Othello (1995)

Othello (1995) is a screen interpretation of the classic Shakespeare tragedy by Oliver Parker. Whatever you decide about how well he did, you will find major critics who agree with all of your points. I might as well throw my impressions into the mix as well. Shakespeare was first and foremost a wordsmith, not a story teller. Many of his stories were taken from oral tradition. All of this makes one wonder at the wisdom of cutting more than half of Shakespeare's words from the production. Hold that thought. For the first time on the silver screen, he cast a black man as the blackamoor Othello. In 1964, in honor of Shakespeare's 300th birthday, a Southern California Junior College cast Othello as a black actor and Desdemona as a white actress. This was hugely controversial, but the school backed up the director's decision, and the show played to rave reviews. It took 31 years for movies to manage what a junior college achieved.

Now follow closely here. They cast Laurence Fishburne in the title role. Had the dialogue been faithful to Shakespeare, and showed Othello as an eloquent and lordly character, the casting simply wouldn't have worked. Fishburne was a very good choice for this Othello, who was a heroic general who doted on Desdemona, but had one weakness, jealousy. While the full version of the play is thought to be a hard watch, this film version was much more accessible. So, for the first two major departures, I like them both. Making Othello a simpler person, and cutting much of the flowery dialogue was a valid artistic decision. The third distinguishing component of this production was in fact, the production, and they were highly successful in making the set and the photography seem like separate characters in the film.

For Othello to work, you must have a very strong Iago, and a sympathetic Desdemona. Irene Jacob as Desdemona was sympathetic, and what she lacked in language skills, I thought she made up for in character development. Kenneth Branagh, for me, was a weak Iago. He simply wasn't slimy or evil enough. I would have liked to see some work with varied pacing, and more joy than a single love scene to contrast with a very dark ending.

IMDb readers say 6.8. It only earned $2.11M against an $11M budget. Critical reaction was all over the place. Could there be a better screen Othello? Certainly. On the other hand, it could have been much much worse. I will give this a C+ as a film that Shakespeare buffs should see.

Irene Jacob shows her breasts from a distance, and then her right breast in close-up.

Another Way (1982)

Another Way (1982), or Egymásra nézve, was created by Hungarian master Károly Makk, based on a novel written by one of his ex students, Erzsébet Galgóczi. It is set against the immediate aftermath of the failed revolution of 1956. Makk loved the chance to talk about the revolution aftermath, and also that there was a captivating love triangle story to flesh out the work. It was unimportant to him that this triangle had lesbian content. I suspect that once the gay/lesbian audience gets a chance to see this film, they will feel it matters a great deal. At one point, Makk had to film a love scene, and realized that there was at least one thing that was different about the fact that there was a lesbian relationship. He had no idea how girls did it. Someone else on the crew had a lesbian friend, and was sent off to ask the question. He came back relieved, and said, "It is simple. She told me it can be done with one, two or three fingers. Now get out of here, and make your movie." The line made it into the movie.

The story opens with star Grazyna Szapolowska in the hospital with some neck injury, and co-star Jadwiga Jankowska-Cieslak dead near the border. The film is told in flashback. Jadwige has been unemployed for three years for political reasons, but lands a job with the same newspaper that Grazyna writes for, telling as much of the truth as is possible. Jadwige shares an office with Grazyna, and the mutual attraction is obvious. There are more than a few problems. Grazyna is married to an army officer, lesbianism is illegal, and Jadwige is a radical dissident, out to expose the truth about the communist party. Obviously, this has to end badly, and it does.

IMDb readers say 7.3. Although it played at the NY Film Festival in 1982, I doubt if many Americans have seen this film. It is an indifferent letterboxed transfer with mushy sound and burned in subtitles, but none of that bothered me. Even though Makk was not interested in the gay angle of the film, he portrayed the experience of being in love with someone of the same sex in a repressive society with great sensitivity. I believe if this film was being released today, bright and shiny with a widescreen version that is would do very well.  Both actresses have numerous credits, reinforcing Makk's casting decision. Those who don't tolerate subtitles well will find this one a chore to wade through, but for everyone else, it is worth checking out. The genre is foreign art film, and this is a C+.

Scoop's note: I am curious about some elements of this film. How the hell did Makk find two Polish actresses who could speak Hungarian well enough to pass as native Hungarians? (The two languages have nothing in common. Hungarian has nothing in common with any major languages except Finnish and Estonian.) Why couldn't he find any Hungarian actresses? Everyone else in the cast is Hungarian except the two stars.

Jadwiga Jankowska-Cieslak, in a well-deserved Cannes Best Actress winning performance, shows her bush.

Grazyna Szapolowska shows both full frontal and rear.