JESUS CHRIST...I've seen this play live, seen all the film versions, and I've heard completely uncut readings...but I've yet to hear anyone perform Iago as well as Branagh has.
Not sure if anyone already said this, but this is a soliloquy, not a monologue, because he happens to be alone on the "stage." That aside, this villain is by far the most crafty Shakespeare ever created, he's just so good at manipulation!
aren't we iago sometimes? ...it's completely normal and natural for human beings to feel extreme jealousy and hatred toward their members if given a valid reason for such feelings....as in the case of Iago, the very first reason or the root of the problem we are given in the play is that he doesn’t get the promotion which he deserves in all respects , therefore, his actions in response to this is the reaction to rejection which I believe justifies his behavior.
@crabfight I agree entirely. If we define evil as causes of human suffering, it's just natural. Tsunamis, hurricanes, floods, droughts - nature just rapes us and kills us. The world is hostile to life, BUT not so much so that life can't exist. Life CAN exist, barely. There have been 6 mass extinctions in history, which killed more than 90% of life each time. A character like Iago, who just says EVIL in capital letters, is actually true to life.
@darthevil9999 In my Acting for Non-Majors class last semester, I did this monologue for my final for the very same reason (only insert 'girl' where you wrote 'guy'). I highly recommend doing it!
interesting that the villain of Shakespeare's first tragedy was a black guy (Aaron) who just was like "I'm evil bitch aha!" but later with the play Othello he reversed it totally and made the hero a black guy, and the villain a white guy with no real motivation. Whatever you might conclude, Shakespeare was much more open minded than his contemporaries.
just finished reading this book in english and all i have to say is that this is the worst fucking book ever written, i mean i honestly thought shakespeare couldnt have made a worse book than romeo and juliet (that shit made me puke) but he he did it again. people need to get over this horseshit and pay attention to books that werent written FIVE CENTURIES AGO god damn stop livin in the past-movie sucks too by the way :)
@yabbahdabbahdo I disagree with your opinion, but you caught me off guard with your first sentence. The way you built it up I was expecting you to say it was the "best book ever written." Well played friend.
@DraconianSilenced lol thats the joke. Didnt mean to offend anyone, just pissed off because i bombed the test for this and i was just livid. So yeah...
@yabbahdabbahdo You're such a joke I don't even know where to begin. Take a little time to grow up, actually see the world for what it is, and then maybe you can appreciate the countless works of art that Shakespeare created. Until then, kindly do us all a favour and get the hell off YouTube with your ignorant comments. Thank you. :)
Not my favourite portrayal of Iago. Ian McKellen was so much better. Not that it's a competition of course, just my opinion. This portrayal seems almost too casual and disinterested. And cheesy action at the end, pushing the camera away. Thanks for uploading though...
I sometimes wonder how differently this whole story would be viewed if it was titled "Iago". Iago very well may be the most deeply fascinating character the Bard every conjured up.
God I really hated Iago. Usually with villains I love to hate them but with Iago I found myself to actually really really really hate him. It was really upsetting how everyone thought he was a good guy while Iago was committing heinous crimes behind their backs.
Kenneth Branagh is one of the finest 'Shakespearean' actors: he speaks Elizabethan English so naturally, without the stilted awkward manner of many other actors and his body language is always so brilliant like at the beginning of this speech when he picks his ear, which connotes that destroying peoples lives are no more effort, that he thinks of them as little more than wax for him to mould. He is such a fine ambassador for Shakespeare being performed in the way it was when written.
@007iloveJesus Iago. Why? Because while the Joker is obviously out being villainous, the thing that makes Iago so magnificent is that everyone believed he was the most trustworthy guy in the room until he was finally caught.
So while Batman would see the Joker out being evil and punch him in a manner most righteous, Iago would fuck over everyone involved for the Evulz and walk off without anyone the wiser.
@007iloveJesus Well, for a few reasons. Joker is a very well written villain. However Iago and his deeds span since the time of Shakespeare and have withstood 500+ years and managed to stand out the entire time. Amongst other reasons, as well.
The fact that he keeps looking into the camera really kinda takes away from this in my opinion. I feel like I'm watching a documentary. Good movie though
hahaha, a good parody of this would be that as he is talking, othello turns out to be right behind him the whole time... would crack me up soooo much!!
@StacyIsWatchingYou he is doing the exact same thing he would do on a stage. This is a great way to do a soliloquy. I think Branagh did the same thing with his Hamlet film but might have used a mirror during one scene.
@BigBoston17 Yeah, I understand that... I think it's fantastic on stage, but in film, it just seems awkward to me. I don't know. I would much rather see him "thinking to himself" on film than communicating with the audience.
His last line is what makes him so utterly fascinating. To call him a villain, or evil, is true. But it doesn't fully define him. Leaving Othello - and us - in the dark as to his motives and WHAT he is... is his greatest victory, even as he knows he's failed in escaping
I've always found the beauty of Iago's villainy to be the pureness of it. He knows he's evil, and makes no rationalizations to himself saying otherwise.
We all adore and pity the Setian, the Prometheus, if you will... Pathos (pity) is something Aristotle wrote of extensively. Kierkegaard wrote about despair in the same vein as well...
