O
Description of Film:
This film is a modern retelling of Shakespeare’s
Othello. O is a story of love and friendship
that is spoiled by betrayal. This is a violent,
gripping, emotional story. I found it to be
a story of power and hate and how, when the
two meet, tragedy follows. Shakespeare’s
plays often end in tragedy and this retelling
is no disappointment.
This movie largely takes place on the basketball
court. Mekhi Phifer (Curb Your Enthusiasm, ER,
8 Mile) stars as Odin, a very talented basketball
player and the only African American student
attending a private high school in Charleston,
South Carolina. He seems to be a star on and
off of the court. He has a beautiful girlfriend,
Desi Brable (Julia Stiles, The Omen, The Bourne
Supremacy, Mona Lisa Smily)), many friends,
and the potential for a successful basketball
career. We are introduced to Odin’s best
friend, Hugo Goulding (Josh Hartnett, Sin City,
Black Hawk Down). Hugo is jealous of Odin’s
success and his relationship with the head coach,
his teammates, and Desi. Hugo is the son of
the head coach (Martin Sheen, The West Wing)
and is starving for attention from his father.
As Hugo’s jealousy grows, he begins to
use another student at the school, Roger (Elden
Henson). Together, Roger and Hugo plot to put
an end Odin’s relationship with Desi and
any chance that he might have of a career in
basketball.
O was directed by Tim Blake Nelson and written
by Brad Kaaya. It is rated R for violence, a
scene of strong sexuality, language, and drug
use.
Why I Recommend This Film:
It would be hard to walk away from this
film without feeling disturbed, fearful, and
uncertain. The film really shows how people
can easily manipulate others into thinking irrationally.
We can see how easily a thought can be planted
into someone’s mind and provoke a shocking
response. Additionally, when hate enters into
a situation, it can fester and cause people
to act in awful ways. In this film, hate spills
over and causes others to hate and to irrationally.
Interestingly, even though Odin was the only
black student at the high school, race did not
play much of a part in this film. Odin had fought
against stereotypes of African Americans and
was accepted and loved.
Why This Film is Important:
I think it is good for us to look into
the minds of the jealous, the greedy, or those
who strike us as different. All of us have felt
jealous and some of us are greedy. In this film,
even the rich and powerful want more, or want
better. This film shows us how poor choices
can be made when people feel jealous or greedy.
Favorite Quotation:
Hugo:“All my life I always wanted to fly.
I always wanted to live like a hawk. I know
you're not supposed to be jealous of anything,
but... to take flight, to soar above everything
and everyone, now that's living. But a hawk
is no good around normal birds. It can't fit
in. Even though all the other birds probably
wanna be hawks; they hate him for what they
can't be. Powerful. Determined. Dark. Odin is
a hawk. He soars above us. He can fly. One of
these days, everyone's gonna pay attention to
me. Because I'm gonna fly too.”
Reference: http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1804724734/info
http://movies.about.com/library/weekly/aa083001a.htm |
