Shakespeare’s "Othello" beyond the boundaries of the page: An analysis of two filmic productions

Abstract

This article aims at observing and analyzing two filmic productions ofWilliam Shakespeare’s Othello. The first, entitledOthello, was directed, produced and starred by Orson Welles in 1952 andthe second, also entitledOthello, was directed by Oliver Parker in 1995. My main interest in studying these two filmic productions is to observe - based on the notions of theatrical adaptation by Jay Halio (2000), Patrice Pavis (1992), and Allan Dessen (2002) - how each director constructed the seduction moment that happens in Scene III, Act III of Shakespeare’s playtext in their filmic productions. The analysis proves that two different conceptions, separated in time and space, are capable of making Shakespeare’s timelessness transcend and make the modern spectators aware of the fact that the human artistic capacity is able to cross unimaginable limits of creativity and transform a great literary work of art in a great (filmic or theatrical) spectacle.

Keywords

• Shakespeare’s Othello
• Welles’ Othello
• Parker’s Othello
• Conception