better than the Welles, Olivier or BBC Anthony Hopkins version. I wish someone had filmed the Paul Robeson version.
Now, I have to disagree with that. I actaully didn't like Othello until I saw this version of the play. In my opinion, Fishburne and Branagh did an excellent job. If it wasn't for Fishburne's portrayal of Othello, I would never have liked the character at all...And Branagh I think did a perfect job with all the personality switches. He played the part so well I thought it was knd of creepy. Then again that's just my own personal opinion.
haha yep...and its a distraction from my othello test studying :) ... haha i particularly love how the song is in perfect modern english and then afterward they go straight back to all that shakespearean talk...haa.
ahaha check everyone trying to use posh english under influence of the scene lol
SmeggLeable 2 months ago
Watched this in English and just wanted to hear her singing again... so gentle. A true reflection of poor, sweet Desdemona.
jazzzyy13 2 months ago
Lol wtf?!
DivX348 5 months ago
This song makes me love Desdemonda even more !
Jennibub 9 months ago
good cover! sub'd!!
MrPokujin 9 months ago 2
such an emotional song :')
x3ManDyy 9 months ago
i dont understand what this song means
johns500 9 months ago
I finished Othello a few weeks ago, and I played Desdemona ( we were reading it aloud) and I saw this song, I didn't sing the song or anything. I just said "Sing songs sing songs." We saw the movie after we were finished and when I heard her sing the song, I fell in love with it, immediately and began singing it to myself in class... I love this song, for I understand it now and how it relates to Othello...
animaegal22 10 months ago
This is the better version of this song! I wish they would record it as mp3 or so.
VickusPickus 10 months ago
pretty actress.. suits the role! .. .n she's sung the song beautifully... ws touched.. just saw the movie.. m short of words... shakespeare's poetry is exquisite!! ...and the way he develops his characters is incredible.. hve 2 study othello for my semester exms so thot watchin d movie wud b a gud place 2 start... :-)
lostsoul730 10 months ago
Shakespeare foretold the OJ Simpson story with this movie lmao!
TheAryanPhoenix 11 months ago
repent to Jesus christ, worthy is the lamb forever
bass109 11 months ago
@bass109 fool!
xXTaylorXx94 11 months ago
[enter your text here box] Othello is the guy from CSI... just so you know lol
armedangel98 1 year ago 5
Was that Emilia who was helping her bathe?
letthemxeatcake 1 year ago
@letthemxeatcake yes. Dont ask?
eyesword101 1 year ago
@eyesword101 I only managed to watch like, a quarter of the video?
letthemxeatcake 1 year ago
@letthemxeatcake Yep
LaMostraESopra 1 year ago
i sleep to this song...her voice is nice.
LethalSystem 1 year ago
I'm sorry, this pissed me off; it didn't work right at all to me. The "Barbary" speech was cut - NO. That is such a beautiful and important speech; it should never be cut. The song wasn't in the correct tune, but I guess it can be a little more interchangeable.
What pissed me off the most was her acting. This scene needs to show how Desdemona is gone before she is killed; Irene wasn't nearly dreamy, slow, sad or detached (sp?) enough.
I have to say, this scene was a fail :/
PaintedMaypole26 1 year ago
I like how she sings it. I first saw Irene in "The Secret Garden". This scene is definitely not an Iago moment, so I'm glad we don't see him at all in this little scene.
NewYorkS4U 1 year ago
Somebody help me. I have to do a research paper on Othello. I am focusing on the feminist perspective of Othello. I have been searching online for sources and haven't been successful. All I've found are essays that you can be purchased. I'm looking for academic, scholarly sources.
sandra8538 1 year ago
The ultimate lovestory, and a beautifull song.
MsChowchow91 1 year ago
The ultimate lovestory, and a beautifull song.
