Shakespeare's Othello - end, part 2/2 (Laurence Olivier)

[Justashamethatsall]

Grey make-up... realisitic.

[Krzyszczynski]

There's no agreement among Shakespearean scholars as to Othello's ethnicity - in the Bard's day the term "black" could mean anyone with a complexion darker than usual among Europeans. (Fifty years later, the fugitive Charles II was described in a "Wanted" poster as a "long black man").

So this acrimonious debate as to whether Olivier should have played the role is basically pretty pointless. In hindsight, though, probably a mistake for him to have gone for the black option.

[Babylonvox]

@Krzyszczynski well... As William's original plays could not be saved... the only reason why we could achieve having those plays with us is the fact that Shakespeare's friends saved them up, recognizing that they were unique and something worth it...

Without Lanyer and Marlowe, it would not even be recognized in the world as the plays they are...

[Babylonvox]

@Babylonvox And as they collected what they could from the plays without being William's original work, the whole meaning could have been adapted by them.

But since Othelo's Context of the age in cyprus and venice, The most reasonable thing is that Othelo was a berber moor, other than being a traditional black african. Remember, his father was egyptian, and the war in those days was against the turkish, the whole play is adapted for that age, even Lago's hate for Othelo.

[Mickyeahh]

-The object poisons sight! Let it be hid!

-Nnn NUUHAAA...AA!

[BFFFL16]

thats not even a black man is it... smh

[goseniors1]

Poor Maggie... Nothing like having someone shake you and scream in your ear for a whole scene. She is the best!

[crimsonfloyd1973]

laurence olivier is beastly good

[judelko]

this is when british culture (ie. english, welsh, scots, irish) was to be seen; it's shakespeare, when english spoken beautifully could be heard and aspired to and when the pursuit of character and excellence prevailed. this is a great actor not limiting himself of a great part that can inform us all. we used to be free in this country but that is all gone. we have to ask permission of 'communities' + immigrants now.

PaintedMaypole26 there has never been segregation laws in this country.

[judelko]

regardless that othello is a black moor, this is about british culture when it was recognisable, our own + before it was corrupted by the debasing influences prevalent today. othello is a character to be acted, a story to be told + told here by our greatest actor. today we have to put up with the petulant ignorance of those who insist a black must play the part. like actors should only play who they are. the limitations of the imagination of the pc brigade bound up with black/asian demands.

[fleisch08]

Iago's moaning as they lead him off to be tortured - I didn't imagine that as part of his character, I always imagined him as guiltless and unrepentant to the very end.

[phononut]

Maggie has a very righteous rack!

[SuperDeedee11]

Damn, I know this is a play, but when the guy killed the maid, it looked fake.

[rawdonqueen]

Olivier's technique is obvious and often distracting, But, in the end, I find this death scene very moving.

[98slbrookes98]

Thanks for this. Do you have Act 3 Scene 3 of this version?

[stephanator007]

I can't stand seeing a whie guy play Othello! there are so many tallented black- British actors that could easily play this role. I am not saying Oliver is a good actor but black actors should have "moor" opportunities to play Othello. ..... Get it "moor"!

[PaintedMaypole26]

@stephanator007 This was back when it was the norm for a white guy to play a black guy! If this was filmed like three years ago I would agree with you, and I agree with you saying that a black man should play a black man, but you can't bash one movie (from a time when this was the norm) without bashing all of the other movies.

And you mean "there were". Back then black actors were still struggling.

[schradiek]

No he stabs himself in the neck with a knife concealed in his bracelet.

[caspianrex]

So, let me get this straight...Olivier chokes himself? With one hand? Is that even humanly possible?

I agree with those who say that Olivier's makeup in this version is...distracting, at the very least. Grotesque, even. Sometimes his acting is a little over the top, but there are some really good moments.

I'm getting this film from Netflix soon, and look forward to seeing the whole thing.

[westworld66]

im sure they had good black actors then,instead of doing a minstral show,he looked stupid,oh im white by the way

[PaintedMaypole26]

@westworld66 It was the norm back then for them to be in blackface. It wasn't frowned upon then like it was now. More recent films of Othello have a black man portray the black character, but back then the segregation laws weren't removed until about this time. There weren't many black famous actors back then.

Plus, being a good actor and being a good actor doing Shakespeare are two differeng things entirely. Shakespeare is hard material to master, and Olivier did.

