filming othello - script.odt

8/14/2019 Filming Othello - script.odt

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Filming Othello

A Complete transcription of Welles' last finished film: Filming Othelloand an interview with cinematographerGary Graver by Lawrence French.

All material courtesy of Lawrence French.

FL!"G #$%&LL#A film by

#(#" W&LL&(

With#rson Welles

%ilton &dwards!ichaeal !acLiammoir

Written and )irected by #rson Welles*roduced by +laus %ellwig and ,uergen %ellwig*hotographed -in /mm color0 by Gary Graver

&dited by !arty oth!usic by Angelo Lavagnino and Alberto 1arbaris*remiered ,une2 345 at the 1erlin Film Festival

36 minutes

With F F# FA+&2 thought had discovered a new 7ind of movie2 and it was the 7ind of movie wanted tospend the rest of my life doing. $he failure of F F# FA+&2 in America and also in &ngland2 was one of the bigshoc7s of my life. really thought was onto something. As a form2 -F F# FA+&0 is a personal essay film2 as

opposed to a documentary. t's 8uite different99 it's not a documentary at all.99#rson Welles to Leslie !egahey2 356

ntroduction


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1y Lawrence French

FL!"G #$%&LL# was #rson Welles last completed film2 and regrettably it never received any formaldistribution in America. t was a proect proposed to Welles by a West German $elevision station2 although fouryears elapsed from the time Welles began wor7 on the proect in 34;2 and the film's premiere in 345. tseems probable that after Welles received the initial inspiration -from the German producers0 to ma7e the film2he decided to ma7e it as a personal essay film. (ince Welles would continually come up with new ideas while

he was shooting2 that meant he would do it at his own pace2 and -li7e most of his later proects02 with his ownmoney.

n this regard2 FL!"G #$%&LL# strangely mirrors the wor7ing methods that Welles was forced to employ on#$%&LL# itself2 although it was obviously not 8uite as chaotic as #$%&LL#. ndeed2 FL!"G #$%&LL#

was a much more leisurely underta7ing. Welles would simply shoot whenever he felt li7e it2 usually in theevenings at his home in %ollywood2 and he allowed long lapses to occur while he was busy with moreimportant proects2 such as $%& #$%& ()& #F $%& W").

Although FL!"G #$%&LL# is a valuable document on the ma7ing of #$%&LL#2 it is also a very minor

Welles film2 since it consists almost entirely of a long monologue by Welles2 as he eenice as he points out the different sites where #$%&LL# wasoriginally shot. A brief glimpse of this beautiful footage can be seen in Gary Graver's documentary2 W#+"GW$% #(#" W&LL&( -available on Laserdisc0. $hese planned se8uences would clearly have made a worldof difference to the static nature of the film as it now stands2 but all that footage was somehow lost2 after it wasplaced in the custody of a (panish producer.

1ecause of the very speciali?ed nature of FL!"G #$%&LL#2 any hopes of a theatrical release -outside offilm festivals02 was virtually none


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his own favorite films2 $%& $AL. After a screening of $%& $AL at the =niversity of (outhern California2Gary Graver shot a 8uestion and answer session between Welles and the students there. =nfortunately2 that

was as far as wor7 on FL!"G $%& $AL ever progressed.

$oward the end of his life Welles planned many other essay films2 including one on (pain and the (panishvirtues2 and the ma7ing of )#" D=E#$&. "o doubt Welles would have also li7ed to do an essay film on $'(

ALL $=&2 his aborted (outh American documentary. n fact2 shortly before Welles death in 352 thesurviving footage of $'( ALL $=& was discovered in a vault at *aramount. Although this footage was finallyassembled and released in 332 it's fascinating to imagine what Welles might have done with his original $'(ALL $=& material2 forty years after he shot it.

