The Merchant of Venice (Blu-ray/DVD Combo)

I approached this movie with some trepidation, mainly owing to the presence of Al Pacino as Shylock. The only Shakespeare I had seen him attempt was his lead in Richard III. I was less than impressed by his acting in that one. I'm also always a little queasy about seeing screen attempts at encapsulating a three hour Shakespeare play in a two hour movie.

While I wasn't exactly delighted at the outcome of this attempt, there is a lot to recommend, thanks to some sure handed British directing and acting. And Pacino underplays a role for a change (for the most part) and he handled his line readings with aplomb.

The problem with the script (and it is, along with MEASURE FOR MEASURE and THE WINTERS TALE, one of Shakespeare's "problem" plays to begin with, in that it is morally ambiguous) is the obvious anti-semitism surrounding the moneylender Shylock. The film actually opens with a kind of disclaimer reminding the audience that Renaissance attitudes towards Jews were not exactly politically correct. Shakespeare's script certainly bears this out, which is one reason it still attracts negative criticism on many college campuses.

The director (Michael Radford, who also wrote the adaptation) and cast handle this delicate issue rather adroitly. Pacino manages to elicit more sympathy than derision for Shylock. The only quibble I have with interpretation occurs in the trial scene, in which Shylock's insistence on Antonio's (Jeremy Irons) repayment of his debt (the famous pound of flesh) is rendered much more menacingly and realistically than I've ever seen it portrayed. It really does appear to be imminently possible that Shylock is going to happily flay Antonio alive before Portia or any other contravening authority, such as the the the Duke (acting as judge) can stop him. This is generally downplayed in stage productions, but on screen it comes across as all too real. It works as far as dramatic tension is concerned, but approaches "over the top" as far as aesthetic distancing goes(which is another of the underlying problems of transferring a text from stage to screen).

As far as characterizations are concerned, I was disappointed in only one director's choice. He cut the servant, Launcelot Gobbo's famous "Devil or Angel" monologue, which is one of the few truly humorous bits in the play. The scene with the younger and elder Gobbo almost made up for it, however, as Ron Cook serves up a marvellous comic turn as Old Gobbo.

The acting is generally excellent, in fact. Irons is solid, if not entirely convincing as Antonio. Joseph Fiennes does yeoman work as Anonio's bosom buddy, Bassanio. Lynn Collins as Portia is a positive revelation. Her transformation to young male lawyer is dead on. She plays a full range of emotions with utter ease. Hers is the one truly award worthy performance in the movie. Pacino does an outstanding job of remaining in character. The usual Pacino vocal and physical tics are nowhere in evidence. He obviously studied hard for the role and most of his choices are good ones. The cinematography, consisting mainly of shots of Venice in all its resplendance, is extraordinary.

Radford & Company certainly perform no disservice to the bard in this production, which is saying a lot, actually. I'd include it among some of the better recent attempts at bringing Shakespeare to the screen, along with Fishburn's OTHELLO and Branaugh's MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING. It's worth at the very least a rental when it comes out on DVD, but if you get a chance to see it in a theater first, I recommend you avail yourself of the chance, if only to fully appreciate the cinematography.

BEK

After the high school English Lit experience, I've never been a Shakespeare fan, so I've rarely seen any of those of his works that've been put on film. Mired in the bliss of almost total ignorance, I'll yet foolishly suggest that this Big Screen THE MERCHANT OF VENICE is perhaps the most sumptuous cinematic adaptation of any of the Bard's plays to date.

If you're completely without Cultcha and you don't know the plot, it's late 16th century Venice and the import-export merchant Antonio (Jeremy Irons) borrows 3,000 gold ducats from the Jewish moneylender Shylock (Al Pacino). The money goes to Antonio's chum Bassanio (Joseph Fiennes), who'll use it to impress and win the hand of the Babe of his dreams, the orphaned heiress Portia (Lynn Collins). But, Antonio suffers ruinous business setbacks and can't repay. So Shylock, remembering the public contempt shown to him by Antonio in the past and recently humiliated by the desertion of his only daughter to a Christian lover, insists that Antonio pay the penalty stipulated in the terms of the loan agreement, i.e. a pound of his own flesh, literally. And Shylock is prepared to go to the Duke's court to argue the legality of his case under existing Venetian statutes. Things look bleak and potentially painful for Antonio.

