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... play and there are a few obscenities and slang, which help to create tension and maximize films closeness to real modern life of teenagers. Othello's handkerchief that he gives to Desdemona in the play is given to Michael Cassio after Emilia picks it up. Cassio gives it to his girlfriend, Bianca, to copy the embroidery. In the film, the same thing happens but Michaels girlfriend finds out it belongs to another girl and she gives it back to him in a jealous rage. Tim Blake Nelsons film O is an obvious interpretation of Shakespeare's famous play.
The film version serves as an interpretation of the text of the play in many different ways. It uses the plotting of the text to develop the story. However, the film modernizes the characters to appeal to a younger audience. This is apparent when the audience sees Odin as a basketball star and not a warrior as he is portrayed in the text.
In the film, like in the play, race becomes an issue. There is vivid reference to racial slurs appearing in the film. There is reference to how uncivilized black people are in Africa when Othello describes Africans as being cannibals that eat each other, / The Anthropophagi, and men whose heads/ Do grow beneath their shoulders (Act I, Scene III, 142 - 144). Nelson uses Othello's experience of life in rigorous Africa which was really tough and displays a more modern background for a young man.
Nelson displays the background of Odin as being one that is involved the law and drugs. In Act I Scene III, claims are heard that Othello uses spells and medicines bought of mountebanks (Act I Scene III, 61). In order to win over Brabantios daughter, Othello wants him to ask Desdemona about her love with Othello. Tim Nelson uses this scene to develop the background of Odin. Bob, the dean of Palmetto Grove and Desi's father, brings up that Odin was involved in drugs usage and distribution and had particular problems with the law before he came to this school. Odin claims that he no longer has any attitude toward drugs and asks Bob to test him in drugs.
In both cases, each character is putting forth a test for the father of their love. Othello tests Brabantio to ask Desdemona if her love with Othello is true. At the same time, Odin wants a drug test to prove he is no longer doing drugs. Tim Nelson also uses the ancient scarf that Othello gives to Desdemona in his interpretation of the play. The same scenario is used in the movie where the scarf is stolen by a friend of Desi's, and she gives it to Hugo. The latter then gives it to Michael to give to his girlfriend.
However, his girlfriend finds out that it belonged to a different girl first and rejects to accept the gift from him. In the play, Iago is very careful in what he says to the Moor and he is sure to never make a mistake. The entire speech in Act III rolls smoothly from his tongue as he begs his dear friend to " look to your wife, Observe her well with Cassio " (2136). This is cleverly done because it forces Othello to imagine in his own mind the horrible thought of his beloved wife in bed with another man. Intelligently, Iago leaves the possibility of Desdemona's infidelity open to the mind of Othello by proving to him that " They dare not show their husbands; their best conscience is not to leave't undone, but keep't unknown " (2136). This is a subtle warning to Othello about the way how many women of Venice act when they cheat.
By the way, it is an interesting thing about the statement quoted throughout the play, "Honest Iago. " The matter is that Iago acts as a friend to everyone he wants to manipulate. His friendly, supportive nature is easy to trust, and when Iago has that trust, he exploits one to his benefits. Iago has a reputation for honesty and loyalty but he uses it for dishonest purposes. He holds himself in high esteem, takes the utmost delight in his own malevolence and appears driven to prove that he can use his wits to outsmart anyone.
Cynicism serves Iago well. Being completely aware of Othello's trust, Iago tries to convince the moor that Cassio is too familiar with Desdemona. Othello is said to be of a free and open nature. This trait makes Othello vulnerable to being tricked by Iago.
When the initial rumor of an affair between Desdemona and Cassio was implanted in Othello's head, Iago built up his trust with the moor by saying, "O, beware, my lord of jealousy! It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock the meat it feeds on. " (Act III, Scene III, 195) Iago, being a man of skills and tricks, bewares Othello of the dangers of jealousy. Thus, Iago is simply instilling the same jealousy in Othello. By asking Othello to be careful, " not jealous nor secure ", Iago is antagonizing Othello by implanting images that he knows he will be able to manipulate and play with in the future. This style of speech used by Iago is so convincing that it is even frightening at times.
