Filming Othello, perhaps one of Orson Welles best films, which is no small talk was probably the most insane time of all his film career, which is also quite significant due to the long and arduous process.
This was a production funded by Scalera Film Studios, who at the time, during the first years of the fifties of the twentieth century was the most important studios inItaly, where they made the best films of the entire European continent. Exemplary for many reasons, -among them the amazing ability of Welles to alter Shakespeare text omitting an important part of the comical scenes of the play- (“It was a high quality comedy but there was no room for it in the film that I wanted to do … Why should a film get less respect than a play in an opera? “), where the keynote addressed regarding the text was admirably adjusted to media that was then available. From the first time the idea that Welles and the artistic director of the film, Alexandre Taurner, had, was that the costumes of the characters were to based on the pictures by the Venetian painter Vittorio Carpaccio (1460-1525/6), however, upon arrival at Mogador, the city on the Atlantic coast of Morocco where the film would be shot, Welles received a telegram saying that the costumes were not ready and would not arrive on time. And a day after announcing that, some more bay news was awaiting: Scalera was bankrupt.
As they already had the cast, gear, film and cameras, Welles decided to shoot two rolls of film, until he used up all of his own money in a Turkish bath scene (where people do not have to wear clothes) The scenes shot there are still one of the most memorable parts of the film, it would take almost two years to complete them, depending on the money coming in and the dates on which the actors were available, and which was shot in nine different locations in Italy and Morocco, starting the myth that Welles took eternity to shoot his films.
Morocco was then almost exclusively, since Louis Lumiere filmed there in 1897, an ideal place for filmmakers, both due to the cheap costs and the spectacular beauty of its landscapes-
about the radical changes undergone with regard to the North African country’s relationship with the world of film, this event is a testimony of the vitality of the International Film Festival of Marrakech (http://www.festivalmarrakech.info/) in its eleventh edition, chaired by Emir Kusturica (features section) and Sigourney Weaver from the 2nd to the 10th of December.
This is an interesting and increasingly prestigious event that this year will pay tribute to Mexican cinema, presenting both films of its greatest filmmakers and movies of a new generation of cinematographers recognized by the diversity of their proposals
Paul Oilzum
If you rent one of the apartments in Marrakech around the festival time, do not miss it. It’s a great opportunity to see great films from around the world and see in how Morocco is now a much more suitable set for foreign productions
Translated by: Marc
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