Filmed in Luxembourg and the decaying glory of Venice, THE MERCHANT OF VENICE is an extraordinarily lavish feast for the eyes. At times, as I found myself losing the thread of Shakespeare's flowery dialog, I found immense satisfaction in the production's glorious costuming and sets.

Pacino, who, in the past decade, has played cops, the Devil, a pro football coach, and a blind lecher, steals the show with an Oscar-worthy performance. He's perfect as the world-weary, embittered, vengeful loan shark literally and figuratively spat upon by the city's Christian majority. Indeed, the film's creators have done a superb job depicting a Jewish usurer's anachronistic social position in that time and place, i.e. both needed and despised at the same time. And Collins is a revelation as the clever and beautiful Portia, the one character in the piece with any brains compared to the hormone-driven and doltish males around her.

Besides the obvious lessons of the story, which are don't co-sign a loan with your best friend, don't play loose with your wedding ring, and always go for the cheaply wrapped gift box, I was left pondering the evident anti-Semitism of the plot. Indeed, had the play not been written by Shakespeare, and thus considered a "classic", but rather something churned out by a Tinseltown hack and put on celluloid, the Political Correct, regardless of the historical facts, would be howling about stereotyping to a degree that would perhaps dwarf the outcry over Mel Gibson's PASSION. The joyful prospect of witnessing the PC's discomfiture makes this a film worth seeing.

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Shakespeare's plays are full of the stuff of Humanity and Life: Love, Hate, Revenge, Death, Jealousy, etc. But very few of his plays have all of these. "The Merchant of Venice" (Il Mercante di Venezia) is one. And Michael Radford's film of "TMOV" is bubbling over, roiling and rocking with the Stuff of Life: though considered one of Shakespeare's comedies, this version is a very somber and dark reading of the play: a very, very dark comedy.

Anyone filming or staging a Shakespeare play is faced with a dilemma: What do I do about the Language? Radford has directed his actors to speak in a natural and conversational manner yet they do not forget to savor the beauty or ignore the eloquence of the Shakespearean verse.

Portia's "The Quality of Mercy" and Shylock's "Pound of Flesh" soliloquies and Lynn Collins' and Pacino's readings of them are breathtaking in their eloquence, delicate phrasing and common sense rationality: they continue to have real power...the power to move us.

Venice in the 1600's is ripe for drama what with the Jewish population locked up at night and forced to wear red caps when amongst the general population, so as to be recognized and of course, ridiculed. But Jews were allowed to lend money and though not allowed to, charged interest on this money. And out of this ugly, discriminatory milieu comes Shylock (Al Pacino), who lends 3,000 ducats to Antonio (Jeremy Irons) so that Antonio can lend them to Bassanio (Joseph Fiennes), in essence so that Bassanio can marry the wealthy Portia (Lynn Collins).

Shakespeare characters are fully rounded individuals, neither all good or all bad: Antonio, though the essence of civility and nobility is also a slave profiteer and a bigot, Bassanio, though appearing to be a close friend of Antonio's thinks nothing of allowing his friend to enter into a dangerous loan agreement with Shylock and Shylock, though a third class citizen in Venice shows a great intellect and an all-consuming love of his daughter but ultimately loses sight of reason and mercy that makes him appear foolish and leads to his downfall. Shylock, as the oppressed is expected to exhibit nobility during the final scene that neither the court nor his oppressors would ever ask of one another. Shylock foolishly, though bravely expects justice from those who would segregate, taunt and revile him. This is strong, potent, dramatically viable stuff.

Shakespeare/Radford's "The Merchant of Venice" is a stunningly gorgeous and profound film made all the more important because it is so contemporary in feel, thought and more to the point, ambiguity. It is to Shakespeare and Radford's credit that a play written over 400 years ago can still have the unmitigated nerve to stick in our craw in a way few contemporary dramas can.

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This is a good version of the play, but since I am a school teacher let me give you a big heads up there are a lot of bare-chested women in this that does nothing to further the plot. It's my husband's opinion that they are there so that men will watch the movie. The other problem is that this version is trying so hard to be politically correct that it bends Shakespeare's meaning to suit a twenty-first century audience. I feel this is done in such a way as to cause problems with the basic plot.