We all identify with it because of our mortality.
Shakespeare was the most brilliant writer of all time. I had a term paper assignment that was supposed to be a five thousand word minimum, I wrote fifty thousand. I just couldn't stop digging in the books, it was such an intense subject when you actually examine the dialogue.
Then I discovered common themes in modern film like the Witch King in Lord of the Rings and Macbeth. Tolkein was also that level of brilliance. Look at the Orks and the Muslims for example...
The Ultimate Villain of all time! He doesnt use brute force or even a giant army, he uses his intelligence and cunning to ruin lives. He doesnt give you a swift death, he kills you by leading you to your own self-destruction.
To be honest every time I read any othello I always side with Iago, he is the only one who isn't a blind fool bound by the will of others or following a path they are expected to follow. The only flaw in his behavior that I can see is his complacency. He forgot that fools can still be a threat due to their very blundering nature. If he had taken greater care and opted to not manipulate Rodrigo, he would not have been revealed. The rewards would have been rightfully his.
To me, Othello is the most accessible of Shakespeare's tragedies. We can all see a little of the characters in ourselves or those we know. Everyone knows how reputations can be destroyed on the flimsiest of evidence; how jealousy and suspicion feed on the heart; how innocence and virtue can be easily slandered; how persuasiveness and gullibility interact to destroy people; and how lies always get you in the end.
It's a brilliant play and a great story. Shakespeare's best.
This comment has received too many negative votesshow
Isn't he supposed to play a psychopath? He looks like he is talking to a therapist. Another terrible performance. Has anybody seen the 1995 Hamlet? It was a disaster as well. You're fired!
I have to present this monologue tommorow, but the non-edited one, the longer one. If anyone's watching right now I would love some tips (I do act though so I'm not a complete idiot).
@chcknpie04 yea but it is not really really common unless there are going for a more breckt style. there are obviously going to be examples of it in modern literature. but several people do Shakespeare where the character is talking to himself when actually it is meant to be done this way
I think breaking the fourth wall in this segment of the film was a very good choice on the director's part. Fantastic film, and here is to the best villain in history. :)
i love this film, on the surface you probably just see petty hatred but when you look harder you can see how twisted he really is, shakespeare was really ahead of the game when he wrote plays like these. Kenneth Branagh was really good as Iago =)
@MissMaddiem00 Agreed , oh how much I try to understand this twisted character . He remains a mistery to me , why does he want to play an act on them all ? Is it the position of Cassio ? His hatred for the moor for having the most beautiful woman , true and loyal ? I can't quite grasp him , yet I am intrigued by him . In my opinion this is the greatest character Shakespear has created.
@MisterWolf7 Hamlet is far more of a 'doomed romantic' character, but i'll just say right now, that I do love Hamlet. He is a very deep and hotly debated character, on one side, a clever and witty young gentleman, on the other, a wrathful, depressed teenager. BUT, by the standards of Shakespeare, Iago is a far deeper character. In Iago we see doubt, guilt, frustration, hate, spitefulness, and a whole host of other dimensions Hamlet doesn't contain. Perhaps it's a matter of taste. What say you?
I don't think you can really accuse Hamlet of being without frustration or hate, in fact it's probably all the more twisted as the hate is rational and inwardly directed - he openly hates himself for his inaction. Hamlet is self-reflective, he has more soliloquies than any other Shakespearian character. With Iago, depth is a consequence of his other flaws, with Hamlet depth itself is his flaw, and this I think is more fascinating than anyway Iago has to offer.
i like how he recognizes the audience during the soliloquies; the aside lines are basically intended to be heard by people watching the play at a theatre
I thought that was a pretty cool choice on the director's part; as far as I've seen, actually acknowledging the audience isn't usual fare for movie adaptations of Shakespeare plays. It creates an interesting feeling--it feels like Iago is confiding directly in you, the viewer.
Iago is jealous of Cassio, for he feels that he has been passed over to promote Cassio. He's also a bit of a rascist against Othello (The moor). Thjat's why he's planning revenge using her.
That's what i've been wondering...i know he's jealous of Cassio, or at least that's the motive he gives, but is he actually in love with othello? His hatred for women and his repulsed obsession with sex makes me wonder if he's actually gay, frustrated and completely infatuated with othello, also he works more to destroy Desdemona and Cassio, and although he makes othello mad with jealousy he only works to bring him closer to himself and distance him from everyone else...
"Note the elegance with which Blake's Spectre theory fits Shakespeare's Othello. A conspiratorial Spectre, Iago, is homoerotically obsessed with splitting Othello, through jealous fears,..."
Paglia, Camille, Sexual Personae: art and decadence from Nefertiti to Emily Dickinson, New Haven: Yale University Press, 1990. Rpr. First Vintage Books Edition, September 1991, New York... p. 287-289
No, I haven't yet... thanks for the reminder... Now, I have yet another book to add to the summer stack... I enjoy reading. Unfortunately, there is so little time in life to read.
