- Title: USA: FILM PREMIERE OF MOVIE "O" MODERN REMAKE OF SHAKESPEARE' S PLAY "OTHELLO"
- Date: 18th August 2001
- Summary: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (AUGUST 27, 2001) (REUTERS) ***CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY** WIDE OF EXTERIOR OF PREMIERE THEATER SCU MOVIE POSTER SMV DIRECTOR TIM BLAKE NELSON POSING FOR PHOTOGRAPHS SMV MEKHI PHIFER MAKING "O" SIGNAL THEN POSING WITH CO-STAR ANDREW KEEGAN SMV JOSH HARTNETT ARRIVING AND POSING FOR PHOTOS PAN UP TO JULIA STILES POSING VARIOUS, OF JO
- Embargoed: 2nd September 2001 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES AND FILM LOCATIONS
- Country: USA
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVA7W0LAVOH4T19KJ3EG2YYIDWZW
- Story Text: After two years of sitting on the shelf due to its realistic and disturbing portrayal of teen-aged school violence, the modern-day Shakespearean film adaptation "O"
finally celebrated its World Premiere on Monday, August 27 in Los Angeles. Its stars Josh Hartnett, Mekhi Phifer and Julia Stiles attended.
Following in the footsteps of other recent youth-targeted Shakespeare film adaptations like "10 Things I Hate About You" and "Hamlet," "O" takes a contemporary look at the Bard's classic tragedy "Othello." But rather than being set during the Crusades, it takes place at an upper class prep school where the basketball stars are the real rulers.
Relative newcomer Mekhi Phifer stars in the title role of basketball star Odin James, the film's equivalent of the character of Othello. James seems to have it all, the adoration of his classmates, the respect of the team he leads, the love of his girlfriend Desi, played by Julia Stiles, and the Most Valuable Player award, bestowed upon him by Coach Goulding, played by "West Wing" star Martin Sheen.
But all these gifts also engenders the undying jealousy and envy of James' classmate and supposed best friend Hugo, played by "Pearl Harbor" co-star Josh Hartnett. Just as Iago does in the play "Othello," Hugo sets in motion a diabolical and calculated plan to destroy James, ruin his relationship and derail his promising career.
The controversry surrounding the film stems from the fact that, like the play it is based on, "O"in a bloodbath, with its teenaged characters slaughtering one another in grisley fashion. Echoes of real life high school violence, such as the Columbine massacre, resonate throughout the film and, in fact, director Tim Blake Nelson showed his actors videotapes of such incidents to give their characters added realism.
Unfortunately, Nelson was too successful in realistically portraying such violence on screen and, as a result, the company releasing the film decided to delay and, ultimately, cancel its release in order to avoid the appearance of capitalizing on the real life tragedy at Columbine.
Because of this, "O" has sat on the shelf for the past few years, and only now that Lions Gate Films has picked up the film's distribution, will audiences get a chance to judge for themselves if the film is unnecessarily inflammatory or grittily realistic. Nelson and his cast unanimously agree they hope the movie provokes discussion and causes parents to re-examine the way they relate to their high school-aged children.
"O" opens in theaters throughout the United States on Friday, August 31.
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