Consequently, Iago successfully manipulates the mind of Othello and drives him mad with jealousy. Hugo in O uses all the same ideas as Iago uses. He gets Michael to talk to Desi trying to get her to talk to Odin about his suspension from the basketball team after a fight he had with Roger at a party. Hugo gets Michael drunk and provokes Roger to start a fight with him and, in turn, Michael is suspended from playing with the basketball team.
Hugo makes Odin believe that Desi is cheating on him with Michael and he lies to him constantly about these accusations. Desi is angrily standing up for herself against Odin's sudden distrust. She resents all his accusations with rage as well. "If you want to stay with me, " she rebukes, "don't ever talk to me like that again!" Spreading this web of lies Hugo is acting just as Iago does (even their names are very consonant). Hugo's words make Odin wonder if Desi is really cheating on him. Odin becomes insanely jealous and possessed with rage. These extremely negative feelings drive him to a hard sin and crime, the murder, just like Othello.
The ending of the movie, like in the play, is very tragic. Hugo's plan is finally realized and, in the end, (to the whole audiences regret) he is the only one left alive. The violence at the end of the film is quite disturbing. However, it should be so to affect the audience in the best way. It is disturbing not just because its teenage characters brutally kill each other, thus recalling and bringing to mind Columbine incident and the whole reason this film sat on a shelf for so long. It is disturbing probably because the director Tim Blake Nelson gives it a specific tone of desperation and sheer ugliness.
Set into motion by a malevolent and calculating plot, one cannot help but feel that the characters are trapped in a clockwork mechanism from which they cannot escape. Thus, the violence of the film makes ones gut wrench because of its absolute inevitability. Visually, there is an obvious uneasiness about the prophetic context of the final scenes, with all those rows of flashing police cars and reporters telling calmly about teenagers killing each other and a group of blond girls crying and clasping to each other. Unfortunately, it is probably the most realistic aspect of the whole movie. However, it does not contribute negatively toward the films fascination. William Shakespeare's plays have been interpreted and adapted in so many ways on stage and screen that Tim Blake Nelson's O, which depicts Othello in the world of a modern Southern preparatory school for the children from rich families, does not seem particularly radical or imaginative.
It is a good fit though, as the themes of jealousy, betrayal, and deception in Othello are particularly applicable to the realm of coddled American teenagers. However, the plot mechanics of the film demand that the teen characters act in ways in which no real teenagers ever act. While this adaptation is skilful in its modernization, the key to Othello is making the audience believe that a guy who strangles his spouse out of jealousy is a real tragic figure. O does not accomplish that. Instead one has to wonder why Odin does not just break up with Desi.
In real life any teenager would act just in such a way. They have been dating only four months. Let her go, man, and thats all! There is plenty of fish in the sea! Yet O by Tim Blake Nelson is a really serious exploration of adolescent intrigue leading to murder. Whatever one may imagine before watching this film, this is not a teen comedy, and, moreover, it is not a lightweight entertainment film.
Persistently dark and incisively written by Brad Kenya, the movie has spread across the country in a wide release is some sort of a miracle. Save for a last-minute closing passage that feels slightly appropriate, the film is the real deal, with a final fifteen minutes of escalating, calamitous violence that leaves you completely shocked, on the edge, and profoundly touched. Surely, Tim Blake Nelsons O is one of the most thought-provoking motion pictures of the year 2000. Tim Blake Nelson uses William Shakespeare's Othello as a basis for his film O.
However, his own interpretation includes many differences from Shakespeare's original play. The main ideas of Shakespeare's text are used in the film extensively but there are minor differences included in the character names, the age of the characters, and the setting. There are also a few minor plot changes. Still all of them only contribute to the films vitality. This is because our real life is full of brutality, selfishness, and betrayal. This common theme makes both the play and the film very similar and no less interesting.
Bibliography: Bloom, Harold. "Othello. " Shakespeare: the Invention of the Human. New York: Penguin, 1998. Shakespeare, William. " Othello. " The Norton Shakespeare. Ed. Stephen Greenblatt, et al. 1 st Ed. Vol. 1.
New York: W. W. Norton & Company 1997. 2091 - 2174. Vaughan, Virginia Mason. Othello: a contextual history. 1994. Unknown.
Lion Gate Films: O opens to $ 6. 9 million. PR Newswire. Sept 5, 2001.
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