William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice

William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice
by Michael Radford

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DVD details

Actor: Al Pacino, Jeremy Irons, Joseph Fiennes, Lynn Collins, Zuleikha Robinson
Director: Michael Radford
Brand: SONY PICTURES HOME ENT
DVD: Region Code 99
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; French (Subtitled)
Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 138 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2005-05-10
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Sony Pictures

DVD Reviews of William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice

DVD Review: beautiful and provocative rendition of the story
Summary: 4 Stars

"...it looks like a misbegotten pilot for Law & Order: Usury Victims Unit. Or it would be if not for Pacino..." Keith Phipps, A.V.Club, 2004

Cute dismissal, sure, but Radford/Pacino's version of the story offers more than yet another Pacino vehcile.

This Merchant seeks to return to a Shakespearean formula, an instructional comedy about fidelity. To reach that story, bigotry and debauchery are placed front and center, illustrating the pitfalls of men pursuing passions and proclivities without a woman's restraint.

Pacino's Scarface/Godfather Shylock, wronged and vengeful, and Irons' Antonio, bigoted and brought to ruin, provide ample tension, though Irons crumples easily. Or does he? Were the conditions on his pardon vestigial spite? Does the scene of Shylock adrift suggest he opted to maintain his faith and leave Venice? Radford creates ambiguity for good reason. Headstrong Gratiano and malleable Bassiano likewise offer vows recklessly, nearly losing all they have gained.

Radford's Merchant is a study of how women, duly concerned with consequences, can lead men away from debauchery, bigotry, and recklessness. It is a beautiful and unique telling, well worth viewing and contemplating.

DVD Review: Glorious adaption
Summary: 5 Stars

I am a Shakespeare fanatic. Because of this play's history of being thought "anti-semitic", I found myself avoiding it. But I trust Al Pacino to present true and honest characters and all the reviews I read seemed to give this movie high regard. I add my thumbs up! I was deeply moved. As in all of Shakespeare plays, there are no clear good guys and bad guys. (ok, except for Richard the III and a few others) Shakespeare is a master of presenting the human condition, warts and all. The situation in the play is a rather typical social scenario for Jews in whatever country they found themselves. (unfortunately) Unable to own property or trade as a merchant, they became money lenders; a trade that the "Christians felt was a sin". (but was used by them, none the less). All the motivating factors for human action are present in spades: love, hate, greed, pride, revenge, martyrdom, and above all...a desire to be understood. One of Shakespeare's most famous speeches is spoken beautifully by Mr. Pacino. "Hath not a Jew eyes?" Act III scene 1 Line 51[...] The costumes, music, casting, and production value is top notch. This is NOT a film of a play. It is a movie; a movie called, The Merchant of Venice. You will lose yourself in the world of the characters.

DVD Review: Well done, but...
Summary: 3 Stars

I ordered this video to use in my classroom after we read The Merchant of Venice. I would love to use it, as it is well done, unfortunately, though, there is so much nudity in the video that I don't think I can. If you are looking for a "clean" version of this play to use in a classroom, this isn't it!

DVD Review: An excellent adaptation
Summary: 4 Stars

I picked this DVD up at the library with Al Pacino on the front and thought this would be a fun historical piece. At home, I saw the reference to William Shakespeare. Normally, this is the kiss of death for me. I'm sure olde Will had plenty of wonderful things to say, but I always get hung up on actually hearing those words and ideas. With all the haths and thous and with ofs and so forth, I don't hear the words, but rather hear people trying to speak some odd language.

Since I was already home, I plopped the DVD into the machine, expecting to take it out shortly. With the credits rolling and before the play is started, we see Venice at around 1600. We also see what life as a Jew is like back then. They were forced to live in the old foundry part of the city (called a "Geto" in Italian) which was locked up at night, and guarded by Christian cops, who in turn are paid by the jews. When the jews leave the ghetto, they must on the pain of death, always wear a scarlet cap. Is this starting to sound familiar? It did to me and my interest in WW2 and the holocaust.