$he following is a transcript of Welles remar7s ta7en from the soundtrac7 of FL!"G #$%&LL#. (ince thefilm essentially ta7es the form of a lecture2 having the te


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$his is to be a conversation2 certainly not anything so formal as a lecture2 and what we're going to tal7 about is#$%&LL#. (ha7espeare's play and the film made of it. $hat sounds rather arrogant doesn't it2 ust namingthe two in the same sentence. $he truth is2 of course that by any real standard of worth2 comparison is notmerely impossible2 it's absurd. $he play is something more than a masterpiece. t stands through the centuriesas a great monument to western civili?ation. $a7e an arbitrary figure: $welve. "ame twelve plays which couldbe called great. #$%&LL# must be one of those twelve. #f that twelve2 at least nine -which is another arbitrary

figure0 are by (ha7espeare. $hat leaves three on our list for all the other writers who ever lived. s that puttingit too stronglyI #r is it too highI @ou can't go higher than that2 and (ha7espeare remains immortally numberone. Among all dramatists the first. $he greatest poet2 in terms of sheer accomplishment2 very possibly ourgreatest man. (o where does that leave a mere moviema7erI "owhere. "owhere at all2 unless we leave outall comparisons and consider that my #$%&LL#2 based upon2 adapted from and inspired by William(ha7espeare's tragedy has some little right to be considered on whatever merit it may presume to have as amovie. And yet2 if merits there be2 this is not at all a conversation2 nor am the conversationalist to treat it.)on't imagine for a moment that 'm pretending to be modest2 it's ust my fi


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dollars. want to sell it to America.B %e did2 ,ose Ferrer played it and got the Academy Award2 and that's theend of that story. t was supposed to be commercial2 and it wasn't2 it was supposed to ma7e me rich2 and itdidn't. t was the result of a letdown. %ere's an irony. 've been tal7ing 8uite a bit2 too much perhaps2 aboutmyself as an actor. t's because as you've seen2 it was primarily as an actor rather than as a filmma7er that came to do #$%&LL# in the first place. 1ut2 if the movie is still being seen2 if indeed it is still worth tal7ingabout at all2 it's not2 must admit primarily because of what contributed to it as an actor. was reading a boo7

on the subect of my #$%&LL#2 in preparing for this conversation and it 8uoted &ric 1entley2 who said2 B don'tact2 'm ust photographed.B $hose are the 7inds of things you never forget. (o maybe was ust beingphotographed in #$%&LL#. Which means it's high time for a word or two about #$%&LL# as a film. won'tventure into the territory of the critics2 promised wasn't going too2 but staying safely on my own side of thefence2 what can offer is a hint or two of what was thin7ing of in terms of cinematic style and substance2 orless pompously2 what 7ind of film it was that set out to ma7e. What was thematic2 what was planned and what

was accidental.

n -Laurence0 #livier's #$%&LL#2 which was a cinematic record of his stage production2 Bthe core is theshoc7ing spectacle of a man who reverts to savagery2 -and is0 eaten up by ealousy2 until he murders the

woman he loves. !y film2 by contrast2 tries to depict a whole world in collapse. A world that is a metaphor not

ust for #thello's mind2 but for an epic2 pre9modern age.B %ere2 'm 8uoting2 or mis98uoting2 to not very goodeffect2 the critic2 ,ac7 ,. ,orgens who wrote a boo7 on (ha7espeare and the Film. 'm very grateful to him2 for

what he said. 'm going to leave out the good things2 and the bad ones. $here's also some other 8uotes 'llrefer too2 because it does sum up the intention behind the film. B$he visual style of the film mirrors themarriage at the center of the play99not of #thello and )esdemona2 but the perverse marriage of #thello andago. *art of the cinematic language is born of #thello's romantic2 -and here we come to that word0 heroicnature2 which we embody2 - attempted too2 and here it says did0 by vast spaces2 monumental buildings2 thes7y2 sea and roc7s. $he brute fortress. $hese walls2 these vaults and corridors echo2 reflect and multiply2 li7eso many mirrors2 the elo8uence of (ha7espeare's tragedy'J -at least that's the intention0. J Duoted from Andre1a?in's review of #$%&LL#.

