Evening star., 1960-10-15

temporary him tnat opened tn
one of the most arresting of the
lot in several of its aspects.
For, one of these, the wide,
color flooded screen reflects an
almost florid regard for Shake
speare. an old attitude in the
relations of the Russians and
The Bard. This is implicit not
merely in the Splendor of the
production but also in the pas
sionoof "Othello's" acting.
These are hypnotic qualities
but insufficient to counter
balance the considerable defect
that the picture loses by being
dubbed in English. If this
sounds paradoxical = hearing
Shakespeare In his native
tongue-let it be said that Rus
sian lip movements and English
: words synchronize awkwardly.
Add to this the fact that the
Savagery Of the acting here is
sometimes more intense than
the English voice speaking for
it.
Apart from this flaw, and in
its own terms. this is an un-
forgettable "Othello," brilliant
ly visualized and tumultuouSly
scored by Aram Khachaturian.
Moreover, it effectively captures
the affinity between Shake
speare and the Russians which
has survived Lenin, Stain and
Khrushchev.
A rare survival. this.
.- y q ...
Sergei Yutkevich. who adap-
ted and directed the Apex Aim.
keeps it nsrratively lean as
well as usually opulent.
With tactful fidelity to socia-
list realism. he presents it as
the story of a noble, simple,
vulnerable Moor trapped in a
cruel and cunning white society.
This heroic black man is played
by S. Bondarchuk as a hand
some, passionate figure reduced
. to murder and suicide by the
taydry guile of his moral in
feriorS.
These are supremely summed
up in A. Popov's portrait of
1ago. an eye-rolling, lip-curling
villain who buzzes Othello with
the persistence of an offended
yellow jacket. Writer-Director
Yutkevich is no film maker to
waste time on the multitude of
lesser characters in Shake
speare'S tragedy.
Nevertheless. for all his tight
focus on the villain-hero rela-
tionship of the play, he must
pay attention to a few others.
Among Russia's plentiful
supply of actresses. he has
found I. Skobtseva to play a
shining, girlshly innocent,
peach-tinted Desdemona, as
fair and faithful a maid as
was ever done in by an in
sanely jealous husband. OF
the others who stalk the palace
fortress architecture of
"Othello," the attention. goes
mainly to the handsome Cassie
and the duped, loyal Emilia.
Each Is played by a performer
seen in none of the other six
Russian films.
And played at that intense
pitch which Mr.. Yutkevich
chooses to make "Othello" a
pageant of undiluted passion.
WANT A SENATE SEAT?:
Senate seats will be UP for
grabs here Monday, but not the
ones for which political pros
are competing so earnestly
across the face of the land.
These seats are untitled ones
on the stage of the National
theater during the run of "Ad-.
wise and Consent" which opens
there next Thursday night. |
There are five openings in this
instance and they will be filled
by National Manager Scott
Kirkpatrick at noon additions
on Monday. /
The group which will con-
stitute Kirkpatrick bloc will
be paid 81 a performance as
well as having ringside seats.
They will be required to say
nothing which may strike some
WashingtonianS as a fine idea.
+ \ =
SATURDAY SUMMARY: It