Then an odd thing happened about half way through the movie. I started to hear the words and started to understand the meaning. This was a new revelation for me and olde Will. I saw and heard Al Pacino deliver an incredible "Hath not a Jew eyes?" speech. (Actually, this meant nothing to me until he said, "If you prick us, do we not bleed?" and then things started to make sense.)

The Merchant of Venice is oddly described as a comedy but most of the great lines and action takes place with the tragic figure of Shylock. I haven't read much of Will's stuff, but I don't know any other of his plays that mixes the comedy and tragedy in equal parts.

Al is superb as Shylock where the normal Pacino mannerisms and voice are generally missing. With Pacino, we see a nuanced Shylock suffering his loses and going too far in the process. The rest of the cast is top notch with Jeremy Irons, Joseph Feinnes, and others. Lynn Collins as Portia really shines, though. Her transformation (sorry, that's all I'll say) toward the end of the movie is amazing. Like her husband, I was also taken unawares.

In our day and age, The Merchant of Venice has a distinct anti-semitic feel to it and the question always arises: Was Shakespeare anti-semitic himself? Was he a Jew hater? It amazing how much ink has been written on this subject. Most of it trying to negate and minimize this issue. For example, if Shakespeare wrote the"Hath not a Jew eyes" speech and another speech in the play against slavery, doesn't this prove Shakespeare's belief in universal humanity? Many critics and people have gone to great lengths in interpreting lines and words in the play to prove their point.

Personally, I don't think Will was any more anti-semitic than his times. By 1600, Jews had been expelled from Britain for 400 years. Did he know any? I doubt it. I can see Shakespeare writing the Shylock character for different crowds. One crowd can focus on the evil sinister Shylock and there are numerous lines for that version. But Shakespeare also offers other options. Universal humanity is one, but this view appears to be more of an interpretation from our own times. I see more tragedy in Shylock than evil and perhaps a bit of irony. This is the Shakespeare I have heard about and like.

DVD Review: Happy with the purchase.
Summary: 4 Stars

Received the movie in a timely matter. Would order again from the same source.

Description of William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice

THE CLASSIC TALE FROM WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE OF 16TH CENTURY MORALITY, REVENGE, REDEMPTION & LOVE SET IN THE THE LAVISH ERAOF 16TH CENTURY VENICE FOLLOWS THE INTERLOCKING LIVES OF ACAPTIVATING ASSORTMENT OF CLASSIC SHAKESPEAREAN CHARACTERS.

Rarely has The Merchant of Venice, one of Shakespeare's most complex plays, looked as ravishingly sumptuous as in this adaptation, directed by Michael Radford (Il Postino). In a decadent version of renaissance Venice, a young nobleman named Bassanio (Joseph Fiennes, Shakespeare in Love) seeks to woo the lovely Portia (newcomer Lynn Collins), but lacks the money to travel to her estate. He seeks support from his friend, the merchant Antonio (Jeremy Irons, Reversal of Fortune); Antonio's fortune is tied up in sea ventures, so the merchant offers to borrow money from a Jewish moneylender, Shylock (Al Pacino, Dog Day Afternoon). But Shylock holds a grudge against Antonio, who has routinely treated the Jew with contempt, and demands that if the debt is not repaid in three months, the price will be a pound of Antonio's flesh.

The Merchant of Venice is famous as a "problem play"--the gritty matters of moneylending and anti-Semitism sit uncomfortably beside the fairy tale elements of Portia and Bassanio's romance, and some twists of the plot can seem arbitrary or even cruel. The strength of Radford's intelligent and passionate interpretation is that he and the excellent cast invest the play's opposing facets with full emotional weight, thus making every question the play raises acute and inescapable. Irons is particularly compelling; kindness and blind prejudice sit side by side in his breast, rendering the clashes in his character as vivid as those in the play itself. --Bret Fetzer

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