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Romeo and juliet comparison adaptation
Shakespeare's adaptations of his plays Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and juliet comparison adaptation
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Tim Blake Nelson’s O takes Shakespeare’s Othello and shifts the action from 16th-century Venice and Cyprus to a very current day Charleston, South Carolina. The issue with updating a film adaptation of Shakespeare to present-day is that often, the essence of Shakespeare is lost. Some modernized film versions of his works utilize the original text, like Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet. But O chooses to update everything about the play, leading viewers to wonder whether or not it fully captures Shakespeare’s mastery of character, dialogue and intense thematic elements. Tim Blake Nelson’s O is, to some extent, a successful film adaptation in that the nature and spirit of Othello are still the basis of the film.
In O, Othello becomes Mekhi Phifer’s Odin James, the singular black student at Palmetto Grove Academy. He is the star of the basketball team and has managed to land Desi. Julia Stiles’ Desi is the embodiment of Desdemona, self-assured daughter of the Dean, uber-popular high school girl. Stiles had previously acted in a similar Shakespeare reboot 10 Things I Hate About You, loosely based on The Taming of the Shrew. Iago transforms into Hugo, son of the basketball coach, and always seeming to play second fiddle to Odin’s first chair. He is played by Josh Hartnett. Cassio is now Michael Cassio, lowly sophomore but powerhouse on the basketball court, and Odin’s initial ally. He is played by Andrew Keegan, who starred alongside Stiles in 10 Things. Emilia is Emily, Desi’s roommate and Hugo’s most-of-the-time girlfriend, played by Rain Phoenix.
The film opens with a blurry closeup of doves, Ave Maria sung operatically in the background with a voiceover by Hugo: “All my life, I always wanted to fly. I always wanted to live like a ...
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... around prominent football player-celebrity OJ Simpson. Simpson was charged with the murder of his wife and her maybe-lover.
Nelson’s O’s is situated precariously in time. It will always be viewed through the lens of violence in schools. It presents a very real and very unsettling view of modern schools where violence and the issues facing many of Shakespeare’s characters strongly affect the students.
O is an effective adaptation of Shakespeare’s Othello. It successfully captures the mood of the play, and, unlike other teen adaptations, does not shy away from the ugly side of Shakespeare. Instead, Nelson embraces it. Of course Hugo is the source of Odin’s demise, and both women are ruined in the end. Screenwriter Brad Kaaya seriously modernizes Shakespeare’s language, and creates an environment where updated versions of his characters can survive, and even thrive.
In the play "Othello", Othello is a black, which is same as Odin (in the movie "O"). Also, Othello is a person who has won many battles, and everyone respects him. This is similar to the situation of Odin. In "Othello", all the characters are living in high class society, which have high reputation and rich. Moreover, in "O", a private school requires expensive school fees to study, this shows that the characters or their families are
The film “O” produced in 2001 is a modern adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Othello. The movie was both filmed and is centered around Charleston, South Carolina. The movie follows the downfall of Odin James (Othello) a revered high school basketball player who is made to believe by his best friend Hugo Golding (Iago) that his girlfriend Desi (Desdemona) is cheating on him with fellow teammate Michael Cassio (Cassio). Like the original play it focuses on themes like sexuality, deception, betrayal, and murder. However, it includes themes of race and substance abuse in order to modernize it as well as bring in relevant issues.
The film ‘O’ directed by Tim Blake Nelson is a recognised contemporary interpretation of Shakespeare’s classic tragedy Othello, which addresses a number of issues that are relevant to a modern day audience compared to that of the past. The director of the film has changed crucial parts of the play which makes the play such a classic, which has essentially ruined the literary value of Othello. This is evident for a number of concepts including, the overt links between the play and film, the power of words and language and Iago and his motives
The Shakespeare classic play Othello has been remade many times throughout the years whether it be through the big screen or on stage. Two of the larger known recreations of the play were made by Tim Blake Nelson ("O") and Oliver Parker (Othello). Both of these directors attempted to appeal to an audience made up of different people. Parker attempted to appeal to Shakespeare lovers; Nelson went the route of appealing to the youth (much like the 1996 adaption of Romeo and Juliet). One of the constant ideas in either case is that the interpretation follows many of the original themes and ideas such as racism, misogyny, and jealousy. Both films take different approaches to recreate the play and in doing so have significant similarities and differences.
