Trust thy self!

O (2001)

Before I start out... yes, its an Othello adaptation. Yes, all the characters are very strong (of course, the story is. C'mon Shakespeare isn't Shakespeare for nothing!) and yes, Desmodenia is hot.

Since the obvious is out of the way, I love how the motif is changed in this movie. Its a basketball team whose coach is Hugo ie. Iago's dad. The coach always favours O who is the star "playa" and the MVP (and nigga, might I add...get the racial connection?) O is dating Desi (Julia Stiles) and his main man is Mike (Cassio) Now we all know how Hugo (Josh Hartnett) uses Desi & Mike to mess with the mind of O. The usual conflict of race, trust, brotherhood and lust that ensues is what the movie is all about.

Josh Hartnett gives a gripping performance but no actor outshines the truly immaculate, flawless, filled with conflict storyline of this movie. If Deewar is considered the baap of Bollywood scripts, Othello is the God of english literature.

If God were to reside in the mind of men, I wouldn't say that a different God lived in Othello than that of Iago. Iago was always a part of Othello. He listened to him because he wanted to listen to him. He only believed what he wanted to. No doubt he loved Desmodenia, but he ended up killing her not because he was provoked or blinded by deceit of other men, it was because he wanted to kill her. Somewhere, deep down inside, he knew she was too perfect to be true. And so to not let this perfection dissolve, he had to destroy it. Desmodenia and himself. Iago just laid out the path for Othello...

Rate - 3.5 / 5

Trivia - Which actor features in this movie as well as the 1995 Lawrence Fishbourne's Othello? Martin Sheen