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In 1596 in Venice, the decadent center of European culture, a young nobleman named Bassanio (Joseph Fiennes) has a plan to pay off his debts and find happiness in love at the same time. He wishes to marry wealthy young Portia (Lynn Collins), whose deceased father has dictated the method by which she will find a husband. There is to be a contest. Potential suitors must choose between three caskets: a gold, a silver, and a lead box, each inscribed with a riddle. The man who chooses correctly will have Portia's hand in marriage. Bassanio asks his friend and mentor, the wealthy merchant Antonio (Jeremy Irons), for a loan to finance his trip to Portia. But Antonio has no cash on hand, so he offers to guarantee a loan for his friend from a Jewish usurer named Shylock. Embittered by his ill-treatment at the hands of gentiles, Shylock (Al Pacino) agrees to the loan -on the condition that Antonio guarantee it with a pound of his own flesh if the 3,000 ducats are not paid in three months.

"The Merchant of Venice" is two stories loosely bound into one by some common characters and themes. There is the tragedy of Shylock and the romantic comedy of Bassanio and Portia. Characters cross between the two, but it is difficult to bridge the stories to the extent that they seem to be one. In a sense, Shylock's story demonstrates what happens when people hang onto their hatred, while Portia's story shows what happens when they don't. But that is, I think, as close as anyone is going to come to overcoming the binary nature of this play. Widely held opinion seems to be that "The Merchant of Venice" is difficult to adapt in this day and age on account of its unflattering Renaissance stereotype of Jews in the form of Shylock. I think the difficulty is found in the other story: Portia's motives are barely comprehensible and never clear. Bassanio and Portia's story is amusing enough, but it is a bit of a muddle at times. Lynn Collins does a wonderful job with Portia, though.

The idea that "The Merchant of Venice" is anti-Jewish apparently comes from Shakespeare's exploitation a Jewish stereotype for dramatic purposes, not from the substance of the play. "The Merchant of Venice" is an indictment of religious and ethnic persecution that portrays gentiles as self-indulgent hypocrites. But where the play is sympathetic to Jews and minorities in general, it is not sympathetic to Shylock in particular. Some people will disagree with me on that point. But Shylock is one of Shakespeare's great tragic characters, and, as such, he is more a victim of his own flaws than of external forces. He is a flawed man living in a flawed society that amplifies his imperfection. "The villainy you teach me, I will execute," Shylock says. And in doing so, he brings everyone's faults to light. To say that Shylock is merely reacting to a lifetime of mistreatment would do Shakespeare and Shylock a disservice, though. If he were not fully in control of his actions, the play would have no point.

This film's great strength is the courtroom scene in which Shylock and Antonio appear before the Duke to find out if he will enforce the bond that requires Antonio to sacrifice a pound of his person. Kudos to director Michael Radford for not copping out in this scene. I have sometimes seen it staged like an intellectual exercise instead of the clash of passions that it is. Radford plays the potential for violence for all it's worth, and it works brilliantly. Even viewers who know the outcome will wonder if Antonio is going to be eviscerated before our eyes. Al Pacino plays this scene perfectly straight and sober. I would give "The Merchant of Venice" five stars based on the courtroom scene alone.

"The Merchant of Venice" had something for everyone 5 centuries ago, and it's a testament to Shakespeare's talent that it still does. There is love, a beautiful young woman, and an undeniably funny challenge for her suitors. And there are hatred, bigotry, and one of Shakespeare's most complex and affecting characters. Director Michael Radford, a terrific cast and Benoit Delhomme's lovely cinematography bring it to life.

The DVD (Columbia/Tristar 2005 release): Bonus features include a documentary, a DVD-ROM, and an audio commentary. "The Merchant of Venice: Shakespeare through the Lens" (30 minutes) consists mostly of interviews with director Michael Radford and the cast in which they discuss characters, themes, and compare the media of theater and film. The DVD-ROM provides a web link to a Teacher's Guide. The audio commentary features director Michael Radford and actress Lynn Collins, who discuss shooting the film in Venice and Luxembourg. Radford talks about historical details, locations, characters, story, and his decisions. Collins talks about her experiences while filming and her reaction to seeing the film. The commentary has very few lulls, and is pretty interesting if you want to find out more about this interpretation of the play. Subtitles are available for the film in French.