Artistic Symbiosis: Orson Welles’s Othello (1951) as Cinematic Opera
Early film theorist Ricciotto Canudo equated cinema with music because of the Seventh Art’s inherent plasticity; in the 21st century, plasticity extends to the soundtrack. In this article, I explore the fusion of cinema with the musical genre of opera. By considering that film is a performative medi...
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| Udgivet i: | URI:https://journals.openedition.org/interfaces, |
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| Format: | Article ou chapitre numérique |
| Sprog: | Anglais |
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Interfaces
2023
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| Online adgang: | Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM |
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openedition-oai:revues.org:interfaces_6307 |
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openedition |
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openedition-oai:revues.org:interfaces_6307 https://doi.org/10.4000/interfaces.6307 urn:doi:10.4000/interfaces.6307 en https://journals.openedition.org/interfaces/6307 2023-01-23T01:00:00Z info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess article info:eu-repo/semantics/article urn:handle:20.500.13089/h4iz https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Artistic Symbiosis: Orson Welles’s Othello (1951) as Cinematic Opera Interfaces Université Bourgogne Europe info:eu-repo/semantics/reference/issn/2647-6754 info:eu-repo/semantics/reference/issn/1164-6225 URI:https://journals.openedition.org/interfaces Chinita, Fátima intermédialité cinéma opéra musicalization bande son Othello Welles (Orson) cinema intermediality opera musicalization soundtrack Othello Welles (Orson) Early film theorist Ricciotto Canudo equated cinema with music because of the Seventh Art’s inherent plasticity; in the 21st century, plasticity extends to the soundtrack. In this article, I explore the fusion of cinema with the musical genre of opera. By considering that film is a performative medium, beyond the actors’ agency, I confirm music’s importance in it as part of the structure and style of opera. Unlike Franco Zeffirelli’s adaptation of Verdi’s opera Otello, Orson Welles’s adaptation of William Shakespeare’s play conforms to Jacques Aumont’s concept of “operatic film” in that it engenders a coexistence of the verbal and the non-verbal, balancing drama and music with a performative intention. However, this film is so musicalized and operatically rendered, especially through its soundtrack, that it exceeds Aumont’s intention and becomes what I call a “cinematic opera”: a film that is operatic in its artificial and ritualistic nature as well as in its well-woven soundtrack of music, sound effects and voice working together in a common musicalized pattern. Le théoricien du cinéma muet Ricciotto Canudo comparait le cinéma à la musique en raison de la plasticité inhérente au Septième Art ; mais il se trouve qu’au XXIe siècle la plasticité s’étend à la bande son. Dans cet article, j’explore la fusion du cinéma avec le genre musical de l’opéra. En considérant que le cinéma est um médium performatif au-delà de l’intervention des acteurs, je confirme l’importance que la musique y détient au niveau de la structure et du style. Contrairement à l’adaptation par Franco Zeffirelli de l’opéra Otello de Verdi, l’adaptation d’Orson Welles de la tragédie de William Shakespeare correspond au concept de « film-opéra » défendu par Jacques Aumont en ce qui concerne la coexistence du verbal et du non-verbal, qui unit le drame et la musique avec une intention performative. Cependant, ce film est si musicalisé et rendu lyrique, surtout à travers la bande son, qu’il dépasse la conception d’Aumont et se transforme en « opéra cinématographique » : un film aussi lyrique par sa nature artificielle et ritualiste que par l’entrelacement de sa bande son, dans laquelle la musique, les bruits et les voix se combinent pour aboutir à une trame entièrement musicalisée. |
| collection |
OpenEdition Journal |
| language |
Anglais |
| format |
Article ou chapitre numérique |
| building |
0/Bibliothèque numérique/ 1/Bibliothèque numérique/OpenEdition Journals/ |
| topic |
intermédialité cinéma opéra musicalization bande son Othello Welles (Orson) cinema intermediality opera musicalization soundtrack Othello Welles (Orson) |
| spellingShingle |
intermédialité cinéma opéra musicalization bande son Othello Welles (Orson) cinema intermediality opera musicalization soundtrack Othello Welles (Orson) Chinita, Fátima Artistic Symbiosis: Orson Welles’s Othello (1951) as Cinematic Opera |
| description |
Early film theorist Ricciotto Canudo equated cinema with music because of the Seventh Art’s inherent plasticity; in the 21st century, plasticity extends to the soundtrack. In this article, I explore the fusion of cinema with the musical genre of opera. By considering that film is a performative medium, beyond the actors’ agency, I confirm music’s importance in it as part of the structure and style of opera. Unlike Franco Zeffirelli’s adaptation of Verdi’s opera Otello, Orson Welles’s adaptation of William Shakespeare’s play conforms to Jacques Aumont’s concept of “operatic film” in that it engenders a coexistence of the verbal and the non-verbal, balancing drama and music with a performative intention. However, this film is so musicalized and operatically rendered, especially through its soundtrack, that it exceeds Aumont’s intention and becomes what I call a “cinematic opera”: a film that is operatic in its artificial and ritualistic nature as well as in its well-woven soundtrack of music, sound effects and voice working together in a common musicalized pattern. |
| author |
Chinita, Fátima |
| author_facet |
Chinita, Fátima |
| author_sort |
Chinita, Fátima |
| title |
Artistic Symbiosis: Orson Welles’s Othello (1951) as Cinematic Opera |
| title_short |
Artistic Symbiosis: Orson Welles’s Othello (1951) as Cinematic Opera |
| title_full |
Artistic Symbiosis: Orson Welles’s Othello (1951) as Cinematic Opera |
| title_fullStr |
Artistic Symbiosis: Orson Welles’s Othello (1951) as Cinematic Opera |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Artistic Symbiosis: Orson Welles’s Othello (1951) as Cinematic Opera |
| title_sort |
artistic symbiosis: orson welles’s othello (1951) as cinematic opera |
| publisher |
Interfaces |
| publishDate |
2023 |
| container_title |
URI:https://journals.openedition.org/interfaces |
| url |
https://ezproxy.univ-orleans.fr/login?url=https://doi.org/10.4000/interfaces.6307 https://ezproxy.univ-orleans.fr/login?url=https://journals.openedition.org/interfaces/6307 |
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