The international film magazine Sight & Sound has compiled its list of the best Blu-ray and DVD sets released in 2017.
The Criterion Collection release of Orson Welles’ Othello was nominated by two of the 39 critics and curators surveyed by the British Film Institute publication, even though it is strictly a U.S. home video release.
Critic Jordan Cronk wrote, “(Criterion’s release) finally brings Welles’s troubled and transcendent Shakespeare adaptation to high-definition, features an even more crucial work amongst its supplements – namely, Welles’s final completed work, the 1979 essay-documentary Filming Othello, long a holy grail for cinephiles.”
Illuminations writer-producer John Wyver said that “Criterion continues to be the DVD and Blu-ray gold standard, with glorious prints and exceptional extras,” adding that the two-disc Othello is “up there with the label’s best.”
Released on October 10, Criterion’s offering of Othello features brand new 4K restorations of the 1952 European release, winner of the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, and Welles’ reedited and redubbed 1955 version for release in the United States and United Kingdom. Both are presented in their original aspect ratio of 1.37:1 with optional English SDH subtitles.
Among the mother lode of exceptional extras is Welles’ last completed project, Filming Othello. The documentary looks at the troubled making of the film by Welles and some of its cast.
Wellesnet’s detailed review of the Ceiterion release can be found at wellesnet.com/criterion-collection-releases-exceptional-othello-blu-ray-dvd and a roundup of critical reviews at wellesnet.com/critics-roundup-criterion-collection-gets-high-marks-othello
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