Main Cast: Al Pacino, Jeremy Irons, Joseph Fiennes, Lynn Collins, Zuleikha Robinson
Release Year: 2004
Country: UK/IT
Run Time: 131 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
One of William Shakespeare's most powerful comedies has been given a bold cinematic adaptation in this film version of The Merchant of Venice. Bassanio (Joseph Fiennes) is a young and vital member of the aristocratic classes in 16th century Italy; however, Bassanio's impulsive nature and lavish lifestyle have put him deeply in debt, and he will need at least the pretense of a fortune if he is to win the hand of the beautiful Portia (Lynn Collins). Bassanio turns to his close friend Antonio (Jeremy Irons), a successful businessman, for financial help, but with much of his fortune tied up in a sailing expedition, Antonio can do little to help him. To help Bassanio, Antonio turns to Shylock (Al Pacino), a Jewish money lender who lives in Venice's Semetic ghetto. Antonio has often expressed his contempt for Shylock, who charges high rates for his loans, and Shylock clearly seems pleased at the ironic prospect of having Antonio as a customer; however, instead of interest, Shylock demands an unusual security on his loan -- though Shylock demands no interest, if Antonio does not repay the three thousand ducats in three months, Shylock will be entitled to a pound of his flesh. This version of The Merchant of Venice was directed by Michael Radford, best known for the international hit Il Postino, and was shot on locations in Venice and Luxembourg. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Review
One gets the sense that Shakespeare's choice to make Shylock a Jew in The Merchant of Venice was a quick (and undeniably wrong) shorthand to represent villainy for Elizabethan audiences. But Shakespeare also gives him one of the most famous defenses of human equality in the English language ("If you prick us do we not bleed..."), and in Michael Radford's adaptation, this humanity is teased out even further, making Shylock the tragic center of what is ostensibly a comedy. And it's this tension between comedy and tragedy that makes The Merchant of Venice a fascinating, if not entirely successful, reading of a difficult play. The film opens with a text prologue explaining the Jews' place in 16th century Venice -- how they were locked inside a ghetto during the night, and forced to wear red caps when they interacted with Christians. From there, Radford's script and Al Pacino's fierce performance collude to make Shylock the centerpiece of the film, turning the anti-Semitism of the play on its head; rather than being implicit, we face it head-on. Shylock is an anti-Semitic distortion, yes, but from Radford's perspective, he also serves as a reflection and condemnation of the bigotry around him. Shylock is certainly the most human of all the characters in this adaptation. We don't condone his actions, but in the context Radford sets up, he is understandably vindictive as a man who has lacked power and suddenly receives it. He wants justice -- any form of justice. So when he receives his comeuppance, what may have originally been viewed as a villain getting what he deserved comes across as cruel and vindictive. Radford's strategy of emphasizing Shylock ultimately unbalances the play, turning the ostensible protagonists into lightweights and making their fates feel inconsequential. But if much of what happens around Shylock seems frivolous, perhaps that's the point. ~ Skyler Miller, All Movie Guide
Kris Marshall - Gratiano; Charlie Cox - Lorenzo; Heather Goldenhersh - Nerissa; Mackenzie Crook; John Sessions; Gregor Fisher; Ron Cook; Alan Corduner - Tubal; Anton Rodgers; David Harewood; Antonio Gil-Martinez
Credit
Jon Bunker - Supervising Art Director, Clive Waldron - Associate Producer, Sharon Howard-Field - Casting, Edwige Fenech - Co-producer, Luciano Martino - Co-producer, Jimmy De Brabant - Co-producer, Nigel Goldsack - Co-producer, Sammy Sheldon - Costume Designer, John Dodds - First Assistant Director, Chris Rose - First Assistant Director, Michael Radford - Director, Lucia Zucchetti - Editor, Gary Hamilton - Executive Producer, Robert Jones - Executive Producer, Michael Hammer - Executive Producer, Manfred Wilde - Executive Producer, Alex Marshall - Executive Producer, Peter James - Executive Producer, James Simpson - Executive Producer, Anni Buchanan - Hair Styles, Jocelyn Pook - Composer (Music Score), Anni Buchanan - Makeup, Bruno Rubeo - Production Designer, Benoit Delhomme - Cinematographer, Cary Brokaw - Producer, Jason Piette - Producer, Michael Lionello Cowan - Producer, Barry Navidi - Producer, Brian Simmons - Sound/Sound Designer, Paul Davies - Sound/Sound Designer, Michael Radford - Screenwriter, Gary Hamilton - Co-Executive Producer, Julia Verdin - Co-Executive Producer, Pete Maggi - Co-Executive Producer, William Shakespeare - Play Author
Composer Jocelyn Pook's haunting and evocative score for Universal's adaptation of William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice is ripe with both medieval and renaissance balladry. Using period instruments (serpent, lute, etc.) as well as period texts and the heavenly vocals of tenor Andreas Scholl and Hayley Westenra, Pook lends added weight to the myriad of romantic escapades experienced by the rich characters and provides a lush backdrop to Venice's riverside architecture. Her original pieces effortlessly blend both ancient and contemporary themes, relying on a small and talented group of players to capture Shakespeare's dramatic tale of loves both lost and won with gentle longing and heart-wrenching despair. ~ James Christopher Monger, All Music Guide
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The Merchant of Venice, film score~With Wand'ring Steps
The Merchant of Venice is a 2004 film based on Shakespeare's play of the same name. It is the first full-length sound film version in English of Shakespeare's play; most other versions are videotaped productions made for television. There had been a British early sound nine-minute short subject production of the trial scene in 1927, with Lewis Casson as Shylock and Sybil Thorndike (Casson's wife) as Portia.
The 2004 "Merchant of Venice" follows the text very closely, only missing lines here and there. The director, Michael Radford, believed that Shylock was Shakespeare's first tragic hero, who reaches a catastrophe due to his own flaws: thus the film does not show Shylock purely as a villain, but partly also as a victim. It begins with text and a montage of how the Jewish community is abused by the bigoted Christian population of Venice. One of the last shots of the film also brings attention to the fact that, as a convert, Shylock would have been cast out of the Jewish community in Venice, no longer allowed to live in the ghetto.
One significant emendation: In Act III, scene i, Tubal tells Shylock that in Genoa, a person "showed me a ring that he had of your daughter for a monkey." Shylock replies "Thou torturest me, Tubal: It was my turquoise; I had it of Leah when I was a bachelor; I would not have given it for a wilderness of monkeys." Nothing more is said of it. However, in an added scene at the end of the film, there is a close-up shot of the turquoise ring on Jessica's finger, implying that Shylock had jumped to the wrong conclusion.
Another significant emendation is that we don't see that Antonio receives the good news that three of his ships were not stranded and have returned safely after all at the end of the film.
