Film Adaptation Of Othello

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.