MsChowchow91 1 year ago
I love this song. I love this movie; I can not watch it without crying. All of the actors were wonderful.
sandra8538 1 year ago
My favorite scene in the movie. You can't help but feel the heaviness of Othello's heart and Desdemona's impending doom, and yet both are so beautiful.
jenads85 1 year ago
LOL
FuledByFun 1 year ago
Shakespeare's just so damn great even in his minor scenes. So old and yet so new. Can't get over this writing - so great that I don't even care that everyone thinks so. The melody here is also very nice of course.
MaximisedInsight 1 year ago
@MaximisedInsight This isn't a minor scene at all - it foreshadows how Desdemona almost knows her death is coming, and how utterly and devestatingly lost she has become. It's almost as if she was gone before she was killed. Irene failed at it - she sped through it, didn't frame ANYTHING, and lost the entire magic of the song. >.<
PaintedMaypole26 1 year ago
@PaintedMaypole26 I agree that 'minor scene' might be debatable here, though I do think it is in the sense that cutting it in part or even entirely doesn't make the Othello-centred play unwatchable. Yes, Parker omits some of the foreshadowing (the 'died singing it' leaves a bit of it, though) and focuses more on O's madness and then Desdemona's childlike unworldliness. I think this works, though, and don't quite see what you find rushed about it. Not the bathing scene, surely!?
MaximisedInsight 1 year ago
@MaximisedInsight I agree that it doesn't destroy the play, but it does cut a huge part of the character developement of Desdemona. I am playing Desdemona right now, and that may leave me being a bit more picky, but my director (a renown Shakespearian analyst) stresses so often how the Willow scene needs to be dreamy, sad, slow, and meaning. I just saw a pretty girl with a lilting accent singing a song. Any meaning that should have been there didn't seem to
PaintedMaypole26 1 year ago 2
@PaintedMaypole26 and the bathing was just a setting, it wouldn't've mattered to me whether she was bathing or getting her hair brushed - the song itself was not nearly dreamlike, sad or meaningful enough. Just a pretty girl singing a song fairly quickly. The magic didn't seem to spark like it should've.
PaintedMaypole26 1 year ago
this scene is beautiful. We were watching this movie in y 12th grade english class and I cant get this scene out of my head. I have the whole song memorized already ^_^
bow2squeakers 1 year ago
I believe she's very happy to be Desdemona. And the Widow song is not melancholical at all.
ejrouge 2 years ago
it's not the WiDOW song but the WILLOW song, and yes it is melancholic.
violetavalery 1 year ago
@violetavalery Ha ha, I'm so stupid, you're absolutely right. I don't know why I wrote "widow" (I know this story very well). But, in honour to the truth, this WILLOW song, is so lacking of sadness and passion. I'm sure you've heard Verdi's or Rossini's version (I know it because of your nickname, which I believe should be writen with a double T). This one just does not work for me.
ejrouge 1 year ago
i just love this song and this movie...lovely...
farcrygirl 2 years ago
this has to be one of my favorite songs
dawnadellb 2 years ago
Dam this is the first movie that made me cry. Love Hurts!
linkbucket 2 years ago
One of my favourite Shakespeare's scenes...
Hertzenuni 2 years ago 15
I always loved this song. She sings it wonderfully, and it truly has a lot of meaning here.
I can't help but cry at this movie. A masterful performance from all the actors.
quillian91 2 years ago 41
Really beautiful scene. Hard to beleive that the lyrics weren't written for the movie and melody. That's Shakespeare, even there.
knobchock 2 years ago 4
@knobchock It was actually a tradition song at the time so the lyrics were written with that melody. But it's a beautiful song nonetheless
BatteredBlueConverse 1 year ago
It's so beautiful
xoxoxfranxoxox 2 years ago 2
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listener1973 2 years ago
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listener1973 2 years ago
i can definitley see the passion, excellent works, deep, sensuality, twisted mind, and of course,...true love.
