Otello **** (1986, Plácido Domingo, Katia Ricciarelli, Justino Díaz) – Classic Movie Review 7245

Plácido Domingo is in great, wonderful voice as Otello the Moor in director Franco Zeffirelli’s Otello (1986), an imaginative, lavish and splendid looking film of the marvellous Giuseppe Verdi opera, based on Shakespeare’s tragedy play, with excellent support by Justino Díaz as Iago and Katia Ricciarelli as Desdemona.

Zeffirelli gets full value from the spectacular Greek location filming, Ennio Guarnieri’s beautiful sweeping Eastmancolor cinematography and the Oscar-nominated costumes (Best Costume Design – Anna Anni and Maurizio Millenotti).

Opera buffs may disapprove of the textual cutting and tampering (adaptation for the screen by Franco Zeffirelli and Masolino D’Amico), but Zeffirelli ensures that this is great filmed opera that is accessible to all. The orchestra is conducted by Lorin Maazel.

Zeffirelli turns filmed opera into an art form. It was a Golden Globe and Bafta nominee as Best Foreign Language Film. Zeffirelli says that it is his favourite of his films.

Plácido Domingo in 2002.

Also in the cast are Petra Malakova as Emilia, Urbano Barberini as Cassio, Massimo Foschi (as Lodovico), Edwin Francis (Montano), Sergio Nicolai (Roderigo), Remo Remotti (Brabantio), and Antonio Pierfederici (Doge).

The vocal performances are Ezio Di Cesare as Cassio, John Macurdy as Lodovico, Constantin Zaharia as Roderigo, Edward Toumajian as Montano, and Giannicola Pigliucci as Brabantio.

Otello is directed by Franco Zeffirelli, runs 120 minutes, is produced by RAI and Cannon, is released by Cannon, is written by Franco Zeffirelli and Masolino D’Amico (adaptation), libretto by Arrigo Boito, based on the opera by Giuseppe Verdi, is shot by Ennio Guarnieri, and produced by John Thompson and Fulvio Lucisano.

Franco Zeffirelli, KBE, Grande Ufficiale OMRI.

Franco Zeffirelli (born 12 February 1923) is also renowned as director of the 1968 version of Romeo and Juliet, the 1967 version of The Taming of the Shrew with Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, and his miniseries Jesus of Nazareth (1977).

© Derek Winnert 2018 Classic Movie Review 7245

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Domingo made his debut in Verdi’s Otello at Bellas Artes as Cassio in 1962 for the Mexico National Opera.