Comparing Tim Blake Nelson's Version of Othello to That of Geoffrey Sax
Summary:
Othello is one of Shakespeare's four greatest tragedies and consequently a pillar of what most critics take to be the pinnacle of Shakespeare's dramatic art. In more recent years, many filmmakers have re-contextualized his works, into a number of more modern settings, in an attempt to make his work more accessible to contemporary audiences. Perhaps the most talked about adaptations are those by directors Tim Blake Nelson and Geoffrey Sax, who have each produced their own renditions of the play, which reflect their interpretations of the play's central themes, the driving force of the plot.
Comparative Film Study Essay
Along with Hamlet, King Lear, and Macbeth, Othello is one of Shakespeare's four greatest tragedies and consequently a pillar of what most critics take to be the pinnacle of Shakespeare's dramatic art. The Bard's controversial play has been remade for television and the silver screen quite a few times, with many different adaptations. In more recent years, many filmmakers have re-contextualized his works, into a number of more modern settings, in an attempt to make his work more accessible to contemporary audiences. Perhaps the most talked about adaptations are those by directors Tim Blake Nelson and Geoffrey Sax, who have each produced their own renditions of the play, which reflect their interpretations of the play's central themes, the driving force of the plot. Despite obvious drawbacks in both modernized versions, Tim Blake Nelson's adaptation seems to be more successful in depicting Shakespeare's tragedy. The following paper will analyze both films, comparing and contrasting the two productions, describe in detail the creative decisions made by both directors to modernize the play, and conclude with why Tim Blake Nelson's "O" triumphs as the better interpretation of the Bard's Othello, the Moor of Venice.
Each of these contemporary versions, involve very different characters, plots and settings, yet maintain the central themes of the Bard's play. "O" is a retelling of Othello, the Moor of Venice, but instead of the action taking place on a battlefield, it is all played and fought over a basketball court. Nelson's film takes the violent, gripping and emotional tale of love, friendship and betrayal into a teenage environment, where it is only intensified and more passionately displayed. Odin James, parallels the character Othello, as the only black player on an all-white team basketball team, the Hawks. With unmatched basketball skills, a disposition liked by everyone, and the love of the Dean's daughter, Desi, Odin is a powerful leader and is destined for a promising future in basketball. Echoing Shakespeare's storyline, the heinous villain is none other than Odin's trusted and loyal friend, Hugo, son of the basketball coach. Hugo's jealousy of Odin's praise and fortune, leads him into an obsessive desire to destroy him. Under Hugo's malicious plan of manipulation, Odin is driven to question Desi's faithfulness, and consequently murders her. Upon realizing the truth, he kills himself.
"Othello", directed by Geoffrey Sax takes on a very different approach to the play. Set in London, it is about a black police officer, John Othello, a rising star in London's police department, known for his integrity, moral principles and competence on the job. After a case of false arrest and the death of the man in custody, he finds himself promoted to the position of commissioner of the precinct, in order to please the public - a position sought after by his mentor and fellow officer, Ben Jago. Seething with jealousy and rage, Ben Jago engineers a plan to jeopardize John's position in the eyes of the public, as well as manipulate him to suspect adultery in his wife, leading to an ending that adversely affects everyone involved in his maniacal plot.
Evidently, one of the first things of change is the settings for both movies, which are both radically different from the setting in the play. Nelson's "O" takes place in an American private secondary school, which like Venice in the play, is different yet appealing. The characters are teenagers, yet they share similar responsibilities as Shakespeare's characters. Nelson's Odin, who parallels Shakespeare's Othello, is a powerful leader of the Hawks, the school's basketball team, just as Othello is powerful as a general of the Venetian army. Nelson seized certain concepts from the play, and by altering with them made them work in this modern version. For example, the marriage between Othello and Desdemona in the play, amongst teenagers, would not be likely. Therefore, in order to portray that sense of sworn allegiance and sacred bond between Odin and Desi, Nelson chose to make Odin initiate a 'mock-proposal' to Desi with an elastic band, rather than a ring. This 'ring' symbolizes the union between these characters, paralleling their relationship to that of Othello and Desdemona. Nelson's creative decisions, have included all the key concepts from the play, but done so in way that is more appealing to a younger audience.
The setting of Sax's Othello is the London police department, which embodies the military force in the play. The river by Othello and Desi's apartment symbolizes the Venice setting present in the original text. In addition, Sax's John Othello is the head of the police department, which like the text illustrates his power over the rest of the force. Geoffrey Sax's decision to make Othello's character an officer further illustrates his power and strength and creates a direct connection to Othello's character in the play. Unlike Nelson, Sax took ideas from the text and combined them with his own, to create his own adaptation of Shakespeare's tragedy.
Both Tim Blake Nelson and Geoffrey Sax have chosen to introduce us to their characters and story in different ways. Nelson portrays the issue of jealousy and Sax's opening discusses racial issues.