I just finished Stanley Stewart's "In the Empire of Genghis Kahn." (Great read)
Kenneth Branagh is one of the greatest actor, directors and writers of this generation. He's very good. Creeped me out in this movie with his insidious and wonderfully villainous portrayal of
"Honest" Iago. He should play Macbeth or Richard III on film.
eek, I find othello one of the most powerful works ever written, and iago certainly one of the most chilling characters. even now after so many serial killers and slashers, iago has the ability to give readers and audiences the creeps big time.
This is easily Branagh's best peformance. After seeing him in other great Shakespeare roles such as Hamlet, Henry V and Benedick, but playing the villian can bring out the best of you.
Kenneth Branagh is bloody brilliant. the most amazing performance of Iago i've ever seen, including theatrical adaptations. i didn't like this version of Othello at all, but his role alone is worth going through the rest of the painfully shallow scenes.
actually my class and I watched many versions of Othello. We watched this dramatic version, we saw "O" the modern day high school version, and a very crappy English production from Globe Theater actors. My god, the actor's performance was terrible and they looked horrible as well. This is the best version I've seen
You got that right. Method can be very useful, but this kind of role would be a challenge, which is a shame because Marlon Brando was wonderful in Julius Ceasar but he simply didn't have the confidence.
How can you say that? Stanislavski developed the method and his applies to shakespeare more than anything. I would be surprised if Breathnach, or anyone else performing in a Shakespeare play did not employ some form of method acting, be it by emotional memory or whatever!
You do have a very good point but there are still many differences between Method and Shakespeare (And indeed between American and British acting).
All I mean to say is when would you ever see a method actor directly addressing the audience. No my friend, though I do respect the method I would not be compelled to use it. I would never want an audience to (In the words of Bertolt Brecht) "Hang up their Brains along with their coats" when watch a performance.
As Dustin Hoffman once said, British actors are traditionally more technical whereas the Americans are traditionally more methodic, which is better I cannot say, all I am saying is that I prefer Shakespeare's way.
I LOVE the art of this word usage! "When devils will the blackest sins put on they do suggest at first with heavenly shows as I do now" Isn't that the COOLEST way to say that "I'm just pretending to be nice for now." He says it so eloquent it almost seems like doing a good deed.
what I love about Branaugh's interpretation of the character is that he gives you the impression that he genuinlely believe what he;'s doing is just. Perhaps not just blankly evil, but physchotically so
I saw an othello play a couple of days ago in montreal and the man that played iago was by far the best portrayal so far, the whole cast was amazing, i highly reccomend it.
I'm going to steer the topic away from Sir know-it-all into something else. On another note, Kenneth Brannagh is an amazing actor who's skills were noted and recognized in previous films. His ability to speak and portray Iago's deepest of thought is what take me aback and simply amazes me. Quite honestly, he's one hell of an actor in my book.
Clearly, SirWinston has an unusual proficiency for citing unreliable sources. Fact: Everyone is fully entitled to their opinion/beliefs and therefore, you haven't a right to call someone "wrong," so long as someone has the ability to prove you otherwise. Winston may believe he's somehow 'intelligent' however, citing sources in a desperate and feeble-minded attempt to make one's self seemingly more intelligent is a parse; and is no doubt pathetic.
JESUS CHRIST...I've seen this play live, seen all the film versions, and I've heard completely uncut readings...but I've yet to hear anyone perform Iago as well as Branagh has.
cynicallefty 1 week ago
Kenneth Branagh is brilliant! I'd love to see him cast as Macbeth. and Helena Bonham Carter as Lady Macbeth... that'd be awesome.
DamaniMusic 2 weeks ago
im playing iargo in college hope i do well
dombriddon93 1 month ago
Not sure if anyone already said this, but this is a soliloquy, not a monologue, because he happens to be alone on the "stage." That aside, this villain is by far the most crafty Shakespeare ever created, he's just so good at manipulation!
NightlanceX 1 month ago 2
Iago is a badass.
TheRealShade 2 months ago
@TheRealShade I agree
iago1779 2 months ago
aren't we iago sometimes? ...it's completely normal and natural for human beings to feel extreme jealousy and hatred toward their members if given a valid reason for such feelings....as in the case of Iago, the very first reason or the root of the problem we are given in the play is that he doesn’t get the promotion which he deserves in all respects , therefore, his actions in response to this is the reaction to rejection which I believe justifies his behavior.
nad1064 4 months ago
@nad1064
It's not his indignity at not being promoted. It's just what he CLAIMS to be his excuse for...irrationally hating "the Moor".
Great villains don't always need a true motive for their evil. They just are.
crabfight 3 months ago
@crabfight I agree entirely. If we define evil as causes of human suffering, it's just natural. Tsunamis, hurricanes, floods, droughts - nature just rapes us and kills us. The world is hostile to life, BUT not so much so that life can't exist. Life CAN exist, barely. There have been 6 mass extinctions in history, which killed more than 90% of life each time. A character like Iago, who just says EVIL in capital letters, is actually true to life.
ravenouscolonelhart 3 months ago
I am so doing this as my monologue for Acting class. I will not be known as the nice guy any longer.
darthevil9999 5 months ago
@darthevil9999 In my Acting for Non-Majors class last semester, I did this monologue for my final for the very same reason (only insert 'girl' where you wrote 'guy'). I highly recommend doing it!
