the movie vs. the play

that movie was...h o r r i f y i n g

i have to give the movie credit -- i felt it was very closely tied to othello's original plot. it managed to mix modern twists in to a play that had been written thousands of years ago. it is unbelievable that Shakespeare's writing is so timeless and can be adapted for any generation. honestly, though, i didn't think that the play was nearly as horrific as the movie.

maybe it was because the movie was visual and i was able to watch and study the characters. the play had great character development but it was much easier for me to get sucked in to the movie than it was the book. towards the end of the movie i caught myself with my jaw wide open and could not believe the plot was unfolding before me...and yet...i had already read the play...twice!

but...i felt that the movie played with the play's plot a little bit and tweeked it to fit modern society. i also thought that the continuous 'bird scenes' were a bit unneccessary and, even though it was symbolic, i got tired of it. i did like how the movie gave all of the characters similair names and their roles were easy to figure out.

my biggest problem with the movie was poor roger! i felt soooo bad for the kid. i felt the movie focused a lot of his weaknesses and drifted away from the fact that he was doing this for desdemona. it seemed to me that, in the movie, roger was more than just a tool for hugo but also a very important character. in the play, roderigo drifted in and out as needed by shakespeare. but, in the movie, he was more prevavalent and almost had more of a reason to kill for just desdemona -- it was to regain his reputation and his dignity. i hate to watch people pick on other people...and watching the basketball game scene was a bit upsetting. i felt bad for him, especially when he panicked and hugo ended up killing roger and michael. (i know in the play that roderigo died and cassio lived but in the movie...it definitely hinted that michael didn't make it).

overall, i thought the movie was pretty fantastic. it was pretty gruesome for me though. i was not expecting to be so surprised by the movie. i thought they did a great job in representing it and adapting it to current society. i thought the twist of drugs and oden's past was an interesting aspect. i really don't think it took anything away from the original version at all.

so if i were a movie critic i would say: A