Othello 2001

views updated

Othello ★★★ 2001

Updated version (with modern dialogue) of Shakespeare's “Othello” set in contemporary London. John Othello (Walker) is a respected police officer who has just been installed as the first black commissioner of the Metropolitan force. His promotion comes at the expense of his mentor/friend Ben Jago (Eccleston) who does not handle the slight well as he is now second-in-command. So Ben plays the race card and works on John's jealousy of his heiress white wife, Dessie (Hawley), by suggesting that she is unfaithful. Walker is convincingly impassioned but Eccleston's slimy manipulation is rather too obvious. 96m/C VHS, DVD . GB Eamonn Walker, Christopher Eccleston, Keeley Hawes, Richard Coyle, Del Synnott, Christopher Fox, Allan Cutts, Patrick Myers; D: Geoffrey Sax; W: Andrew Davies; C: Daf Hobson; M: Debbie Wiseman. TV

About this article

Othello 2001

Updated About encyclopedia.com content Print Article