B$he grandeur and simplicity are the !oor's. $he di??ying camera movements2 the tortured compositions2 thegrotes8ue shadows and insane distortions2 they're of ago2 for he is the agent of chaos. n (ha7espeare'sverbal terms2 ago's masterpiece is to reduce #thello's lyricism to bursts of confused logic2 shattered syntaenice is embodied in rich harmonious architecture2 placid canals2 and in the

symmetrical altar at which #thello and )esdemona are married. n Cyprus2 at the frontier of the civili?ed world2the restraints of >enice are lifted. Art2 luenetian Christianityis overpowered by paganism. Christian images appear but are put to perverse use. #thello's 7illing ofdesdemona is a dar7 ritual recalling the wedding in >enice2 but now he puts out the candles at the altar. $hesounds in Cyprus99wind2 shouts2 echoing footsteps2 slamming doors99they become surreally loud. !ovingshadows distort the human figure...characters are separated by tremendous distances2 and yet there is anincreasing feeling of confinement. Ceilings bear down2 walls become overpowering2 the world seems to beclosing in.B Bn the play2 one of ago's favorite images is that of the net2 the snare2 the web2 ma7ing him afisherman2 a hunter2 a spider. OWith as little a web as this2 will ensnare as great a fly as Cassio2 ' he says. #urcamera holds that image before your eyes and plays variations on it. We see it through the grate which

)esdemona passes to escape her father2 the net that holds her hair in Cyprus2 the ships ' rigging2 the rac7 ofspears in the fortress2 and the windows and doors of #thello's bedroom. n the end ago is caught in his ownmeshH always hovering above him is the iron cage where the sun will scorch him and the gulls will pec7 at his


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flesh.B

Again2 my than7s to ,ac7 ,. ,orgens and to Andre 1a?in whom 8uoted in the midst of all that2 or mis98uotedagain. "ow having laid all that heavy stuff2 here thin7 'd better eictorine studios in "ice. $his was the choice of the art

director2 my dear friend Aleincent +orda2 Georges Wa7hevitch2 and $rauner is at the very least their peer. Well wehad ust finished wor7ing together for several long months preparing that C@A"# )e 1&G&AC forAleeneto and1y?antine2 and for our movie much more right than anything real which might still be standing in this century. say he painted it2 because that's what he did. "one of the usual architectural renderings. "o mere color

s7etches. $rauner painted2 he made pictures. *icasso2 who is not fre8uently an enthusiast for the wor7 oflesser mortals2 spo7e very highly of those paintings. heard him.

was very happy and pleased about shooting in the south of France and this was not to have been only for theCypriot part of the story2 but for >enice too2 and you'll see why. f for three9fourths of our film we were to inhabitan invented world rather than a series of real locations2 than our version of reality would have been merelymoc7ed by those famous and familiar old stones of >enice. $here could be no stylistic integrity unless >enicetoo2 would be a >enice by $rauner. A city totally undeveloped by the tourist industry. (o what happened to allthatI $he answer is !ontatori (calera is what happened2 or rather what didn't. emember him2 saying B1iamafare #$&LL#B Well the arrangements for financing #$%&LL# were a co9production between taly and France2but even before the first nail was driven in the construction of $rauner's >enice2 word was rushed to us that theFrench part of (calera's production had somehow collapsed. $here was no more co to the produciona. We

were now talian2 66P. We would be several other things too2 before all this was over. $ime and chance andmany2 many other verisimilitudes would ta7e us over half of taly2 to &ngland for the mi


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!orocco then was a flag of convenience2 li7e Liberia for a ship owner. #$%&LL# was the first and last filmentered into the Cannes film festival that had no national delegation. $here was ust me and those film cans."ow2 here is how found out we had won the grand pri?e2 a little sooner than one is supposed to find out.#fficially that news is bro7en the way it is with #scars2 only when the winner is publicly named. 1ut severalhours before the big event2 when was up in my room besides myself sweating it out2 waiting alone2 therecame to me somewhat breathlessly the big boss of the festival himself. %e loo7ed distracted. %e wasn't there

to give out any information2 but to get it. B!y God2B he said. B don't 7now who else to turn to. Can you tell mewhat is the !oorish national anthemIB $hat's how learned that #$%&LL# was the winner. didn't 7now the!oroccan national anthem more than anyone else2 so the band played something vaguely oriental from one ofthe French operettas.