XPhile10131121 4 months ago
interesting that the villain of Shakespeare's first tragedy was a black guy (Aaron) who just was like "I'm evil bitch aha!" but later with the play Othello he reversed it totally and made the hero a black guy, and the villain a white guy with no real motivation. Whatever you might conclude, Shakespeare was much more open minded than his contemporaries.
ravenouscolonelhart 5 months ago 6
lol way to comment like 3 months later XD
yabbahdabbahdo 5 months ago
Why can't all of Shakespeare's villains be this good?
Horatio786 5 months ago
im doing this monologue for drama. this dudes amazing
tenelious 6 months ago
@LOLUK go fuck yourself
yabbahdabbahdo 7 months ago
@yabbahdabbahdo And you just sealed the deal on your own stupidity. Well done.
mondydsp 5 months ago
just finished reading this book in english and all i have to say is that this is the worst fucking book ever written, i mean i honestly thought shakespeare couldnt have made a worse book than romeo and juliet (that shit made me puke) but he he did it again. people need to get over this horseshit and pay attention to books that werent written FIVE CENTURIES AGO god damn stop livin in the past-movie sucks too by the way :)
yabbahdabbahdo 8 months ago
@yabbahdabbahdo I disagree with your opinion, but you caught me off guard with your first sentence. The way you built it up I was expecting you to say it was the "best book ever written." Well played friend.
DraconianSilenced 8 months ago
@DraconianSilenced lol thats the joke. Didnt mean to offend anyone, just pissed off because i bombed the test for this and i was just livid. So yeah...
yabbahdabbahdo 8 months ago
@yabbahdabbahdo You're such a joke I don't even know where to begin. Take a little time to grow up, actually see the world for what it is, and then maybe you can appreciate the countless works of art that Shakespeare created. Until then, kindly do us all a favour and get the hell off YouTube with your ignorant comments. Thank you. :)
LOLUK 7 months ago 3
@yabbahdabbahdo Trolls be trollin.
delvenak 6 months ago
Ewan McGregor is amazing!
Antipopularization 9 months ago
@Antipopularization thats not ewan McGregor my friend, this is Kenneth Branagh
justpullingyourleg 9 months ago
@justpullingyourleg But I love Ewan!
Antipopularization 9 months ago
Not my favourite portrayal of Iago. Ian McKellen was so much better. Not that it's a competition of course, just my opinion. This portrayal seems almost too casual and disinterested. And cheesy action at the end, pushing the camera away. Thanks for uploading though...
AuroraGreenleaf 9 months ago
I sometimes wonder how differently this whole story would be viewed if it was titled "Iago". Iago very well may be the most deeply fascinating character the Bard every conjured up.
King Ken's brilliant, as always.
libbilation 10 months ago
God I really hated Iago. Usually with villains I love to hate them but with Iago I found myself to actually really really really hate him. It was really upsetting how everyone thought he was a good guy while Iago was committing heinous crimes behind their backs.
On a completely different note, great acting :)
Alexander82211 10 months ago
3 people got enmeshed.
MidsummerTheMusical 10 months ago 2
Kenneth Branagh is one of the finest 'Shakespearean' actors: he speaks Elizabethan English so naturally, without the stilted awkward manner of many other actors and his body language is always so brilliant like at the beginning of this speech when he picks his ear, which connotes that destroying peoples lives are no more effort, that he thinks of them as little more than wax for him to mould. He is such a fine ambassador for Shakespeare being performed in the way it was when written.
oirishstallion 10 months ago
I have to play Iago in a play so im looking up everything about him
jvwashere2 10 months ago
@007iloveJesus Iago. Why? Because while the Joker is obviously out being villainous, the thing that makes Iago so magnificent is that everyone believed he was the most trustworthy guy in the room until he was finally caught.
So while Batman would see the Joker out being evil and punch him in a manner most righteous, Iago would fuck over everyone involved for the Evulz and walk off without anyone the wiser.
EvilOverlordOfDoom 11 months ago
@007iloveJesus Well, for a few reasons. Joker is a very well written villain. However Iago and his deeds span since the time of Shakespeare and have withstood 500+ years and managed to stand out the entire time. Amongst other reasons, as well.
GameMaster255 11 months ago 2
@007iloveJesus I'll respectfully disagree
GameMaster255 11 months ago
Love Iago!! One of my favorite literary charactors of all time. He's brilliant, really.
ivettexxx 11 months ago
The fact that he keeps looking into the camera really kinda takes away from this in my opinion. I feel like I'm watching a documentary. Good movie though
MetalGearMudkipMkII 1 year ago
hahaha, a good parody of this would be that as he is talking, othello turns out to be right behind him the whole time... would crack me up soooo much!!
ForlanElCapo 1 year ago
I don't like how he breaks the fourth wall.
StacyIsWatchingYou 1 year ago
@StacyIsWatchingYou he is doing the exact same thing he would do on a stage. This is a great way to do a soliloquy. I think Branagh did the same thing with his Hamlet film but might have used a mirror during one scene.
