you do not get more dark or tragic than othello and this movie capture the play fairly well and with outstanding performance by lawrence fishburne and irene jacob . fishburne express to the viewer othello torment a he fall prey to iago lie very convincingly and even provide a realistic epileptic episode . jacob be the loving and loyal wife who become either the instrument of iago revenge against othello and or the object of his wrath ( it be not clear which since no motive for iago behavior be offer ) . although kenneth brannagh ( sp . ) display his usual talent for shakespeare in this movie and he be somewhat marginalized . the character of cassio and emilia also wander in and out of scene even though they and like iago and seem more crucial to the plot . i have not check the movie against the play to see how many line be cut out and but i know that shakespeare tend to develop his character and even the seemingly unimportant one and very well . if i have any criticism of the movie it would be that the story unfolds too quickly and and that the relationship between some of the character be not lay out more . the director have a great cast and and no one offer a bad performance . the relationship between cassio and othello and that between emilia and desdemona need to be far develop earlier in the film . i have a feeling that they be close to each other than the movie suggest and although you get a sense of this very late into the movie . also and othello and desdemona need more time together . although their anguish be convince and the amount of interaction they have with each other make it seem like they just meet . on the other hand and maybe the do just meet like romeo and juliet . in brief represent good performance and too short .