Sunday, August 03, 2003
Othello
Directed By Orson Welles
You have to read Roger Ebert’s review of Othello before you read mine to understand the difficulties that Welles faced when making this Shakespeare adaptation. My review which is based on the restored DVD version certainly didn’t expose much flaws on how it looked like previously but anyhow, Othello comes close to greatness despite the hardships associated when making this film.
I must confess I am not familiar with Othello and it did not help that the actors who spoke fast and many with their American accents didn’t help place Othello as a historical drama but this is nevertheless a film for connoisseurs, if not for the rich Shakespearian text; the visual imageries and editing which are fast and shot in unusal angles.
Othello spots beautiful outdoor and indoor sets that recall Victorian grandeur. Welles as the Moor, Othello, is equally commanding on screen while we predict his downfall when he listens to his servant, Iago (Micheál MacLiammóir), who is villainous and crafty at the same time.
If you cannot even decipher the words being rolled out, Othello will still remain a visual spectacle. Trust me on that.
The Cardinal
Directed by Otto Preminger
I have just read two online reviews which are unkind to The Cardinal suggesting that a. Tom Tryon as Stephen Fermoyle is as weak an actor because his performances are “wooden” and that he does not seem to portray the dilemmas that are inherent in his character b. The Cardinal is definitely not Preminger’s best film because the images are postcard pretty and seems like a jumble of issues put together in a film that is altogether too long.
While it is agreeable to an extent that Tom Tryon did not portray his weakness, I believe it is Preminger’s intention that it be not so. Preminger shots are often distant – mostly middle shots that hardly allows us to study the faces of the actors except in vey rare occasions. Preminger probably intends NOT to show us the difficulties and inner turmoils that Tryon was facing by preventing us to see his face in close details, that a man of God is not allowed to show his real emotions, when Fermoyle told his female student (Romy Schneider) whom he fell in love with. Preminger, unlike most film makers, is making a melodrama but not in the conventional sense of playing with our emotions through realism but trying to help us see Fermoyle as a person caught in between conflicts – of his beliefs that he was born to be a priest to what he really wants. The distanciation is meant to provoke the more observant spectator to feel for Fermolye through the subversive technique of alienating us. The feelings that he tried to illicit in us is not through showing tears on stage but rather stuns us by the character’s predicament. As an example, when Fermolye made the decision to let his sister die and save the kid, Preminger filmed everything clinical and sterile in appearance. The dilemma was there right in our face. Fermolye who wanted his sister to pray before she died could not fulfil this last task, which probably lead him to having doubts about his priesthood and believes.
The Cardinal as a fictional biography of Stephen Fermolye is also a parallel and escalation and widening of gravity of issues from personal (saving sister’s soul) to society equality (supporting the rights of the black people to have education and their churches) to condemning the action of the Austria cardinal for asking Catholics in his country to give Hitler the vote.
The church as an institution is portrayed as fragmented and divided by powers and politically motivated. Preminger destroyed the myth of the religious churches not by condemning its actions; but showing that it is a product of the people who formed it.
The Cardinal is not just about the times it was about. It’s about a man who was a priest, caught and found his own calling despite his insecurities after having devoted his whole life to it. He fumbled, believed without questioning, questioned, went back to his faith because he saw the importance of the church (as an organization) and how it ties up with his own beliefs.
Directed By Orson Welles
You have to read Roger Ebert’s review of Othello before you read mine to understand the difficulties that Welles faced when making this Shakespeare adaptation. My review which is based on the restored DVD version certainly didn’t expose much flaws on how it looked like previously but anyhow, Othello comes close to greatness despite the hardships associated when making this film.
I must confess I am not familiar with Othello and it did not help that the actors who spoke fast and many with their American accents didn’t help place Othello as a historical drama but this is nevertheless a film for connoisseurs, if not for the rich Shakespearian text; the visual imageries and editing which are fast and shot in unusal angles.
Othello spots beautiful outdoor and indoor sets that recall Victorian grandeur. Welles as the Moor, Othello, is equally commanding on screen while we predict his downfall when he listens to his servant, Iago (Micheál MacLiammóir), who is villainous and crafty at the same time.
If you cannot even decipher the words being rolled out, Othello will still remain a visual spectacle. Trust me on that.
The Cardinal
Directed by Otto Preminger
I have just read two online reviews which are unkind to The Cardinal suggesting that a. Tom Tryon as Stephen Fermoyle is as weak an actor because his performances are “wooden” and that he does not seem to portray the dilemmas that are inherent in his character b. The Cardinal is definitely not Preminger’s best film because the images are postcard pretty and seems like a jumble of issues put together in a film that is altogether too long.
While it is agreeable to an extent that Tom Tryon did not portray his weakness, I believe it is Preminger’s intention that it be not so. Preminger shots are often distant – mostly middle shots that hardly allows us to study the faces of the actors except in vey rare occasions. Preminger probably intends NOT to show us the difficulties and inner turmoils that Tryon was facing by preventing us to see his face in close details, that a man of God is not allowed to show his real emotions, when Fermoyle told his female student (Romy Schneider) whom he fell in love with. Preminger, unlike most film makers, is making a melodrama but not in the conventional sense of playing with our emotions through realism but trying to help us see Fermoyle as a person caught in between conflicts – of his beliefs that he was born to be a priest to what he really wants. The distanciation is meant to provoke the more observant spectator to feel for Fermolye through the subversive technique of alienating us. The feelings that he tried to illicit in us is not through showing tears on stage but rather stuns us by the character’s predicament. As an example, when Fermolye made the decision to let his sister die and save the kid, Preminger filmed everything clinical and sterile in appearance. The dilemma was there right in our face. Fermolye who wanted his sister to pray before she died could not fulfil this last task, which probably lead him to having doubts about his priesthood and believes.
The Cardinal as a fictional biography of Stephen Fermolye is also a parallel and escalation and widening of gravity of issues from personal (saving sister’s soul) to society equality (supporting the rights of the black people to have education and their churches) to condemning the action of the Austria cardinal for asking Catholics in his country to give Hitler the vote.
The church as an institution is portrayed as fragmented and divided by powers and politically motivated. Preminger destroyed the myth of the religious churches not by condemning its actions; but showing that it is a product of the people who formed it.
The Cardinal is not just about the times it was about. It’s about a man who was a priest, caught and found his own calling despite his insecurities after having devoted his whole life to it. He fumbled, believed without questioning, questioned, went back to his faith because he saw the importance of the church (as an organization) and how it ties up with his own beliefs.