"O" begins with bird imagery and we hear Josh Hartnett's voice (Hugo) talking about him wanting to become a hawk. Then the scene shifts to a basketball game with rap music playing. We see Odin score the winning basket for the team, and the rap music dies down. In silence, we see Hugo, isolated from the rest of the team, alone looking on. As a viewer, one can see the jealousy growing within him. The camera angle changes, and the audience is looking down on the characters. Hugo's isolation is made apparent from this angle, with him being seen apart from the rest of the 'victory circle'. The scene then shifts from the action to the title of the film, a large white 'O' set on a black background. Following, we see Odin at an awards ceremony, where Odin receives the Most Valuable Player award. As his name is called, we don't see him, but rather we are focused on Hugo. This has been deliberately done, so the viewer emotionally connects with Hugo. Already, within the first few minutes of the movie, Nelson has introduced the reigning theme of jealousy in the movie, effectively introducing us to the story.
Sax, however, has chosen not to portray the sense of jealousy so early in his production. His rendition begins with a close-up of Desi's face framed in shadows. Her entire face is not shown, instead the focus is on her eye, and the camera slowly moves down to two hands, one black and one white and then through a mirror, we see the couple having sex. The scene shifts to a violent attack on a black man, which portrays to us that the movie is about racism, rather than jealousy. Jealousy isn't introduced as the major theme of the movie, until John tells Jago the news of his promotion. Nelson's decision is much more effective. It is necessary to depict that racism is inherent in the story, however it should not be confused with Iago's motivation, which is jealousy, and not racism. Therefore, Nelson's opening is a better introduction to the world of Othello.
Geoffrey Sax did not follow any sequential order of portraying the events from Shakespeare's text. Instead, he chose to select symbolic meaning from particular scenes and combine them with his own ideas to create a different story. For example, there is no suggestion that Roger, who parallels Roderigo from the play actually loves Desi. Sax chose to take Roderigo's overall character, prominently his weaknesses, and incorporate those in the form of Roderick, an officer. One example, is the scene where Jago interrogates Roderick about his involvement in the police raid. Sax communicates the character's personalities and characteristics, rather than parallel them with character from the play. Indirectly, Sax's film parallels the play, through this unique route, in this modern rendition.
Nelson has followed the opposite route, in the sense that he has chosen to follow the story line in the text, a more traditional way of doing things. For example, Nelson includes the scene in Act I of the play in the film, where Hugo and Roger inform the Dean of his daughter's relationship with Odin. Likewise, he includes the party scene where Michael gets drunk and loses his title. The scene where Odin listens in on Michael and Hugo's conversation is also included. Each of these events is similar to those from the text. Nelson has chosen the film to have a direct relationship with the play and follows its events in chronological order.
Clearly, both directors have taken a different approach to convey Shakespeare's themes and ideas, through their unconventional settings and styles in which the dialogue is delivered. Overall, all of the conflicts and concepts are still present, but each director has given their story a twist. One example is the symbolic handkerchief which is present in both movies, but in two different forms. In "O", Nelson chose the handkerchief to be a scarf, that was given to Odin by his mother and meant to be given to someone special. Odin chooses to give it to Desi, as a pledge of his love, however when Desi drapes this scarf around Odin's neck later on, he pushes it to the ground. This symbolizes the carelessness Odin applies to his relationship with Desi. Later, Hugo manipulates Odin into thinking that Desi has given this scarf to Michael, and pushes him to suspect her fidelity, which leads him to strangle her to death.
Sax has symbolically represented this handkerchief as a golden robe, given to John by Desi, instead of from John to Desi. In this version, Michael Cass, Desi's personal guard is seen wearing this symbolic robe by John. John uses this robe as evidence to suspect his wife of adultery and gives to Jago to be examined. What one finds to be intriguing about this robe is the fact that is gold - gold suggests a sense of royalty. John feels that this royalty is being passed over to Cass. This change from handkerchief to robe is still effective as it stills play the same role. Therefore both movies use the handkerchief as a means of destruction of Othello and Desdemona's relationship.
Camera angles were also effectively used to depict several messages like power, descent to a wild level and loss of rationality. Camera angles helped the films achieve things, that writing for the play could not. In "O", we see much use of camera angles. One example, can be seen in the first few moments of the play, where the camera looks up at a group of doves soaring high, above everyone else. As Hugo's speech comes to an end, the camera lowers into darkness and the next scene begins. This descent foreshadows the outcome of the play, in that it showed the goodness of the doves would be tainted as the story developed.
In the scene where Odin carelessly tosses the scarf to the ground in Desi's dorm, the camera moves from focus on the scarf to focus on Emily. By changing the focus to Emily, we see Emily's power, which will determine Desi and Odin's fate, depending on what she decides to do with scarf. Another way camera angles illustrated power was in the scene where Hugo pawns an expensive watch for a gun. In this scene, the camera zooms in on the watch, symbolizing time was running out. As the camera moves in, the picture switches into this spiraling pattern, with a bright light in the centre. As the camera approaches Hugo and Odin who are at the top, we notice the source of the bright light is a checkered design, symbolizing entrapment of good, evil and confusion. Everything seems to become distorted, the closer the camera gets, symbolizing the loss of rationality. The camera's focus then changes, moving the focus upward towards Hugo and Odin, giving us the sense that through them, lies the power to determine the outcome of the movie.