For the production of “O” to advertise that the movie will be a modern translation of William Shakespeare’s tragic Othello creates a compelling inaccurate statement. Do to the fact that Odin’s character remains on a very different level than Othello in almost every situation of these two pieces of entertainment. The speech, racism, and the portrayal of the characters within their themes couldn’t have been more different. The level of importance and intensity within the play Othello will always be much more relevant to the main ideas of what Shakespeare really wanted in his play. Everything else seems to be a classic movie production attempting to make a lot of money off of someone else’s idea.
11 Dec. 2011. The "Othello". Shakespeare for Students: Critical Interpretations of Shakespeare's Plays and Poetry. Ed. Anne Marie Hacht.
“I asked her to wear something revealing, so she showed up in a prophet's toga.”(CITE) Jarod Kintz’s words are an example of miscommunication, or failure to comprehend meaning. In this case, it is implied that one person misunderstood the message of another, but incomprehension also applies to problems other than falsely interpreted requests. Incomprehension can occur when people misinterpret another’s words or intentions, or when a person misreads situations or events. The outcome described in Kintz’s quote is unexpected and unintended, but there are instances of incomprehension that have consequences of greater severity. Perhaps a classic tragedy with a high body count falls under these parameters.
Jones, Eldred. "Othello- An Interpretation" Critical Essays on Shakespeare's Othello. Ed. Anthony G. Barthelemy Pub. Macmillan New York, NY 1994. (page 39-55)
Many older plays or movies are remade to appeal to a different age of people. These renditions often follow the same story line with only subtle differences to be more appealing. Many of Shakespeare’s plays have been made into movies to enhance the studying or understanding of his plays. An example of this would be Othello which has been created into a movie called “O”. Othello and “O” both follow the same story line. The similarities between them make "O" an excellent rendition of the play. Othello by William Shakespeare and “O” directed by Tim Nelson are very similar in many ways; however, they have distinct differences in their Protagonists. The heinous villain, Iago from Othello and the devious teenager, Hugo from “O” have many of the
Baz Lurhmann’s creation of the film Romeo and Juliet has shown that today’s audience can still understand and appreciate William Shakespeare. Typically, when a modern audience think of Shakespeare, they immediately think it will be boring, yet Lurhmann successfully rejuvenates Romeo and Juliet. In his film production he uses a number of different cinematic techniques, costumes and a formidably enjoyable soundtrack; yet changes not one word from Shakespeare’s original play, thus making it appeal to a modern audience.
Desdemona is one of the protagonists of the play contributes to the play and also fleshes out certain aspects of characterisation mainly where Othello and Iago are concerned. Thus her relevance is highlighted consistently throughout Othello, since without her ppresence, Iago would not have succeeded in manipulating Othello, and Othello's drastic transformation would not have been made evident.
"Othello." Shakespeare for Students: Critical Interpretations of Shakespeare's Plays and Poetry. Ed. Anne Marie Hacht. 2nd ed. Vol. 2. Detroit: Gale, 2007. 649-87. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 30 Oct. 2013. .
Oliver Parkers film interpretation of Shakespeare's Othello uses cinematic techniques to express to the audience two major themes present in the original play. Appearance verses reality and racial discrimination are both significant themes that Parker focuses on throughout the film. Through the use of camera angles, language, tone, symbols, costuming and voice-over, Parker conveys clarity of the themes for the audience to interpret.
The Shakespeare’s play “Othello” and the 2001 contemporary movie “O” both have comparisons in their plots as well as differences. The comparisons that both the movie and the play have are racism, love, jealousy, and manipulative illusions. However, there is contrast in the time, theme and techniques.
- - -. Othello. 1968. Ed. Kenneth Muir. The New Penguin Shakespeare. London: Penguin Books, 1996.