Satchel Henneman

3/19/2016

Otello Finds a New Home in Television Sets

Franco Zeffirellis 1986 film production of Guiseppe Verdis operatic masterpiece Otello
is yet another example of his infatuation with the Barque glamour of William Shakespeare.
Having directed Romeo and Juliet (1968) and The Taming of The Shrew (1967) some years
earlier it is apparent Zeffirelli has an attraction to a museum like recreation, which is ever so
apparent in his Otello. This 1887 operatic setting of Shakespeares play Othello, Libretto by
Arrigo Boito, the Moorish governor here played by Placido Domingo, is deceived by Lago, a
cruel and spiteful servant portrayed by Justino Diaz , into believing his new bride Desdemona,
Katia Ricciarelli, has been unfaithful to him with the captain of his navy Cassio, Urbano
Barberini.
The Production is very true to its Victorian roots, the costumes and set are all appropriate
to the era. One of the great advantages afforded in this production is that it is made exclusively
for a television screen, allowing for a shifting perspective to be manipulated by the director. This
is a break away from what would typically be a static angle as viewed from the seats at an opera.
This is taken advantage of fully, especially with the character Lago. Conspiring in plots that
affect all the characters of the opera, Lago is often has greatest awareness knowing with certainty
what is truly going on and what other characters perceive as truth, because of lies he has told
them. Due to this secretive knowledge he is often speaking of his plot under his breath, both as
an expression but also as a tool for plot development: the audience must know of his plot yet he
cannot communicate his plan to others, the solution here is to have him speak to himself either in
asides or in private. The issue with asides in opera is that the audience must hear the information
being communicated but it is difficult to suspend ones belief that none of the other characters
can hear an aside when it is being shouted. A very clever solution afforded in film is to do a close
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up on a character and have them mutter under their breath. Here the audience is delivered the
necessary information, and it is believable that it was a secret not heard by the rest of the
characters. A great example is in Act I directly after Othello has striped Cassio of his rank, Lago
whispers under his breath oh sweet triumph. Another advantage taken by the cinematic
arrangement is that of the flashback. The idea that something like a memory, that occurs in the
mind, could be displayed on the stage is difficult because the audience is shown the image of a
person recalling the memory rather than the images of the memory. We expected to use our own
imagination to view the images of the characters recollection. What is capable in a film is the
narration of a character in the present while images of the past are being shown, something
impossible on the stage. This is used in great complexity in the final scene of Act I where the
newly wed Othello and Desdemona are remembering what gave cause for their love, they recall
when they first met and Othello was telling stories of his life, creating a flashback within a
flashback. This gives many layers of depth to what could be a very single dimensional love
scene.
An issue that cannot go unaddressed is the color of Othellos skin and the use of
blackface. There is a history of performing this character in blackface, both in Verdis version as
well as the original Shakespearian play. There are other operatic works including Aida an earlier
work by Verdi that involve the coloring of ones skin to perform a role of a different race. This
film being made thirty years ago is now in fact a part of that history. I will speak to my issues
with this. The Othello story would seem to be one of overcoming adversity in gaining a position
of power through great service in war. Starting life in slavery and ending it, albeit tragically, as a
governor, a leader of men, despite the color of his skin. The audience feels empathy for Othello
and his position in Lagos evil plot, he is more favored than his white adversary. The image of a
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3/19/2016

person of color treated with the greatest respect is powerful and liberating. However, this image
is skewed when it is performed by a painted actor, for here the empowerment afforded by
Othellos color is false. It is almost an obscene joke that the Moor in power, his color emphasized
as something of importance by Shakespeare, Verdi and Boito, is in fact a whiteman in disguise.
The Opera is very true to the Shakespearian work which it has been modeled after,
however there are a few key differences. Zeffirelli uses cinematic effect to attempt to bind more
closely together the original story and this musical reimagining. A key example of this difference
is in the beginning. The play Othello begins with the controversy of Othello marrying
Desdemona in secret, being accused of seduction through which craft. The Opera leaves most of
this part of the story out and only attempts to vaguely mention a backstory during the love duet
borrowing the lines She loved me for the dangers I had passed, and I loved her that she did pity
them, yet no mention of a secret wedding, witchcraft or that their love might not be accepted by
her father. However during the flashbacks Zeffirelli shows this secret wedding and the
expression of disapproval on the face of the minister adds another level of depth to these
characters not provided to an audience by Verdi. Once again Zeffirelli has capitalized on this
seemingly plain love duet, adding a dynamic element of dimension borrowed from Shakespeare.
Another example of a possible relay back to Shakespeare is in the final act when Othello
discovers Lagos plot and, in the original version, wounds him condemning him to a life of pain.
However, in Verdis Othello, Lago lives unharmed. Zeffirelli, more true to the Shakespearian
source, has Othello murder Lago with a spear. I dont know what this adds to the Opera.
Shakespeares version gives the feeling of great justice that Lago must now live his life in pain,
with the constant and horrible memory of his evil plot, its poetic justice. Verdis version makes
us hateful of Lago and his serpent-like avoidance of consequence makes him all the more evil
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and hated, while increasing our sympathy for the good people affected by his plot. Zefferillis
version gives us justice, but its not poetic and doesnt seem like a fitting punishment for all his
evil doing. We are left neither hating Lago more intensely nor feeling totally satisfied by his
punishment. It is possible that Zeffirelli was attempting to remove the focus from Lago as a man
and focus on his evil and the evil of all men (like Othellos suspicion and Roderigos jealousy) as
a single tragic element in the opera. The idea that the story is tragic not because of one character,
but because of the evil within all the characters, as coaxed out by Lago.
Zeffirelli helps Otello find its way from the stage to the screen, Picking up new layers of
depth and intrigue along the way while maintaining its sense of Baroque glamour. With issues
of race, manipulation, and jealousy, Verdis Otello is as troubling and controversial as it is
beautiful enlightening.