BigBoston17 1 year ago
@BigBoston17 Yeah, I understand that... I think it's fantastic on stage, but in film, it just seems awkward to me. I don't know. I would much rather see him "thinking to himself" on film than communicating with the audience.
StacyIsWatchingYou 1 year ago
@BigBoston17 Don't get me wrong, I do believe he does an excellent job as Iago overall. The one thing I would change is him looking at the camera.
StacyIsWatchingYou 1 year ago
@StacyIsWatchingYou well isnt it the directors choice? I actually dont know lol xP
jestermadden02 1 year ago
I think David Cameron would make a good Iago.
2muski 1 year ago
"Divinity of hell"....gives me goosebumps every time, when i watch this, and read it.
Kwenspi 1 year ago
His last line is what makes him so utterly fascinating. To call him a villain, or evil, is true. But it doesn't fully define him. Leaving Othello - and us - in the dark as to his motives and WHAT he is... is his greatest victory, even as he knows he's failed in escaping
AHafan1 1 year ago
I've always found the beauty of Iago's villainy to be the pureness of it. He knows he's evil, and makes no rationalizations to himself saying otherwise.
AnonomysPerson 1 year ago
Iago is a classic psychopath ......
MrPozzoz 1 year ago
Am i the only person who actually adores and pities this character? hes amazing and i feel so sorry for him
JxL483 1 year ago
@JxL483
We all adore and pity the Setian, the Prometheus, if you will... Pathos (pity) is something Aristotle wrote of extensively. Kierkegaard wrote about despair in the same vein as well...
We all identify with it because of our mortality.
SirWinstonChurchill 1 year ago
Comment removed
wazzapgangsta 1 year ago
"When devils will their blackest sins put on, they do suggest at first with heavenly shows."
So true. The most dangerous and twisted villains are the ones the hero fails to notice at first.
MegaFafnir 1 year ago 17
@MegaFafnir
"Behold, I am Set, the creator of confusion, who creates both the tempest and the storm throughout the length and breadth of the heavens."
(Naville, Edouard, trans. Egyptian Book of the Dead of the XVIII to XX Dynasties, Berlin, 1886, p. 39)
SirWinstonChurchill 1 year ago
@SirWinstonChurchill
You said it. Shakespeare clearly knew about this old theme and put it to great use with Iago.
MegaFafnir 1 year ago
@MegaFafnir
Shakespeare was the most brilliant writer of all time. I had a term paper assignment that was supposed to be a five thousand word minimum, I wrote fifty thousand. I just couldn't stop digging in the books, it was such an intense subject when you actually examine the dialogue.
Then I discovered common themes in modern film like the Witch King in Lord of the Rings and Macbeth. Tolkein was also that level of brilliance. Look at the Orks and the Muslims for example...
SirWinstonChurchill 1 year ago
The Ultimate Villain of all time! He doesnt use brute force or even a giant army, he uses his intelligence and cunning to ruin lives. He doesnt give you a swift death, he kills you by leading you to your own self-destruction.
pacomonkey007 1 year ago 25
@pacomonkey007, kinda like a credit card company.
EyeLean5280 1 year ago
@EyeLean5280 holy crap you're right....maybe Iago is the one that started it all.Gawd help us all
pacomonkey007 1 year ago
@pacomonkey007 The thing that makes him the most sinister is that he uses people's virtues against them; instead of their flaws.
wokangoman 3 months ago
To be honest every time I read any othello I always side with Iago, he is the only one who isn't a blind fool bound by the will of others or following a path they are expected to follow. The only flaw in his behavior that I can see is his complacency. He forgot that fools can still be a threat due to their very blundering nature. If he had taken greater care and opted to not manipulate Rodrigo, he would not have been revealed. The rewards would have been rightfully his.
GreenFont 1 year ago
Game: How many ways can you pronounce "Iago"
Diggler277 1 year ago
IAGO IS A BEAST!! HE'S SO CRAZILY AMAZING. :D
FlamingWaves 1 year ago 2
To me, Othello is the most accessible of Shakespeare's tragedies. We can all see a little of the characters in ourselves or those we know. Everyone knows how reputations can be destroyed on the flimsiest of evidence; how jealousy and suspicion feed on the heart; how innocence and virtue can be easily slandered; how persuasiveness and gullibility interact to destroy people; and how lies always get you in the end.
It's a brilliant play and a great story. Shakespeare's best.
yolhanson 1 year ago 8
Amazing performance from Kenneth Branagh.
RKO1492 1 year ago 4
TDK Joker+Iago shipping!
RoyalKnightVII 1 year ago
he is diabolical fantasic!!
Kiltlover03 1 year ago
iago equals pure evil
ILoveCookiePie 1 year ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
Isn't he supposed to play a psychopath? He looks like he is talking to a therapist. Another terrible performance. Has anybody seen the 1995 Hamlet? It was a disaster as well. You're fired!
peterzhang1989 1 year ago
Iago, that fucking snake!
0utthe0ther 1 year ago 3
iago is a BISH!!!!
appppppppple 2 years ago
In the whole of my acting life Iago is the role I have always wanted to play.
