British Universities Film & Video Council

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Otello, Comando Negro

Alternative title
Othello, The Black Commando
Synopsis
Feature film. A French-Spanish derivative of Othello set in the late 1970s in which Othello is cast as a mercenary soldier fighting in Africa. Courtney Lehmann in Shakespeares After Shakespeare (op cit) writes: ‘Poised somewhere between blaxploitation film - replete with a funk soundtrack composed by Boulois himself - and European art cinema, this ambitious adaptation is as telling in its shortcomings as it is in its successes’.
Language
English
Country
Spain; France
Medium
Film
Technical information
Colour / Sound
Year of release
1982
Duration
103 mins

Credits

Director
Max H. Boulois
Cinematographer
Domingo Solano
Screenplay
Max H. Boulois
Cast
Max H. BouloisGeneral Othello (Othello)
Joanna PettetDesdemona (Desdemona)
Tony CurtisColonel Iago (Iago)
Ramiro OliverosCassio (Michael Cassio)
NadiuskaEmily (Emilia)
Gerard BarryLudovic (Lodovico)
Sara MoraBianca (Bianca)

Additional Details

Production type
Fiction Films
Plays
Othello
Keywords
Shakespeare, William (1564-1616)

Notes

General
Shakespeare’s name is misspelt in the credits.
Beethoven’s 5th and 9th symphonies are used as background music.
History
It was released on video in Great Britain in 1992 under the title OTHELLO.
Reviews
Variety (22 December 1982). The reviewer commented ‘Boulois throttles the gal, Iago bites the dust, and Othello commits suicide’.
Lehmann, Courtney in ‘Film Adaptations’ in Burt, Richard (ed). Shakespeares After Shakespeares: an Encyclopedia of the Bard in Mass Media and Popular Culture. 2 vols. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2006. (p115, entry 457).

Production Company

Name

Eurocine (Paris)

Name

MB Diffusion SA

Archive

Name

Archives Francaises du Film du Centre National De La Cinematographie (CNC)

Email
AFF@cnc.fr
Web
http://www.cnc/fr External site opens in new window
Phone
+33-1 3014 8000
Address
7bis Rue A, Turpault, F-78395
Bois D’Arcy
France
Name

Folger Shakespeare Library

Email
reference@folger.edu
Web
http://www.folger.edu External site opens in new window
Phone
(202) 544 4600
Fax
(202) 544 4623
Address
201 East Capitol Street, SE
Washington
DC 20003
USA
Name

IVAC

Web
http://ivac.lafilmoteca.es External site opens in new window
Phone
34-96 353 9320
Fax
34-96 353 9330
Address
Instituto Valenciano De Cinematografica
pca de L’Ajuntament 17
Edifico Rialto
Valencia, Spain

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