The film was directed by Franco Zeffirelli and starred Plácido Domingo in the title role, Katia Ricciarelli as Desdemona and Justino Díaz as Iago.

However, in a major change from the opera, Otello kills Iago at the end by throwing a spear at him, while in the stage version he only wounds him with his sword.

They had previously made television versions of Cavalleria rusticana and Pagliacci together, as well as a theatrically released film of Verdi's La Traviata.

Zeffirelli later recalled that the tenor used his hard work on Otello to help forget the traumatic sights in Mexico of the injured and dead (which included some of his family members).

On the soundtrack album of the opera, released by EMI, the music is presented with no cuts or additions, as it is when Otello is performed on the stage.

The soundtrack album, however, has not proved to be as popular as Plácido Domingo's first recording of the opera, conducted by James Levine and released in 1978 by RCA Victor.

[4] In an interview in Opera News, the film's star, Plácido Domingo, expressed similar displeasure in the movie's musical cuts.

He also complained that the synchronization of the soundtrack with the film was improperly done, rendering the music half a step lower than it was recorded.