Othello, The movie!

Well I was browsing netflix and I found this movie! "O" was by mail only and I don't think I'm going to mail away for it so i started watching this one. So far it is really well made and very accurate. They even speak in the same text as the play. I would strongly suggest you look into it if you haven't already seen it. I've only gotten to watch about the first 15 minutes of it but so far it has really helped me put names to faces and keep the characters all straight. That is always one of my problems when I read plays. The way the movie is though its almost like the play verbatim however I do think I noticed a few differences with some of the spoken word. The only possible drawback is it's length, it's about 2 hours long.

Question 4

In my opinion a lot of the suspense and some hostility is created by Iago and the fact that he is very open about his plan and all of his thoughts. Iago is pretty blunt and so his openness can create some tension when what he says isn't something that you would expect someone to say. As an audience member, it's nice knowing all of Iago's thoughts because it seems to me like they're probably the most interesting anyway. Most of the suspense stems from whether or not all of Iago's master plan is really going to flesh out the way he wants. Through all of Iago's thoughts and his interactions with other characters, we, as the audience, get to decide if we really think that everything he thinks is going to happen is and essentially whether or not what we think will happen or not creates suspense because we want to know if were right. It is kind of odd how so far the least informed character is Othello, the protagonist. I'm guessing that will change if not soon, eventually.

Question 3

In the play "Othello", it seems fairly obvious that Othello is the protagonist. The first hint might be the fact that the entire play is named after him. Beyond that thought it seems like a lot of people know and recognize Othello's leadership. Early in the play Iago says, "For I do know the state cannot with safety cast him, for he's embarked with such loud reason to the Cyprus wars that, for their souls, another of his fathom they have none to lead their business." (Act I, i, 150ish) This is essentially saying that there is no one better for the job than Othello and the fact that other people recognize this says a lot for Othello's abilities. I'm pretty sure that Iago is the antagonist. He really likes to play tricks on people, or more specifically, he expounds on deceit and trickery. He shows Othello respect when he's around but as soon as he's gone he talks about him behind his back. All of theses characters play a part in Othello's plan to get revenge and obtain the position in the military that he wants.