Othello (1951)

The critic hails the restored film as a breathtaking achievement that overcomes its troubled production history, praising its audacious visual style and stripped-down intensity.

Welles turned production limitations into strengths through inventive locations, stand-ins and montage in this Shakespeare adaptation shot over four years. The visual rhetoric syncs with the verbal imagery for sensory overload in a very great film noir.

The critic calls this the most cinematic of Shakespeare adaptations, crediting Welles' direction for suggesting characters' psychological states through inventive camera work and locations. Welles' genius behind the camera is singled out for bringing one of the Bard's darkest plays to life.

The critic praises the Criterion Collection's restoration and transfer of Welles's audaciously personal Othello, highlighting its fragmented editing syntax and psychological depth achieved through jump cuts and disorienting compositions. He singles out the film's experimental style and the supplements that contextualize its chaotic production and racial themes.

The review praises Welles as a truly gifted director in this powerful adaptation of Shakespeare's tragedy, made despite chronic funding shortages. It highlights the film's ability to overcome its difficult production history, especially in a decent print with restoration extras.

The critic describes Welles's 1952 Othello as an inventive adaptation that prioritizes reflection on the protagonist's self-deception over suspense, using motifs of imprisonment, mirrors, and fragmented imagery to convey the Moor's internal conflict and tragic isolation. It notes the film's stylistic coherence despite its piecemeal production and positions Othello among Welles's other isolated protagonists.

The review calls the film an impressive rendering of the tragedy that builds power after a murky start, highlighting strong performances by Welles and MacLiammoir and effective use of locations.

The critic finds Welles' restored Othello a film of great flair but considerable tattiness, with striking locations that sometimes distract from the drama. He singles out the opening sequence as the director's most satisfactory showcase for his skills.

The critic praises Welles's voice and delivery as Othello but criticizes the film's overreliance on visual gimmicks like staircases, chaotic sound design, and undisciplined staging that obscures the story.

The critic finds Welles's adaptation prioritizes visual spectacle and cinematic tricks over Shakespeare's plot and substance, resulting in an impressionistic but ultimately hollow film.

The critic calls Welles’ Palme d’Or-winning 1952 adaptation a very peculiar kind of masterpiece that is both suffocatingly dense and scrappily ragged. It bears the hallmarks of its troubled, interrupted production yet shows extraordinary shotmaking and singleminded directorial confidence, resulting in a broken but monumental magnificent ruin.

Welles’ Othello is mandatory viewing for anyone wanting to make a movie on a shoestring budget. The film is a fascinating, Expressionist take on Shakespeare’s tragedy, made possible by the director’s moxie, quick-wittedness and sheer tenacity of vision.