He is by far the greatest villian in Shakespeare
moviemind123 2 years ago 12
@moviemind123 same here
painlessissuicide 1 year ago
Iago is the ultimate villain of all time.
GameMaster255 2 years ago 137
@GameMaster255
Unparalleled, but Don Jon (Much Ado about Nothing) and Ferdinand (Duchess of Malfi)
RandomGanker 1 year ago
@GameMaster255
How fitting that the greatest British actor of our time plays him in this scene.
Lamporre 1 year ago
@GameMaster255 You dig him? Check out Clytemnestra.
BrooklynJackBlue 1 year ago
wut act is this monologue from... iagi is y favorite character and im trying to find this monologue... help plz
shendoboy 2 years ago
@shendoboy act 2 scene 3
Musmeister 2 years ago
I have to present this monologue tommorow, but the non-edited one, the longer one. If anyone's watching right now I would love some tips (I do act though so I'm not a complete idiot).
WinterTopaz 2 years ago
I did this monologue for my drama class last year, im rehearsing it again for a play im auditioning for.
Either way, i reccomend you look at other's interpretations of this
He cuts out a lot in this monolouge, when it is not needed to be done.
Do as he does and talk with an utter sense of cheer and yet selfishness at the start
But when the music kicks in(in the video) act as if you are almost demonic, evil.
Talk slowly and emphasize the main points of this
It worked for me.
heynowwilliamson69 2 years ago
Thanks :) I was presenting in an english classroom so no lighting :( but I got a 98% on it.
WinterTopaz 2 years ago
if you get the choice of lighting and sound try to do just a normal white light on you until you say
350 Directly to his good? Divinity of hell!
then have them change to a dark red light, add some creepy piano music and its set.
A+ for me, hopefully for you too :)
heynowwilliamson69 2 years ago
Comment removed
BrettDGarrett 2 years ago
contemporary plays use direct address as well. Just thought I'd point that out.
chcknpie04 2 years ago
@chcknpie04 yea but it is not really really common unless there are going for a more breckt style. there are obviously going to be examples of it in modern literature. but several people do Shakespeare where the character is talking to himself when actually it is meant to be done this way
BrettDGarrett 1 year ago
nicely done
xrisp 2 years ago
I think breaking the fourth wall in this segment of the film was a very good choice on the director's part. Fantastic film, and here is to the best villain in history. :)
Stupoider 2 years ago 3
i love this film, on the surface you probably just see petty hatred but when you look harder you can see how twisted he really is, shakespeare was really ahead of the game when he wrote plays like these. Kenneth Branagh was really good as Iago =)
MissMaddiem00 2 years ago 45
@MissMaddiem00 Agreed , oh how much I try to understand this twisted character . He remains a mistery to me , why does he want to play an act on them all ? Is it the position of Cassio ? His hatred for the moor for having the most beautiful woman , true and loyal ? I can't quite grasp him , yet I am intrigued by him . In my opinion this is the greatest character Shakespear has created.
Maledicere1 1 year ago
@Maledicere1 Iago??? Man have you read Hamlet???
sadteeth1 1 year ago
@sadteeth1 I don't think Hamlet has a patch on Iago.
witness124 1 year ago
@witness124
In what respect?
MisterWolf7 1 year ago
@MisterWolf7 Hamlet is far more of a 'doomed romantic' character, but i'll just say right now, that I do love Hamlet. He is a very deep and hotly debated character, on one side, a clever and witty young gentleman, on the other, a wrathful, depressed teenager. BUT, by the standards of Shakespeare, Iago is a far deeper character. In Iago we see doubt, guilt, frustration, hate, spitefulness, and a whole host of other dimensions Hamlet doesn't contain. Perhaps it's a matter of taste. What say you?
witness124 1 year ago
@witness124
I don't think you can really accuse Hamlet of being without frustration or hate, in fact it's probably all the more twisted as the hate is rational and inwardly directed - he openly hates himself for his inaction. Hamlet is self-reflective, he has more soliloquies than any other Shakespearian character. With Iago, depth is a consequence of his other flaws, with Hamlet depth itself is his flaw, and this I think is more fascinating than anyway Iago has to offer.
MisterWolf7 1 year ago
@MisterWolf7 Well, you have your opinion, and I have mine. Shall we just agree to disagree?
witness124 1 year ago
@witness124
=P Well diversity is the point of opinion! But if you don't fancy a debate there's no need to have one!
MisterWolf7 1 year ago
@MisterWolf7
Hamlet is a developing character like Macbeth and human. Iago is static and evil from beginning to end, Iago is Satan.
SirWinstonChurchill 1 year ago
@witness124 Iago is an autonomous evil. There are no ghosts or sorcery in Othello because Iago is an archetype that represents Satan.
All the other tragedies by Shakespeare have ghosts and sorcery, those are missing in Othello.
SirWinstonChurchill 1 year ago
Does anyone have Iago's speech from Act 1 Scene 3???
tourettegirl 2 years ago
i like how he recognizes the audience during the soliloquies; the aside lines are basically intended to be heard by people watching the play at a theatre
look at him cover up the camera.. heh
saladin92 2 years ago
I thought that was a pretty cool choice on the director's part; as far as I've seen, actually acknowledging the audience isn't usual fare for movie adaptations of Shakespeare plays. It creates an interesting feeling--it feels like Iago is confiding directly in you, the viewer.
