Otello on AllMovie

Famed Russian director Serge Bondarchuk steps before the cameras in this Soviet adaptation of Shakespeare's Othello. The Russian landscape provides a surprisingly effective backdrop for this tale of love, hate and jealousy in 16th century Venice. Andrei Popov is a suitably cunning Iago, while Irina Skobtseva is an ethereally beautiful Desdemona. Filmed in 1955, this adaptation of Othello was released in the US five years later. The rather crude English-language dubbing seriously detracts from both the compelling imagery of director Serge Yutkevitch (who'd spent some twenty years seeing this project to fruition) and composer Aram Khachaturian.