LiquorPatnaz 2 years ago
Poor Desdemona : (((
JessicaBarbie 2 years ago
I always had a feeling that she knew she was going to die...
alrewyrn 3 years ago
that song was a foreshadowing that she was going to die because her mother died while singing that same song
ilonka12poland 2 years ago
I know its foreshadowing but you have to wonder whether she starts singing it because she knew she was going to die, and the real question is, at the end, did she fight for her life or give up? According to some critics, this song points to her giving up on her life.
, ...I can't see how its her mother who died since she says: "My mother had a maid called Barbary
And she was in love but he she loved proved mad
and did forsake her...She had a song of "Willow"
alrewyrn 2 years ago
Her mother's maid named Barbary died singing the song after her lover proved mad. It does--in a way-- point at her giving up on her life. But, it works more at foreshowdowing and as a commentary of the conditions in which women lived. It is important to note the placement of the song in the conversation between Emelia and Desdemona.
lythadancer 2 years ago
AHH!!!
Thank you SO much,I'm doing this as my scene in drama and I'm really using it to learn how to sing willow.
THANKXZS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1111
eliserose13 3 years ago
love this play studying it atm for english but its so ironic how the story behind the willow song is her fate
lalamyah 3 years ago
This is my favorite scene in the play. Thanks for posting it.
Key2Universe101 3 years ago
I love this version of Othello...totally underrated.
buddy51 3 years ago 5
I like this version a lot. If only I could find the mp3!
consolemaniac91 3 years ago
There's an MP3 of the classical version on Britannica, but not this version, unfortunately.
kragey 3 years ago
use youtube downloader, it will download and convert to mp3. google it
mrjones5401 3 years ago
Typo:
"That song tonight will not go from my mind."
=D
blackglitter 3 years ago
Nor from mine...
Hertzenuni 3 years ago
My mind feels distress whenever I read or watch Desdemona say, "That song will not go from my mind tonight."
blackglitter 3 years ago
UMmm bye!! :D
Hi :) GK
9831278 3 years ago
I love this scene in the movie! Othello is one of my favorite Shakespearean tragedies and I am a huge fan of lawrence fishburn...this movie is forever in my heart, from Desdemona's song of willow to Othello's final speech ='( I just love this movie!
landyboo1990 3 years ago
Love schmove, you all know she just got turned on by storytime.
THEOogalieBoogalie 3 years ago
I love this film and this song. Thanks for posting.
MaiaCat1 3 years ago 3
Thank you for posting this.
ShakespeareFlix 3 years ago 2
I love this clip, it's so sad and beautiful. She's so vulnerable here
damdarahgna 3 years ago 2
shes not that innocent,she betrayed her father in initiating the relationship with othello
Redrocket14 3 years ago
I love this scene, it is my favorite in the play. I think Desdemona is a very complex character. I know everyone remember's her innocence first but I personally remember her selflessness & bravery most. To leave everything for a man who murdered her in the end and as she died she still loved him. I know she is fitional but that kind of faithfulness is a beautiful concept all the same.
HollyGolightlyII 3 years ago 4
i agree, i almost cried when Othello kills her
koolerz1569 3 years ago 3
I wish I understood the song better. She's sitting by a sycamore tree saying willow? Is she broken hearted because she wants the sycamore to be something it's not?
joallu73 3 years ago
Willow is a symbol of heartbreak. The girl in the song loved someone who didn't lvoe her back, so she's sitting under a willow crying.
botticelligal 3 years ago 2
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listener1973 2 years ago
By all means see this movie. I think it is one of the most underrated movies of the 1990's. Irene Jacob is so beautiful, and Ana Patrick (the woman doing the bathing) gives an extraordinarily poignant performance in what is often a throwaway role. The sweet sincerity and subtle eroticism of this scene sets the stage for the horror and tragedy and senseless loss that will follow.
frankantoniomartin 3 years ago 2
this scene is the saddest because destemona did not knew that this was going to be her last night
smithaaron42 3 years ago
sandra8538
I love this scene. I love everything about this movie. Othello is my favorite play.
sandra8538 3 years ago 3
it seems like a foreshadow her saying "tonight that song will not go from my mind" when she said her mothers maid got killed singing it
psylowade 4 years ago 6
Well...yes.