AgentKaypar 2 years ago
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Not a good actor
HailSama11 2 years ago
he's good, i watched his videos when i had to play Hamlet
dontevergas 2 years ago
A bit mad, no?
Is Iago jealous of Othello...or Desdemona?
missbabyice 2 years ago
Iago is jealous of Cassio, for he feels that he has been passed over to promote Cassio. He's also a bit of a rascist against Othello (The moor). Thjat's why he's planning revenge using her.
WhyAccordingToWill 2 years ago 4
But is the repulsion Iago feels towards Othello just a projection of the repulsiveness he feels he himself is?
missbabyice 2 years ago 3
@WhyAccordingToWill
Iago is never satisfied with being number two. He wants Othello out of the way as well.
He casts his net, that will "enmesh them all."
SirWinstonChurchill 1 year ago
That's what i've been wondering...i know he's jealous of Cassio, or at least that's the motive he gives, but is he actually in love with othello? His hatred for women and his repulsed obsession with sex makes me wonder if he's actually gay, frustrated and completely infatuated with othello, also he works more to destroy Desdemona and Cassio, and although he makes othello mad with jealousy he only works to bring him closer to himself and distance him from everyone else...
Skexie 2 years ago 5
If Othello was so repulsive to Iago, he wouldn't draw him in and pretend to submit to him.
There's definitely an element of sexual undertones between Iago and Othello.
missbabyice 2 years ago 4
@missbabyice
The homoerotic obsession of Iago for Othello's favor makes him Desdemona's rival.
SirWinstonChurchill 1 year ago
@SirWinstonChurchill , maybe in this poor adaptation .... but not in the actual play ...
MrPozzoz 1 year ago
@MrPozzoz
"Note the elegance with which Blake's Spectre theory fits Shakespeare's Othello. A conspiratorial Spectre, Iago, is homoerotically obsessed with splitting Othello, through jealous fears,..."
Paglia, Camille, Sexual Personae: art and decadence from Nefertiti to Emily Dickinson, New Haven: Yale University Press, 1990. Rpr. First Vintage Books Edition, September 1991, New York... p. 287-289
SirWinstonChurchill 1 year ago
@SirWinstonChurchill
Have you read Ted Hughes' 'Shakespeare and the Goddess of Complete Being'?
2muski 1 year ago
@2muski
No, I haven't yet... thanks for the reminder... Now, I have yet another book to add to the summer stack... I enjoy reading. Unfortunately, there is so little time in life to read.
I just finished Stanley Stewart's "In the Empire of Genghis Kahn." (Great read)
SirWinstonChurchill 1 year ago
Kenneth Branagh is one of the greatest actor, directors and writers of this generation. He's very good. Creeped me out in this movie with his insidious and wonderfully villainous portrayal of
"Honest" Iago. He should play Macbeth or Richard III on film.
ShakespeareHamlet 2 years ago 4
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he is just talking no big deal
jjdanieljimmyjones 2 years ago
they are talking about the film as a whole. Kenneth does a brilliant job not only acting out this particular monolouge but throughout the entire film
ThMrksman 2 years ago
Ken could do everything he wants. He has a supernatural nature as an actor.
0lafatamorgana0 2 years ago
i looove this monologue. kenneth branagh does a fantastic job.
superman0017 2 years ago 8
I took a quiz for what literary character I am and it said I was this man.
die123zac 2 years ago
Damn.
Casundia 2 years ago
where is he?
is he at brabantios home or at desdemona and othellos home?
TheShakeaway 2 years ago
Cyprus after the fight between roderigo and Cassio
ih8cnda 2 years ago
Iago probably remains the best villain conceived by Shakespeare and one of the greatest theatre villains ever.
pietroerperugino 2 years ago 5
eek, I find othello one of the most powerful works ever written, and iago certainly one of the most chilling characters. even now after so many serial killers and slashers, iago has the ability to give readers and audiences the creeps big time.
elleoneiram 2 years ago 3
This is easily Branagh's best peformance. After seeing him in other great Shakespeare roles such as Hamlet, Henry V and Benedick, but playing the villian can bring out the best of you.
DrinkWater22 2 years ago
Kenneth Branagh is bloody brilliant. the most amazing performance of Iago i've ever seen, including theatrical adaptations. i didn't like this version of Othello at all, but his role alone is worth going through the rest of the painfully shallow scenes.
Xandtha 2 years ago 5
actually my class and I watched many versions of Othello. We watched this dramatic version, we saw "O" the modern day high school version, and a very crappy English production from Globe Theater actors. My god, the actor's performance was terrible and they looked horrible as well. This is the best version I've seen
kyu5533 2 years ago 3
Have you checked out the 1965 version with Laurence Olivier as Othello?
DrinkWater22 2 years ago
Aren't Shakespearean actors amazing!
As far as I'm concerned they beat the "method" any day!
NKHades007 2 years ago
You got that right. Method can be very useful, but this kind of role would be a challenge, which is a shame because Marlon Brando was wonderful in Julius Ceasar but he simply didn't have the confidence.