[beee245]

I don't agree with nicholashenton either. you need to love someone enough before you can be that jealous of anyone that tries to take them away.

but back to what's important, fantastic production. tears in my eyes.

[Nene2Sweet]

I do not agree with nicholashenton, i believed he really did love her, sumtimes love can make sumone do very crazy things n that is wat othello did. He was driven to insanity n it made him kill wat he loved so dearly

[seraphdarknon]

Poor Maggie. I wonder what she was thinking, having to lie there for that whole scene only to be shaken and screamed at even though she's "dead". lol. It fits though, I guess.

[nicholashenton]

othello is really pathetic; he didnt love her; he was just a sex pervert who was obsessed with white women. that's how he could kill someone out of jealousy he "loved". if you love someone, it could be a friend, son, mom, daughter, dad, husband, wife, etc., you don't kill them because of jealousy; they might disappoint you, or make you sad, but that's ridiculous. he was just obsessed with her as a sensuous object; its gross.

[seraphdarknon]

I don't see this as being true on either level. If you love someone more than anything, you put them on a pedestal, and you consider them to be more perfect than anything, the of course when that person betrays you, you'll go a bit nutso. Maybe not this nutso, but some people go a bit crazier than others. Also, I think your appraisal of his interest in her is in error. There is no evidence to suggest he liked other white women before her, or treated her like an object before he went nuts.

[nicholashenton]

i wouldnt kill someone for something i did not know they did. he had no evidence, he indulged in bizarre fantasies suggested by a man he had no particular reason to trust, and he then kills someone for that reason. olivier portrays him in a certain light which is obvious to anyone where olivier was going with it.

[seraphdarknon]

Well no one is above insecurities. Maybe as confident as he seemed, he still was having problems with the racism around him. Iago is a very trusted friend in the first act. They served together. Iago is a veteren, and a good one, which is why he resents a "mathematician" like Cassio getting the Lieutenacy before him. Also, there was a lot of circumstancial evidence.

[nicholashenton]

othello was insecure about being old, not merely about his race.

[nicholashenton]

othello is always referencing her skin color and race, especially when he nears her death(skin "white as monumental alabaster",etc.) and he brings up his own race a lot ( and uses negative descriptive phrases to characterize it)

[seraphdarknon]

Everyone in this play does this though. That's the problem. So it's not like he alone had a facination simply because of her skin. It's cultural response. Also, she was beautiful anyway, and we still describe people as having "alabaster skin"...it's not a racial thing but rather just an observation (normally a flattering one). Also, he has been taught that Moors aren't as good as whites. He's been made to cast of his native-ness and adopt the Venetian way-- and they're pretty race-oriented.

[nicholashenton]

that has a lot of assumptions in it which arent born out in everybody in the play. your assuming its culturally based, when Othello is jealous of young men, not white ones, and othello himself brings up his physical appearance over and over again along with certain other characters in the play. if they were that racists in venice that would have killed him and thrown him in the ocean (or whatever they would do with someone they didnt feel like bothering about).

[wilbyfilms]

not the best othello but he portrays Othellos madness excellently

[getoveritgoddamit]

i love this ; )

[KirschxDxD]

Couldn't they at least have painted him like a dark brown, black just makes it even more unrealistic.

[enichdenliu]

Meh. I didn't really like it... IT seemed very unrealistic... They didn't seem very sad, and, how the hell did Othello kill himself?

[starrbeatlesqueen]

in the play, he stabs himself in the stomach.

in this film version, he chokes himself using his thumb.

[starrbeatlesqueen]

@starrbeatlesqueen actually, now that I've seen it more closely, he stabs himself in the neck using a pierce on his bracelet.

[getoveritgoddamit]

there was a weapon in his bracelet, but that didn't happen in the book, he used a knife, but you know william shakespeare didn't know that these stories were going to be turned into historian plays, for people started to collect and ask actors for what they had said, seven years after william shakespeare's death

[ahmed2567890]

Hello, I need this movie badly, can someone kindly tell me how I can get it?

[getoveritgoddamit]

you can try going to your friendly library because im sure it would be there

[fatdaddyb28]

Frank Finlay is great in this....... and Laurence..... well, it's Laurence, so you know this is hot.

[iszzak]

larry being black i just can't buy it

[starrbeatlesqueen]

my shakespeare classmates laughed at laurence olivier being painted black for this.

[stevevandien]

Too bad for them.

[toddsquad650]

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