Losing as we did2 more than one nationality and forced as we were to adapt ourselves to a whole series ofsudden alterations and violent retreats2 all sober planning had to be scuttled and the ma7ing of the film99

whenever there was money enough to continue99 was pure improvisation. $rauner's beautiful paintings had tobe abandoned right at the beginning2 and by the end he made me a couple of walls and three pieces offurniture. We were never able to afford to build anything2 so nothing was designed2 everything had to be found2hence all that globe9trotting. ago steps from the portico of a church in $orcello2 an island in the >enetian

lagoon2 into a *ortuguese cistern off the coast of Africa. %e's across the world and moved between twocontinents in the middle of a single spo7en phrase. $hat happened all the time. A $uscan stairway and a!oorish battlement are both parts of2 what in the film2 is a single room. oderigo 7ic7s Cassio in !assaga andgets punched bac7 in #rgete2 a thousand miles away. *ieces were separated not ust by plane trips2 but bybrea7s in time. "othing was in continuity. had no script girl. $here was no way for the igsaw picture to be puttogether2 e


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come. Why didn't they comeI $hey didn't come because as it turned out2 !ontatori (calera was bro7eK !r. 1igof the talian movie industry had gone ban7rupt while we were in a plane on our way from *aris to !ogador.We found that after awhile2 and we had no costumes. We had a lot of actors2 we had an enormous crew2 andobviously the thing to do was somehow to ma7e the movie. Well2 had a little money2 could 7eep us going fora wee7 or two2 and in the meantime some people scuttled around &urope loo7ing for ways to sell portions ofthe movie to Cyprus or >enice2 or more li7ely ,apan or $ur7ey or something2 and get a few thousand dollars

advanced. While that 7ind of frantic operation was going on2 hoping to get more money2 hoping to be able toput money in our purse2 and to be able to continue the movie.

While we were sitting there in !ogador2 the idea came to us2 thatmaybe we could ma7e our costumes2 which had never beenmade in ome2 or if they had2 were being held by the (heriff. Wecould ma7e our costumes by using the local ,ewish tailors2 of

which there were several. $here was a big ,ewish 8uarter in!ogador2 and they lived very happily with the Arabs in thosehappy by9gone days. (o the ,ewish taylors were hired andpictures of Carpaccio gentlemen and ladies were shown to them2

and pretty soon the costumes slowly began to be made2 but theywouldn't be ready for ten days. (o what could we shootI Well2there was the big scene of the murder of oderigo. And what canyou shoot in a costume movie without costumesI $here's onlyone place you could possibly be99 that is2 if you have a lot of people. f there's ust two people2 there's anobvious solution. 1ut when there's a crowd of people2 there's only one possible place where people could benude2 and that's a $ur7ish bath. (o we invented the $ur7ish bath. $here's no reason why not. $here were$ur7ish baths then2 rather more then there are now. All we had to do was put towels around the heads of ourcharacters and photograph them from the waist up. We borrowed a lot of incense from the local cathedral2filled up the $ur7ish bath with steam2 and the $ur7ish bath itself wasn't a $ur7ish bath2 it was a fish mar7et. (oto the sound of puffing incense and to the smell of decaying fish2 we made that very involved and adventurousse8uence of the murder of oderigo -it's more than a reel and a half0. After that the costumes began to getready and we had a big Army of people gathered all in armor. @ou can't see because of the way it'sphotographed2 but all the armor is made out of sardine cans. $he banners were homemade2 too. &verything

was homemade. Anyway2 we got going2 but after a little while the money we had saved and were able to raiseran out2 and we had to stop2 and then run to another part of the world and ma7e some more -money0. (o it

went. $he history of it all is very divertingly to be found in !icheal !acLiammoir's boo72 he's ago in the movie.%is boo7 has been reprinted2 and commend it to you.

"ow2 have some footage here2 not from #$%&LL#2 but about it. A few e


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perhaps2 who could be called great. #f these2 %ilton &dwards was easily the first2 and certainly the best ofteachers. God only 7nows2 that as7ing him to play 1rabantio in the picture was a feeble enough indication ofmy gratitude. %ilton was also a distinguished actor2 and 1rabantio is a undistinguished part. $he truth is that hecame along with !icheal to 7eep us all company2 and help out with the crowd scenes. %e 7ept a sharpdirectors eye on ust about everything2 and after the days wor7 was over2 we'd hash it all out together2 burningthe night away with tal7. %ere years later2 it's more of the same. (ome ;/ years ago2 when first oined his

theater2 !icheal !acLiammoir was playing his first %A!L&$. 1y general consensus one of the finest in livingmemory2 surely the best 've ever seen. %e's played it often since2 once produced him in America2 and he'splayed ago since he did it in my film2 and he played it very differently. %e's also played #thello2 and that often2and that differently2 with %ilton &dwards as his ago and as director. mention these things2 so you willappreciate how well our two luncheon guests are e8uipped for this discussion.