DrinkWater22 2 years ago
How can you say that? Stanislavski developed the method and his applies to shakespeare more than anything. I would be surprised if Breathnach, or anyone else performing in a Shakespeare play did not employ some form of method acting, be it by emotional memory or whatever!
DReills217 2 years ago
You do have a very good point but there are still many differences between Method and Shakespeare (And indeed between American and British acting).
All I mean to say is when would you ever see a method actor directly addressing the audience. No my friend, though I do respect the method I would not be compelled to use it. I would never want an audience to (In the words of Bertolt Brecht) "Hang up their Brains along with their coats" when watch a performance.
NKHades007 2 years ago
As Dustin Hoffman once said, British actors are traditionally more technical whereas the Americans are traditionally more methodic, which is better I cannot say, all I am saying is that I prefer Shakespeare's way.
NKHades007 2 years ago
a monologue in which the character's innermost thoughts are revealed. not entirely naturalistic, but very useful for the audience.
McStamicha 2 years ago
THE INTERET IS SERIOUS BUSINESS
coffee1422 2 years ago 4
All in one take! Amazing.
megaplatypus 2 years ago 3
One of Brannaugh's best performances to date.
TvGyrl 2 years ago 3
I love how they turned the soliloquys into Iago breaking the fourth wall
ExcellenceMcAwesome 2 years ago 4
I love this.
amyrollin 2 years ago
Performing this in class. This is one of the best speeches in Othello. Love it. :D
lolapupsy 2 years ago
Does this occur in the Second Chapter of othello?
FourtySven 3 years ago
this occur in act II scene III
aizaquindao 3 years ago
chris mitchell los altos
arcsterminus 3 years ago
Iago is like a politician, he acts like your friend but in reality he doesn't give a dam about you.
Re3volution 3 years ago 4
this is exactly why kenneth is frickin awesome, so awesome
wickedspice83 3 years ago
so funny!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ChillingSilence 3 years ago
I have to memorize this for English. Iago is so cool.
potassiumchlorate 3 years ago 2
talking about potatoes?
ValterWeight 3 years ago
I met Branagh once. He was sitting outside Lidl, drinking bovril from a beaker. I asked him to speak slowly and he did. He did.
b00ski 3 years ago 2
Kenneth Branagh was brilliant in this film.
bgammill 3 years ago 3
Okay i'll have to admit, whilst i wasn't impressed with his Hamlet preformance it is the best film preformance yet... Mel Gibson was just wrong.
McHeatherMcReilly 3 years ago 3
Kenneth is amazing as Iago here. his preformance as Hamlet was dissapointing, but his way of speaking suits this role (:
McHeatherMcReilly 3 years ago 2
His Hamlet was SUPERB!!!
YPSILONZ 3 years ago 3
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monkeymorimalaman 3 years ago
IAGO IS THE BIGGEST BADASS EVER!!!
monkeymorimalaman 3 years ago 7
well said, sir. my thoughts exactly!
Beatles9 3 years ago
I LOVE the art of this word usage! "When devils will the blackest sins put on they do suggest at first with heavenly shows as I do now" Isn't that the COOLEST way to say that "I'm just pretending to be nice for now." He says it so eloquent it almost seems like doing a good deed.
rwc82 3 years ago
what I love about Branaugh's interpretation of the character is that he gives you the impression that he genuinlely believe what he;'s doing is just. Perhaps not just blankly evil, but physchotically so
bassbole 3 years ago
Oooo Iago is EVIL! playin' devil's advocate there!
KitsuKyo 3 years ago
I saw an othello play a couple of days ago in montreal and the man that played iago was by far the best portrayal so far, the whole cast was amazing, i highly reccomend it.
BILLYSGIRLKASSIE11 3 years ago
*others (keyboard, cheap and dull)
Balthier019 3 years ago
I'm going to steer the topic away from Sir know-it-all into something else. On another note, Kenneth Brannagh is an amazing actor who's skills were noted and recognized in previous films. His ability to speak and portray Iago's deepest of thought is what take me aback and simply amazes me. Quite honestly, he's one hell of an actor in my book.
Balthier019 3 years ago 5
Clearly, SirWinston has an unusual proficiency for citing unreliable sources. Fact: Everyone is fully entitled to their opinion/beliefs and therefore, you haven't a right to call someone "wrong," so long as someone has the ability to prove you otherwise. Winston may believe he's somehow 'intelligent' however, citing sources in a desperate and feeble-minded attempt to make one's self seemingly more intelligent is a parse; and is no doubt pathetic.
Balthier019 3 years ago
PLEASE urgent request; what act, scene, does this monologue play in, i cant find it?
bmarck 3 years ago
End of Act II. :)
CelestialNM 3 years ago
@bmarck act II scene 3
TuesdayNightfall 1 year ago
Pretty good but it doesn't follow the actual script very well...call me traditional but I like to follow a play line for line.
jefftheactor7 3 years ago
Did Branagh direct this? It's so funny when he directs them and then gives himself the best role :)
missbabyice 3 years ago
It was actually directed by Oliver Parker
streetswell 3 years ago