BobaMatt 3 years ago
finally a good song
psylowade 4 years ago 6
This scene and her hauting little song has been poured inside me since I first saw it in 1995. It's a challenge not to cry when I see it after a week or two.
lawgra 4 years ago 20
OMG ME TOO!!! I love this play.
shmoogle14 4 years ago 3
Iago is so EVIL!!
iceking1714 4 years ago 4
Possibly the eviliest character in theater.
shmoogle14 4 years ago 5
Iago is a genius :| He's mine....DX MINE!
VKatze 4 years ago 2
Yeah, but he is definately my favorite character.
candycane1213 4 years ago
mine too
iceking1714 4 years ago
mine as well...iago is in my opinion a renaissance version of the modern pyscho that people date, and when the end it the individual is like 'if i can't have YOU no one will!"
his character is very disturbing, yet beautifully crafted.:D..
slav777sacrament 3 years ago
oh god don't scare me with the pyschos now in days =\, 'if i cant have you no one will' that is scary...
iceking1714 3 years ago
hmm
I think Iago is not fully developed...there is so much of this character hidden
I don't think he is a pscyho...clearly there is an unreasonable action from Othello - he is the madman
Iago is just kiniving
agricolae101 3 years ago
This scene, when I first saw the movie, almost made me cry. It still tears me up a little, what with what happens to Desdemona later. I loved the book so much, and this scene made me love the movie.
Burinnu 4 years ago 3
This is one of the most beautiful scenes I've ever seen in my life. I can't stop watching it.
paradigm94 4 years ago 2
emilia's un uber slut
ByandFar 4 years ago
damn this song it plagues my mind x.x I MUST SING IT NOW!
VKatze 4 years ago 2
Haunting in the truest sense -- I saw this one time and thought I'd forget about it, then a couple of days later I found myself singing it. I've been coming back to this ever since -- the more I hear it the more I'm moved. ^^;
Chaeley 4 years ago 2
You got to love Emilia. I've never seen this film, is it good?
SavvyJack1 4 years ago 2
It's OK. Irene Jacob is a fine actress but she's horribly miscast as Desi. Julia Ormond would have been interesting in this role. Fishburne and Branagh have their moments but they're not great, IMO. Still better than the Welles, Olivier or BBC Anthony Hopkins version. I wish someone had filmed the Paul Robeson version.
Xenu 4 years ago
Now, I have to disagree with that. I actaully didn't like Othello until I saw this version of the play. In my opinion, Fishburne and Branagh did an excellent job. If it wasn't for Fishburne's portrayal of Othello, I would never have liked the character at all...And Branagh I think did a perfect job with all the personality switches. He played the part so well I thought it was knd of creepy. Then again that's just my own personal opinion.
theyaoigoddess 4 years ago 3
The movie is the best. I have said this in other post, by the way :)
It´s a great movie, and I have read the book as well.
GilwenX 4 years ago
haha yep...and its a distraction from my othello test studying :) ... haha i particularly love how the song is in perfect modern english and then afterward they go straight back to all that shakespearean talk...haa.
JeLLo4Every1 4 years ago
funny, because in the double life of veronique irene jacob's charachter dies singing a song
stano5 4 years ago
I love it... thank you!
KASANDRA12 4 years ago
I love this rendition of 'The Willow Song', but can't find it anywhere. Would you know where it could be found?
matrixeye 4 years ago
O.o i swear that scene wasnt in the arigional play but i love the sing!=D thanx for the upload
(i.e the blessed distraction from the othello essay in front of me)
frederickbabyyeah 4 years ago
I assure you that the song is in the play! :)
rebeccatrishel 4 years ago