%L$#" &)WA)(: have afeeling that in #$%&LL#2 it was the8uestion of the blac7 man2 and the

white woman. Although we 7nowthat the !oors were really Arabs...

#(#" W&LL&(: @es2 but theywere blac7amoors.

%L$#" &)WA)(: $o my mind2 itwas a blac7 man in (ha7espeare'smind2 and the white woman...

#(#" W&LL&(: )oes(ha7espeare give us the ordinary

ealous husbandI "o2 he gives usan e


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%L$#" &)WA)(: %e has a natural love of evil2 a pleasure in it. We have #thello being made ealous ofCassio. "ow who is he made ealous byI %e's being made ealous2 by a ealous man. ago who is ealous of#thello2 being in a superior position to him2 and being a blac7 man2 where he's a white >enetian. %e's also

ealous of Cassio. $here's no 8uestion about that. Cassio is given the superior position2 and in Cyprus he seesto it that Cassio is stripped of his Lieutenancy. $o me the great thing is ealousy2 ealousy2 ealousy.

#(#" W&LL&(: %ow does that apply to 1rabantio2 the part you played.

%L$#" &)WA)(: thin7 1rabantio is ealous of anybody who should be loved by his daughter more thanhe. get the impression of a whole community which is poisoned by a bee sting of ealousy2 in varyingdegrees2 to everyone of them. $his is why would say2 the main theme of #$%&LL# is ealousy2 whichmotivates all the action2 throughout the play.

!C%&AL !ACLA!!#: ago is the mystery of that play2 but you 7now many people say2 Oago2 haven'tmet him'. $hree times in my life 've met him.

#(#" W&LL&(: @our luc7y if you've only met him twice. #ne real life ago is enough in any one life. We'veall met several of them. guess we are all agreed that this noble play2 this noble tragedy is essentiallyconcerned with the most ignoble of all passions. sn't that what ealousy isI

!C%&AL !ACLA!!#: $he most humiliating2 the most agoni?ing and the most piteous -of passions0. thin7 it's self9pity2 it's a disease.

#(#" W&LL&(: )o you really thin7 that in this permissive age we're going to do away with ealousyI don'tthin7 so. Why do we laugh at ealousyI

%L$#" &)WA)(: @ou do2 don't.

#(#" W&LL&(: don't either2 but people do.

%L$#" &)WA)(: Ah2 but who are peopleI -laughter0.

#(#" W&LL&(: $hose are harsh words2 sir. $han7 God for fun.

%L$#" &)WA)(: -Actors0 don't thin7 as -people0 do2 or we wouldn't be up on the stage2 painting our facespretending we were somebody else. t's the longing to be somebody else2 that drives us up on the stage. @oudon't laugh at ealousyI

#(#" W&LL&(: don't even laugh at seasic7ness.

%L$#" &)WA)(: ,ealousy in my mind2 is not a comic reaction2 it's a tragic one.

#(#" W&LL&(: And it's never been treated as a tragic subect in dramatic literature. would say the reasonfor that2 is because all the literature we 7now about2 has been written under patriarchal male dominatedsociety2 for males2 in which the final decision in all matters belongs to the male. What can it matter2 theproblems of a woman2 if she is ealous or not...

%L$#" &)WA)(: $herefore2 feel sympathetic with the public attitude of laughing at the trouble.

#(#" W&LL&(: 1ecause the public is partly female2 and the public sees the essential comedy in thesituation of ealousy.

%L$#" &)WA)(: 1ecause of other femalesI

#(#" W&LL&(: @es2 because women when they are ealous2 -and we ust as7ed one now2 between ta7es02say2 Oyes2 would be ealous2 but would translate it immediately into hate'. #thello is a perfect male type2 he7ills )esdemona adoring her. "ow isn't that male. sn't that enormously masculine2 to murder this girl2 adoringher. "o woman would do that. (he would forgive the man2 or forget his crime2 or 7ill him2 but she would never7ill him loving him. $hat is the hypocrisy2 the poetry2 and the absurdity of the male condition.

