Is it me, or does Irene Jacobs seem to old to play Desdemona? From reading the actual play, I got the feeling that Desdemona was 16-18 years old, and that there was a massive age gap between Othello and Desdemona. Or maybe Lawrence Fishburne was too young?
shareBoth, I think. But movies tend to need to do that, or it's gets a little distracting. The whole time many viewers would just be weirded out at such an age difference.
shareIrene Jacobs was thirty at the time, which is probably a bit older than Shakespeare intended for Desdemona. But few 18 year olds, however gifted, would be able to handle the demands of this role. Look how stilted and unconvincing Danes and DiCaprio were in R+J. But Fishbourne was definitely too young to
play the Moor, who is middle-aged in the play. Obviously, a younger Othello
is sexier, more energetic, more appealing to the target demographic. When
this film came out I was disappointed that Denzel wasn't Othello, but after
several viewings I agree with the casting choices. Denzel (the Prince in
Branagh's Much ado) is a bit too sweet and likable to be credible in the
part. LF has an edgy, 'street cred' quality which fits perfectly. He's even
scarier when he tries to drown Iago than when he kills Desdemona.
I was disappointed in the omission of the beautiful "Put out the light"
speech from the murder scene, otherwise lyrical, passionate and thrilling.
Welles certainly makes a meal of it in his version, as you would expect
with his beautiful orotund voice.
The woman who played Emilia was brilliant, so elegant and regal. And I'm
so glad they let her dothe lovely "I will play the swan and die in music"
speech as she died.
I agree with the above poster that finding an teenage actress to convincingly play the part would be near impossible.
However, though laurence was significantly younger than the character Othello, he's got this certain "older" quality about him, and has often played up in age (he was still a kid basically when they began filming Apocalypse Now).
Thank you, Mr. Helmsley.
Fishbourne has played Othello and Ike Turner quite convincingly; makes
you wonder how he ever gets a date! LOL.
Fishburne was fantastic in this film. He is convincing as a noble warrior who has seen much in battle and is ready to leave war for love. And you really believe it when he changes with jealousy...and Brannagh's performance compliments his strength perfectly. Iago is not too smarmy, but very keen and strong in his own right. Wonderful casting.
"I'm retired. Yeah, I invented dice when i was a kid so, what do you do?"
I agree too, IsoldeJaneHolland. Also Dame Maggie Smith was same age (31) in the 1965 legendary performance opposite Sir Laurence Olivier.
shareHey, we're worried about the actor being a little old to play Desdemona convincingly? Show some sympathy for the Elizabethan audiences who had to contend with a GUY playing the part. We don't know what a credibility problem is.
share[deleted]
She could've been too old, but all in all, I just think Desdemona's character is entirely uninteresting; In both the play and the film.
shareShe was definately too old to be innocent and enraptured in the same way that someone aged 16-18 would be. Age aside, it was a matter of terrible casting because she couldn't play the part properly to save her life. It's as if the director just told her "be meek". At least it helps to enhance a fantastic Iago.
shareIrene Jacob is a brilliant actress. Note her performances in Kieslowski's RED and THE DOUBLE LIFE OF VERONIQUE. Her problem is linguistic. She is not sufficiently proficient or comfortable in English to handle Shakespearean language well.
shareShe is terrible in anything requiring her to speak everyday English so why on earth would she even try Shakespeare??? It boggles the mind. And 22 years later she is still just as bad. Her agent needs to keep her in European films/tv.
On another note. She was miscast not only due to her age but her looks. Desdemona is by tradition, blonde and fair-skinned to emphasize the "differences" between her and Othello. Michelle Pfeiffer would have been my choice in '95. I wonder who was offered the role originally because Jacob seems like a last choice rather than a first, second, etc.
Better three hours too soon than a minute too late.- William Shakespeare
It might have been for the "values dissonance" reason. Back when the play was first written what made her marrying Othello so striking was that he was a Moor, IE he was "colored". No one back then cared that he was as old as her father (who was formerly his friend), since age-gap relationships were way more common then. For modern versions I suppose they make her older because audiences would be a tad "WTF?" over Desdemona marrying a dude her dad's age.
shareDon't forget the BBC featured a rather sophisticated Desdemona.
While there has been a long-running theatrical tradition of having the character depicted as very young and fragile (thus stressing the tragedy of her destruction), it's not entirely clear from Shakespeare's text what her exact age is.
No matter what an actresses' age, showing Desdemona and Othello as passionately in love in the beginning makes the tragedy more painful. The film well captures this.
Desdemona's character has always been a subject of debate; is she as innocent as she seems? Remember, She did deceive her father... And Iago describes her as a 'super-subtle Venetian'. It's almost as if Shakespeare started out intending her to be false, but changed his mind halfway through.
No, what bothers me about Irene Jacobs's performance is her French-Swiss accent. Considering that the whole point of the play is that Othello is an exotic, an intruder into the close society of Venice, it seems to me absurd that Desdemona speaks in an accent different from that of her father and everyone else around her.
She would not be the only circa 30-year-old actress to play Desdemona.
Maggie Smith was about 30-31 when she played Desdemona in the 1965 film version.