How were the two Othello films different, which was more effective in portraying characters and themes?

The two film depictions of Shakespeare's play Othello present us with another dimension of the text. Of the two however, the newer 1995 version by Oliver parker is a much better interpretation of the original text. Even though a little over half of the original text has been cut out it is still a better depiction of the text over the 1952 version by Orson Welles. The plot also remains easier to follow as the events are kept in original chronological order to the play unlike the Welles version. Neither of the films however present a perfect original depiction of the play and are both instead adaptations of the text inspired by the directors who put emphasis on certain themes and events in the text coinciding with their beliefs and understandings of the play.

The two films were dissimilar in many ways, firstly, the Parker version was in colour, making the text easier to present rather than the Welles version, which was produced in black and white.

From the Library of Congress: TITLE: Thos. W. Keen...

Orson Welles, March 1, 1937

Screenshot of Orson Welles from the trailer for th...

The characters chosen for he Parker version were much better suited to their roles as opposed to the older Welles version which coinciding with the lack of colour in the movie made it difficult to enhance the characters appearance and even ascertain the colour of their skin! These differences, although only simple made the film harder to understand and therefore added to the newer films appeal.

There were issues during the making of the 1952 film in regards to funding, these complications during the production could be noticed throughout the film and lessened the overall result and appearance. Sets and special effects were sacrificed due to the issue and shadows were often uses in the place of sets. To help save costs dialogue, music and sound effects were added after the movie...