!C%&AL !ACLA!!#: ,ean Cocteau said2 Owhereas a blind man is a tragic figure2 on the stage2 the deafman is a comic one.' 1ut you meet a blind man2 and meet a deaf man2 and the deaf man is much more tragicin real life.


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#(#" W&LL&(: #f course he is.

!C%&AL !ACLA!!#: %e's cut away entirely2 he can see everybody2 but he can't communicate.

#(#" W&LL&(: t proves the point very well. t shows that the point of absurdity2 which is the differencebetween comedy and tragedy2 and the 8uestion of ealousy2 between the woman's and the man's attitude2 is initself2 without any logic2 whatever. As long as the woman is any form of slave2 her role in drama is always

going to be very limited. 'm not spea7ing about whether she should have it or not.%L$#" &)WA)(: (he has all the best parts2 in plays about lovers. t is the women's part. $here is nothingmore fascinating to play2 or gets more sympathy from the audience2 because the man is responsible for thepleasure in physical lovema7ing. (he is not. $hat's #thello's own view99 what made him ealous of)esdemona. %e was poisoned by ago2 but he had an overwhelming passion for the beauty and purity of thisgirl. %e denies the fact that he's going to be made ealous by these little gossips2 the poison that ago isdropping.

#(#" W&LL&(: %aven't you put your finger on the whole thingI We're dealing with a puritan. #ver and overagain2 #thello spea7s of her virtue. "ot that she's fair2 but it's her virtue. $hat's very much a puritanpreoccupation. (ha7espeare understood that preoccupation2 he was anything but one2 but he understood

them2 after all they're the people who eventually closed his theater. $he puritan strain runs through the &nglishcharacter from the early days2 and that 7ind of &nglishness is in the !oor's character. $hat preoccupation withpurity2 as an abstract idea.

%L$#" &)WA)(: Another thing he can't give her2 is what the 3th century theater always forgot. n her2)esdemona99 who is one of the most interesting characters in the whole wonderful2 terrible play99 is that she isnot the little pious2 obedient girl as she is conceived of in the 3th century. "ot at all2 she is anything but. (he'sa >enetian girl2 who would wal7 out with a negro2 and marry him.

#(#" W&LL&(: Certainly )esdemona is no cringing blonde. (he's not a born loser2 and if she dies a loser2it's no fault of hers. What about another nuance2 and perhaps something else entirely2 close to ealousy2 butdifferent. What about envyI What ago feels towards #thello is envy of his position. (o envy is whatI

(omething you wish you could have2 and ealousy is something you fear you are losing.

%L$#" &)WA)(: thin7 heard you e


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never one.

#(#" W&LL&(: #h2 that's very nice.

!C%&AL !ACLA!!#: "ever one single one2 e


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(o there really isn't any reason2 to spea7 of #thello2 as some critics do2 as childishly gullible. "o2 )esdemona2for #thello is the bride in a romance. A dream who he has scarcely had time to discover is flesh and blood2before ago has poisoned2 and begun to wor7 to turn his dream into a nightmare.ago is a trusted officer in #thello's army2 a companion under arms. #thello the soldier is monumentally male.%is story is monumentally a male tragedy. (mall wonder that the doubt falls where it usually does in life. "oton the slanderer2 but on the innocent obect of the slander. $here is certainly a simplicity about #thello2 but in

trusting ago2 he does no more than anyone else in the story. $hey all trust him2 as we have seen. "o2 thecommander of the armed forces of the great >enetian epublicis no stupid child. %e is no >enetiansophisticate2 either. thin7 he must feel something close to awe2 in his love of )esdemona2 the (enator'sdaughter2 who fled from the palace in the dead of night2 to marry a blac7 man. 1lac7 #thello2 the outsider2 themercenary2 the foreigner2 and the older man2 must feel a certain insecurity when he contemplates this curiouscon8uest of his. %e had married her2 as if by a miracle2 but can he 7eep herI !ight she not turn away fromhim2 as suddenly as she ran away with himI Last winter they invited me to 1oston2 for a special showing of thefilm #$%&LL#2 and the audience stayed on after the screening.