Geoffrey Sax also uses filming techniques to convey particular ideas and thoughts. One of the most dynamic use of the camera is just after Ben Jago finds out John Othello has been appointed commission of the force. As he leaves the room and begins to talk to himself, the camera moves all around him, and we get shots from every angle. It is through these camera angles, we begin to understand Jago's confusion and rage about the appointment. Sax expects the viewer to understand that what we are seeing is not the reality of what is actually happening, but rather Jago's reality, his mind's rationale. This technique was brilliant and truly commendable.
Like Nelson, Sax uses the camera to portray the loss of rationality on John's part. When Desi leaves in rage and confusion, John searches her room for signs of her unfaithfulness. Camera shots are chaotic and turning in every direction, including 360° turns, showing us John's disorientation and his loss of rational. Both Sax and Nelson have used camera angles to their advantage to portray power and character's thoughts.
Camera was also used in the context of dramatic irony, where a character would be articulating one line, but what we are seeing is the complete opposite. One example of this can be seen in the scene where Hugo tells Odin that he had seen Michael with Desi's scarf, in the morning. What we see however is the complete opposite; Hugo giving Michael the scarf to give to Brandy (Parallel's Bianca). Nelson uses this technique to his advantage to help the viewer get a better understanding of the plot and what was really happening.
Lighting was a predominant cinematic element in the film, being used to convey different messages to the audience. During our first introduction to Roger, we see him and Hugo talking in a dark corner by themselves, with shadows reflected on the wall behind them. These shadows suggest stealth, a dark plan is being discussed beneath these shadows. Lighting effects are also used to make certain characters seem animal-like, like the scene where Odin eavesdrop on the conversation between Michael and Hugo. We see shadows on Odin's forehead and lips, and a 'key light' effect being made on his eyes, which make him like an animal, which cannot believe what it is he is seeing or hearing. Nelson has also situated him in the shadows, which also reminds us of an animal in the sense, that he is lurking in the shadows, waiting to jump on his prey. Nelson uses lighting to help portray Odin's descent to a bestial level.
Sax also uses lighting to his advantage to emphasize Ben Jago's evil character. Whenever Jago hugs John, a slender shadow would be cast under his eyes, which would in turn make his smile look evil. When Jago recommends that John send the robe in for DNA testing, we see his shadow broadened on the wall first, accompanied with eerie music. We get the sense that his shadow is the power that he has over John, that constantly follows John around. Although, Sax's use of lighting isn't as effective as Nelson's, it helps get a better understanding of Jago's character.
Music helps fill each scene in a movie with more emotion and feeling. It helps engage the audience to the story from scene to character to conclusion. Nelson's choice of music for "O" includes a Southern atmosphere, an intense hip-hop soundtrack as well as old orchestral music. At the beginning of the movie, the first scene started off with opera singing, Desdemona's aria and slow music to accompany the beautiful scenery. As the scene switches from the doves to the basketball game, the music turns into a fast hip-hop beat, a song called 'Black Star'. Sudden change from a slow and gradual beat to a fast hip-hop beat, showed us the obvious contrasts between good and evil. Nelson continually uses music during scene transaction and this made the experience more worthwhile.
Sax use of music helps us identify with the character present in each scene. For example, in the scene where John exits from his speech to the rioting crowd, heroic, patriotic music is played, to give us sense of John's character and his commitment to the job. In scenes where Jago talks with other characters, the music is the complete opposite - often eerie and low. The music played in the background, depicts each character in relation to the plot of the story.
Sax also incorporates another effective technique in his production with the use of music, that Nelson has not. At times in the production, music overlays the dialogue articulated by the character. One example is the scene where John begins to notice Michael and Desi's relationship. We see Michael and Desi together talking but we cannot hear what they are saying. Instead a soft, uneasy music is played. In a way, this allows us to understand what John is thinking. The outside world is muted out and the uneasy music gives us a sense of the suspicions in John's head.
Many feel that the poetry of exceptional drama cannot be communicated through film, but one must not forget the poetry of television. Without doubt, probably the most memorable thing from any of Shakespeare's plays, is not the plot or the characters, but rather the dialogue - after all, Shakespeare is arguably the most quotable author ever to write in the English language. However, the same effect can be conveyed on the silver screen, with simple lines delivered with feeling, such as those in both "O" and "Othello." However, the decisions made to modernize the play in "O", manage to be more successful in generating appeal to a contemporary audience.
When you have all the cinematic elements in place - lighting, camera work, sound effects - anything is possible. Let me conclude with Simon Leake's review on "O", which offers a daring contemporary perspective of a familiar story, and it succeeds both as a powerful modern drama and 'as a testament to Shakespeare's insight into human weaknesses.'
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