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Essay / Shakespeare, Welles, and Style: Authorial Techniques in Othello (1951)
Table of ContentsIntroductionAnalysis of Personalized Interpretation of the Source MaterialBibliography IntroductionOthello is a 1951 Shakespearean drama produced, directed, and adapted by Orson Welles who also stars the titular lead role. It is also considered one of the greatest acting performances presented by the author. In this essay, I will analyze Orson Welles' personalized interpretation of the source material – William Shakespeare's Othello (The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice) – for the development of the film noir genre. As an author, Welles used new cinematic techniques to create an altered visualization of the text to achieve a filmic effect and the richness of the aesthetic created in order to visually adapt an action-packed play. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made film. essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the original essayAnalyze personalized interpretation of the source materialMost interestingly, here is an excerpt from Act V Scene II, which roughly translates by the scenes from 1:16:16 – 1:20:30 in the film. In this scene, Othello walks to his room, ready to confront his wife about her alleged infidelity with Lieutenant Cassio. He walks down the hall dramatically, blowing out the candles. In the bedroom, Othello stands over the sleeping Desdemona while debating whether to kill her. He leans in to kiss her one last time before doing the deed when she suddenly wakes up and asks about the mysterious presence. die. Increasingly frightened, Desdemona asks her husband why he wants to kill her, and Othello responds that she was unfaithful to him with Cassio, corroborated by the "ocular evidence" from his handkerchief. Othello refuses to believe his denial of the accusation, saying that Cassio has confessed but will not speak anymore (because he is dead). Desdemona begins to cry for Cassio, which only makes Othello angrier. He struggles with her as she begs to be spared but Othello succeeds in choking his wife to death. This excerpt is probably the best example of direct adaptation of the source text. The dialogue entirely follows the source material accompanied by heavy editing and interchangeable edits to action shots. This creates a sense of distance – visually communicated through the short walk from the hallway to the bedroom, which continues throughout the monologue. In contrast, there is a heavy omission of non-noir parts of the play and major dialogue in the rest of the film that places more emphasis on Othello than Iago and creates a character-driven plot. The use of speed is used to create suspense. alongside its primary function of placing the entire monologue within the same framework. The real triumph is the feeling of fear, distrust, sadness, loss of innocence, despair and paranoia, communicated through the liberal use of high contrast chiaroscuro. The dark background highlights the characters who deliver their lines with frightening gravity and sadness. According to a press release from Carlotta Films, the distributors of the latest revision of Welles' original film, "For this second adaptation, Welles makes the original text his own. to offer a personal interpretation, opting for an inventive staging with a baroque aesthetic. He allows himself to begin with the end of the play, then proceed to a flashback which constitutes the rest of the film. The precarious filming conditions contribute to creating an oppressive atmosphere, close to madness: Welles' Othello is a whimsical stranger slowly pushed into an infernal spiral by the vile Iago.Allowing himself to make a few cuts to the original play, his Othello reveals itself as pure entertainment. cinema, with a truly Wellesian excess. As has been widely reported, the film went through a series of financial hurdles while in production, which may have contributed to the use of cut-and-paste editing, resulting in a crude visionary masterpiece mired by financial problems. With production hampered by distribution disruptions, the film's target audience cannot be identified and the move from a traditional Shakespearean adaptation indicates an increasingly broad target demographic. Upon Othello's arrival in the bedroom, the placement of the characters in the frame indicates who is in power in that particular scene. The absence of background, which at this point is a black mass, places the characters in a void. where the audience receives no visual cues due to the extremely close-up angle. The framing is perhaps indicative of Welles's continued experimentation with the film noir genre, as the scene's element of surprise is not fully specified in the source material and thus can be seen as a non-diegetic device used to promote Welles's attempt at authorship. Combined with the chiaroscuro elements, this scene cements the film noir element of this film. The characters speak in low voices, indicating an atmosphere of private and intimate conversation. The intonation practiced by Orson Welles places severity in his delivery of the monologue which, when contrasted with Desdemona's high, surprised voice, creates a dark and mysterious intrigue. The characters are very close, which adds to the dark intimacy of the scene. In particular, Orson Welles' Othello has an exceptional sense of direction present throughout the entire production. Each scene is designed with painstaking detail, much like a puzzle of different scenes coming together to form a visually rich output. This, combined with the odd placement of the source material – the film begins with the end of the play – creates an inherent confusion for the viewer who may expect from the start that the plot will not follow the source material closely. The use of jump shots both provides points of view and gives the audience a sense of the range of different emotions experienced by the characters on screen. Welles' placement of characters is also crucial. For the most part, Othello stays in the upper left frame while Desdemona stays in the lower right, which successfully keeps the power dynamic in balance and gives the audience plenty of leading clues. Expressions of puzzlement contribute to Desdemona's contribution to the suspense of the scene. Combined with the image of her clutching her dress in a stereotypically weakened lying position. These visual cues reinforce the themes of pessimism and fatalism, which are the excessive themes presented in the Wellesian adaptation of an already dark Shakespearean tragedy. Building suspense by slowly turning off the lights while walking through the dramatic arches of the fort creates a dark feeling and ominous ambiance in the scene where the audience unaware of Shakespeare's text can still predict that something dark is about to happen. produce. The build-up is long and slow with cutaway action shots passing between the hall and the bedroom, anticipating Othello's arrival in the bedroom. There are elements of a horror film with Desdemona questioning the mysterious presence and Othello suddenly emerging from the shadows to admit its presence, which conflict with the overall film noir theme of the film. 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