-Welles runs the 8uestion and answer session on his movieola0

W&LL&(: A movie has to have a great opening. t must command attention. $he opening of #$%&LL# iswritten for an audience that is ust getting 8uiet. Li7e all openings in a play2 because you don't want to everopen a play at the top of your bent. 1ut a movie should open at the top of it's bent2 it must2 because this damnthing -points to the screen0 is dead. $he only living thing are the people sitting out here. t's a proected image2and you cannot bring the thing alive unless you sei?e the people at the beginning. $he riderless horse has tocome in. $he funeral of #thello and the lynching of ago2 is the riderless horse. t's as simple as that.

D: Why did you ma7e oderigo's dog a terrierI $he reason as7 is because the terrier is a symbol of maritalfidelity.

W&LL&(: $his is the 7ind of 8uestion love2 because if had 7nown about the 8uestion before2 would havebeen able to pretend that indeed used a terrier as a graphic symbol of marital infidelity. #h2 fidelity. $hat's ust

what said. 1ut since didn't have notice of this 8uestion2 haven't got time to con you. 'll have to tell you thetruth. $he terrier was not a terrier. t was a tenerife2 which is a very rare 7ind of dog2 it is a lapdog used by thedandies in all the Carpaccio paintings2 and Carpaccio was the source of the costumes and the general estheticof the movie.

D: n Laurence #livier's production of #$%&LL#2 he seemed to stress the vanity of the man2 much more thanin your production. Would you comment on thatI

W&LL&(: @ou see2 the themes of #$%&LL# were set down first by (ha7espeare2 and of course there's adifference in every #$%&LL#2 depending on who ma7es the film2 or theatrical production. $here are so many

ways of doing it2 there isn't one right way of doing it. f could ma7e #$%&LL# again99 first of all have done itin the theater since then2 and did it completely differently2 both as an actor and a director. We too7 an entirely

new line on everything2 because that's the great opportunity that you have. $he minute you have a great pieceof material2 li7e a (ha7espearean play2 or any other thing of that 7ind2 you are free to ma7e almost anythingyou want with it. @ou can go in so many directions and still be true to the essential ob.

D: $he role of ago seemed somewhat straightforward2 largely motivated by envy2 while in some of your othermovies2 li7e $%& LA)@ F#! (%A"G%A2 the motive of Arthur 1annister -&verett (loane0 seems much moreobscure.

W&LL&(: "obody ever wor7s in a big organi?ation2 whether it's military2 or business2 or theatrical or anythingelse2 without running into a few ago's. "ow2 there are all 7inds of ways of doing it. When #livier did ago withalph ichardson2 years ago2 they did it as a homose


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!AC1&$% into a movie.

W&LL&(: %ow do you 7now thatI

D: 1ecause taught a course on your films a few years ago. Why didn't you repeat the effort of trying to ma7ea film 8uic7ly2 tac7ling2 as you said2 difficult proects in a short amount of timeI

W&LL&(: $he point is that !AC1&$% was made in a very short time. t was only 3 days in principal

photography2 with two days more for inserts and things li7e that. t was a real 8uic7ie. $he basic set had thesame plan which had used in the blac7 !AC1&$%2 which had done in %arlem2 in the theater2 some yearsbefore. t wasn't the same set2 but it had the same basic plan2 because we were in a great rush. $he reason didn't repeat it2 was because was gambling on !AC1&$% being a great success2 but at the time theAmerican critical press was very bad for !AC1&$%. $he &uropean press was very good.

D: When you've got the film shot2 and your putting the film together2 what is the 8uestion that is going throughyour mindI What ma7es you select one scene over anotherI

W&LL&(: have done a great deal of that editing2 while am filming. visuali?e the editing2 while am filming.When change that idea2 it is a deliberate change. t is a difference that is bigger than 'd li7e to admit2 and doadmit it2 because actors teach you so much. $he scenery2 the smell of a thing2 when you come on a set in the

morning2 whether it's #$%&LL#2 or a modern story. f you have a master plan for what your going to do2e


