Othello (1995 film)

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Othello
Directed by	Oliver Parker
Produced by	David Barron
Written by	William Shakespeare
Starring	Laurence Fishburne Irène Jacob Kenneth Branagh Nathaniel Parker Michael Maloney Anna Patrick
Cinematography	David Johnson
Editing by	Tony Lawson
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures Castle Rock Entertainment
Release date(s)	December 15, 1995
Running time	123 min.
Language	English
IMDb profile

Othello is a 1995 film based on William Shakespeare's tragedy of the same name. It was directed by Oliver Parker and stars Laurence Fishburne as Othello, Irène Jacob as Desdemona, and Kenneth Branagh as Iago. This is the first cinematic reproduction of the play that casts an actor of African descent to play the role of Othello. The film saw highly limited release, having been shown in only a few theatres, as a result of which it only grossed US$2.8 million.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Adaptation

Main article: Othello

The film follows the story of the play closely, but cuts the majority of the lines. In addition it adds scenes not in the play, including a sex scene between Othello and Desdemona, dreams in which Othello imagines Desdemona's supposed affair with Cassio, a scene in which Desdemona dances for Othello and a final scene in which the bodies of those killed are buried at the sea.

[edit] Cast

Characters
Role	Actor
Othello	Laurence Fishburne
Desdemona	Irène Jacob
Iago	Kenneth Branagh
Cassio	Nathaniel Parker
Roderigo	Michael Maloney
Emilia	Anna Patrick
Montano	Nicholas Farrell
Bianca	Indra Ové
Lodovico	Michael Sheen