Orson Welles' adaptation of William Shakespeare's Othello (or The Tragedy Of Othello: The Moor Of Venice, if you prefer) was an arduous project even by Welles' standards. It took three years to finish (the original producer went bankrupt and Welles had to finish the film by funding it personally) and was shot on location in both Italy and Morocco and while it took home top honors at Cannes when it debuted there in 1952, it took Welles another three years to secure U.S. distribution. Once that was secured, the movie was hardly a commercial success. Time, however, has been kind to this film, much as it has been kind to many of Welles' films.

The plot of the story will, no doubt, be familiar to most. Othello (played by Welles himself), is a top ranking Moorish general in the Venetian army. He's recently been wed to the beautiful Desdemona (Suzanne Cloutier), the daughter of a Venetian aristocrat named Brabantio (Hilton Edwards). Othello is tricked into believing that his new bride has been having an affair with his lieutenant Michael Cassio (Michael Laurence), who had previously asked for her hand in marriage. The truth of the matter is that this is all a plot put into motion by Othello's ensign Iago (Micheál MacLiammóir), a traitor jealous of Othello's rank and who knows his weakness and is not afraid to exploit it. But of course, we learn about all of this after the fact. The movie itself begins with a funeral procession and it works its way backwards from there.

Welles, when tackling Shakespeare, was never less than a visionary when it came to conjuring up the perfect visuals to accompany the writer's work. While his take on MacBeth made a few years earlier in 1948 is arguably his most impressive adaptation from a production standpoint, Othello is a very close second. Rather than shoot the picture in accordance with its ‘stagey' origins, Welles instead puts the camera in the action itself. As such, we get a lot of interesting shots that quite literally follow the characters, making the viewer an accomplice in both the conspiracy and the tragedy that are part and parcel with the story's conclusion. Shot in stark black and white, Welles, makes excellent use of his locations, ensuring that everything is nicely framed and beautifully lit in order to squeeze out every last ounce of atmosphere. As we saw in MacBeth, Welles again shows a preference for odd angles, some in fact seem specifically intended to keep viewers as off kilter as some of the characters that inhabit the picture. A great example of this is an early shot wherein we see the funeral procession from behind a cross in front of and above those carrying the casket, cloaked in robes covering their faces. It's an eerie image, one of quite a few in the picture.

Performances are likewise impressive. Welles, as the titular lead, uses his rather mammoth screen presence to create an Othello that cuts an imposing frame. As you'd expect, his turn in the part is quite memorable. His chemistry with Suzanne Cloutier is pretty solid and her work here is also very good. Often times, however, it is Micheál MacLiammóir and Michael Laurence that really steal the show. They get a lot of screen time in the film and Welles the director plays to their strengths.

Note that this release is a two disc set. The first disc contains both the 1955 US/UK version of the movie (clocking in at 1:30:59) and the 1952 European version of the film (running 1:33:31) while the second disc holds the bulk of the accompanying supplements. The main differences between the two versions included here are that in the 1955 version Welles had Desdemona completely redubbed by a different voice actress. Additionally, Welles himself redubbed Roderigo and a few other supporting characters. On top of that the credits sequences between the two films are different (there isn't really a proper credits sequence for the 1952 version) and there are some different shots used in the 1955 version not found in the 1952 version.

Video:

Each version of Othello is presented on a 50GB Blu-ray in AVC encoded 1080p high definition in its original aspect ratio of 1.37.1 fullframe. Thanks to a really high bit rate, the black and white picture is free of any compression artifacts and the absence of any obvious noise reduction or edge enhancement has resulted in a very film-like image. Contrast looks excellent and black levels are nice and deep. There's very little print damage outside of some specks here and there and the occasional scratch, nothing too serious or in the least bit distracting. There is excellent detail and texture throughout. The video quality on this release is impressive.

Having said that, the 1952 version is taken from a new 4k scan of a 35mm fine-grain master positive while the 1955 version comes from a new 4k scan of the 35mm negative. The 1952 version is, not surprisingly, the better looking cut of the film in terms of transfer quality. The grey scale is more nuanced and in certain shots detail is just a little bit better than the earlier cut. In both versions there are some age related issues and softness on display, but these are minor, and compared to what we've seen before, this is a very nice presentation indeed. The 1955 version looks a bit softer by comparison, although it too is a more than watchable presentation.