15/17

ban7ruptcy2 stranded our whole company in a small town off the coast of Africa. With a little money of my own2all had and absolutely no costumes whatsoever2 we improvised our way for awhile2 then stopped for awhileand had to go to wor7 as an actor in other films2 in order to earn enough to continue with my own. $hat wenton and on2 and repeated itself several times2 and it meant that #$%&LL# was made so to spea72 on theinstallment plan. $his and other circumstances did impose a method and style of shooting2 which was contraryto what had been carefully planned. For a description of the finished result2 brought you those critical

appreciations2 that correspond fairly closely to my own ideas. (ome thoughts on the interpretation have comefrom a couple of the leading actors2 with some additions of my own. All udgments having been avoided2 leave you with this confession. $his hasn't been as easy as might have wished. $heir are too many regrets2there are too many things wish could have done over again. f it wasn't a memory2 if it was a proect for thefuture2 tal7ing about #$%&LL# would have been nothing but delight. After all2 promises are more fun thane&: @es2 it was all scripted. #rson wrote it all. We started in 34; with %ilton and !icheal in*aris2 and then we did some wor7 on $%& #$%& ()& #F $%& W") and came bac7 to FL!"G#$%&LL# in 34/. t was finished in 344. We shot every night that #rson felt li7e it2 but #rson was verysuperstitious of things2 li7e blac7 cats2 or wal7ing under ladders. Well2 we shot FL!"G #$%&LL# in a house had rented for him2 right down the street from where (haron $ate was murdered. #rson li7ed the house2 buthe never 7new it was right ne&: @es2 and while we were in *aris shooting the footage of !icheal and %ilton2 said to #rson2Bwhile we're here2 let's get the reverse shots on you.B %e said2 B#h no2 we'll get those later.B %e didn't want todo it then. %e would often do that. %e would say2 Blet's get the body of the wor7 done. 'm always around2 we'llget me later.B $hen2 in the interim2 +oda7 came out with some new film stoc7s and when we shot #rson itdidn't 8uite match the earlier footage2 because it was two years later. $he color is different and the loo7 is alittle different. t's ust li7e the way #$%&LL# was shot. A guy's tal7ing in *aris2 and two years later #rson is

answering him bac7 in 1everly %ills. #rson's theory was that once he edited the initial footage2 he might comeup with some new ideas he'd want to use.

LAW&"C& F&"C%: FL!"G #$%&LL# seems rather static for a Welles movie. Were there any scenes


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you couldn't shootI

GA@ GA>&: We did a lot of stuff that's not in the film. #rson made up storyboards2 and we went to manydifferent places. went to )ublin2 to !ichael and %ilton's house and filmed them there2 as well as to the Gate$heater2 where #rson made his professional acting debut. We went to >enice2 and got up at in the morning2

when the sun was ust coming out2 and did about an hours worth of footage of #rson in his blac7 cape andcigar2 riding through the canals of >enice2 pointing out the different locations where #$%&LL# was all shot.

$he negative of that footage somehow disappeared2 so none of it could be used in the final film.

Production Designer ALEANDER TRA!NER on FILMING OTHELLOQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQ

had several other proects with #rson Welles during this period2 such as The OdysseyandA Thousand andOne Nights. $he only one of them to be carried out to fruition was Othello2 which was initially to be done intaly2 using talian landscapes for locations. After that2 we made the decision to turn to the >ictorine studios in"ice and redrew all the designs according to WellesR instructions. Finally2 #rson left for !orocco where he

was to act in a film called $he 1lac7 ose. $here we decided to change direction once again2 since we foundthat !orocco was very appropriate for the section of the film that ta7es place in Cyprus.

What helped us a great dealwas the mienice2B and

was also three minutes shorter2 with slightly different editing. $he original opening credits that had beenspo7en by Welles -over various landscapes of >enice0 were now replaced with printed titles. $his change wasmade at the re8uest of =nited Artists e


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)esdemona2 was completely dubbed by Gudrun =re2 who played )esdemona in Welles' theatricalproductionof Othello2 which was staged in the fall of 3 -under the auspices of Laurence #livier02 at London's (t.,ames $heater2 to help finance the editing of Othello. A slightly different print of the version released by =nitedArtists in 3 was found in a Fort Lee2 "ew ,ersey film vault2 and was used as the basis for the 33 Castle%ill91eatrice Welles BrestorationB that was subse8uently released on video and )>).

"&W($&L&>(#"
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