William Shakespeare's<B>The Merchant of Venice

William Shakespeare's
The Merchant of Venice

Cast, Etc.
Dir. Michael Radford, Al Pacino, Jeremy Irons, Joseph Fiennes, Lynn Collins, Zuleikha Robinson, Kris Marshall, Charlie Cox, Heather Goldenhersh, score by Jocelyn Pook, rated R, 2004

Synopsis
A Christian makes a deal with a Jew in Venice.

Review
The Merchant of Venice is probably the most difficult of Shakespeare's plays, in terms of its themes and its construction. On the one hand we have the painful reality of the discrimination against Jews in the late 1500s in Venice, and on the other hand we have a play about the law, friendship, love, and, most importantly, revenge and mercy. This play gives us some of the greatest lines Shakespeare ever wrote, as well. Bassanio (Fiennes) comes to his very good friend Antonio (Irons) for help; it seems as if Bassanio is love-stricken with a fair maiden named Portia (Collins), but needs money in order to even get in the door to see her. Antonio cannot give Bassanio the money himself, but agrees to approach one of the Jewish moneylenders, Shylock (Pacino), for a loan. Unfortunately, Antonio hasn't been very kind to Shylock and Shylock isn't that keen on lending money to one who calls him a dog and spits in his face. However, the two agree on a loan of 3000 ducats to be repaid in three months' time, the penalty for defaulting on the loan being Shylock can take a pound of Antonio's flesh. Creepy, but Antonio believes his fortunes will turn and he expects a three-fold return on the amount of the loan. Bassanio takes the money and goes off to woo the fair Portia. When the loan comes due and every one of Antonio's ships goes down with all the cargo, Shylock demands "his bond." The play can be very powerful and the film does its best to convey this, but doesn't quite get it, perhaps because of how it shifts attention away from Shylock, the most interesting character in the film, to that of Bassnio and how he woos Portia. The cast is exceptional, with Al Pacino leading the way and finally playing the great villain Shylock. One of the delights in the play is that you can sympathize with both Shylock and Antonio, making the court scene in which Antonio's fate is determined so tense. Pacino does a wonderful job, showing both the anger and vulnerability of the character that is essential in the part. Jeremy Irons and Joseph Fiennes turn in fine performances as the two friends, and Lynn Collins is adequate as Portia. The production values are quite high and it shows, with the crew actually filming in Venice in some of the more "off limits" locations. There is a great sense of realism and authenticity. If the film had ended after the court scene, it would have been much more powerful, but as with the play, it goes on to a pretty unnecessary "epilogue" that I have never liked and that seems like an addendum just slapped on to the end. However, when the focus is on the interaction and relationship between Shylock and Antonio, the film is extremely good.

Highlights
Pacino and Irons; making the deal; the caskets; "Prick us, do we not bleed? . . . ;" the court scene

Rating
I give this film a slightly turned-bad red wine rating; it's very full and robust, but the ending isn't great. As a Shakespeare film, it's pretty good. The villain of Shylock is one of the Bard's best. The score by Pook is pretty good, but has some more annoying wailing in it.