One of Shakespeare's best works, yet incredibly underused in cinema; involving such memorable characters like the Venetian merchant Antonio, his friend Bassanio, Bassanio's beloved Portia and, of course, the Jewish moneylender Shylock.
Antonio takes money from Shylock so Bassanio can use it to compete for Portia's hand; however, when he fails to pay the debt, Shylock takes him to court for the right to his bond: a pound of flesh, from Antonio.
The story is very good, as often with Shakespeare's plays. Director Michael Radford (who had previously made the best adaptation of Orwell's '1984' so far) manages to make a captivating scenario in the form of 1586 Venice; almost every scene is nice to look at, with both the city itself and the costumes looking straight from a Renaissance painting. Jeremy Irons is excellent as Antonio, conveying the sad and contradictory nature of his character without needing words; yet, he is upstaged by Al Pacino, one of the best and most sympathetic Shylock I've ever seen, complete with one of the best rendition's of the famous 'Hath not a Jew eyes?' speech.
It is often with 'The Merchant of Venice' that Shylock completely steals the show, and because of it a film adaptation of it is often avoided. It is no wonder: as a Jew character written in a time Jews were badly seen, he (and his ultimate fate) often makes the play seen anti-semitic. Yet, Shakespeare doesn't make the mistake of portraying him as any less than a human; Radford reinforces it, which combined with Pacino's masterful acting makes us truly feel for Shylock, sad for his daughter's actions, for his treatment by the Venetians, and makes his anger and actions comprehensible though still wrong.
There are problems, though. Within the play, that is often a fault of Antonio and Jessica, Shylock's daughter. They are far too contradictory and Antonio is often too mopey, to the point of both being unlikable without a good performer portraying them (and flat-out insufferable with a bad one). Thankfully, Jeremy Irons is a great one: his Antonio isn't the 'oh I suffer so much!' kind of character I dislike in most plays, but one whose suffering is both explainable and sympathetic.
On the other hand, Zuleikha Robinson does an overly poor Jessica; yet, by making Jessica that unlikeable it ends up making Shylock the more sympathetic in his suffering. On another negative note, is the 'comedy' side of the play; far less compelling than the tragedy of Shylock and serving little other than starting and ending that side, it doubles here by having a very weak performances. Joseph Fiennes gets around by way of his pretty-boy looks rather than acting skill (the opposite of his brother, Ralph Fiennes); plus, he looks far too mischievous and treacherous for the good guy Bassanio.
Lynn Collins, likewise, is rather uneventful as Portia and, while far from bad looking, doesn't really seem all that worthy of Bassanio's and Antonio's sacrifices. However, she shines in the courtroom scene, not really matching but being a worthy foil for Pacino's Shylock.
Overall, a very good film and adaptation of one of my favorites from Shakespeare. The excellent scenarios and visuals, along with masterful performances from Jeremy Irons and Al Pacino, more than make up for the minor drawbacks; I just wished this story would get to see the light of day more.
Antonio takes money from Shylock so Bassanio can use it to compete for Portia's hand; however, when he fails to pay the debt, Shylock takes him to court for the right to his bond: a pound of flesh, from Antonio.
The story is very good, as often with Shakespeare's plays. Director Michael Radford (who had previously made the best adaptation of Orwell's '1984' so far) manages to make a captivating scenario in the form of 1586 Venice; almost every scene is nice to look at, with both the city itself and the costumes looking straight from a Renaissance painting. Jeremy Irons is excellent as Antonio, conveying the sad and contradictory nature of his character without needing words; yet, he is upstaged by Al Pacino, one of the best and most sympathetic Shylock I've ever seen, complete with one of the best rendition's of the famous 'Hath not a Jew eyes?' speech.
It is often with 'The Merchant of Venice' that Shylock completely steals the show, and because of it a film adaptation of it is often avoided. It is no wonder: as a Jew character written in a time Jews were badly seen, he (and his ultimate fate) often makes the play seen anti-semitic. Yet, Shakespeare doesn't make the mistake of portraying him as any less than a human; Radford reinforces it, which combined with Pacino's masterful acting makes us truly feel for Shylock, sad for his daughter's actions, for his treatment by the Venetians, and makes his anger and actions comprehensible though still wrong.
There are problems, though. Within the play, that is often a fault of Antonio and Jessica, Shylock's daughter. They are far too contradictory and Antonio is often too mopey, to the point of both being unlikable without a good performer portraying them (and flat-out insufferable with a bad one). Thankfully, Jeremy Irons is a great one: his Antonio isn't the 'oh I suffer so much!' kind of character I dislike in most plays, but one whose suffering is both explainable and sympathetic.
On the other hand, Zuleikha Robinson does an overly poor Jessica; yet, by making Jessica that unlikeable it ends up making Shylock the more sympathetic in his suffering. On another negative note, is the 'comedy' side of the play; far less compelling than the tragedy of Shylock and serving little other than starting and ending that side, it doubles here by having a very weak performances. Joseph Fiennes gets around by way of his pretty-boy looks rather than acting skill (the opposite of his brother, Ralph Fiennes); plus, he looks far too mischievous and treacherous for the good guy Bassanio.
Lynn Collins, likewise, is rather uneventful as Portia and, while far from bad looking, doesn't really seem all that worthy of Bassanio's and Antonio's sacrifices. However, she shines in the courtroom scene, not really matching but being a worthy foil for Pacino's Shylock.
Overall, a very good film and adaptation of one of my favorites from Shakespeare. The excellent scenarios and visuals, along with masterful performances from Jeremy Irons and Al Pacino, more than make up for the minor drawbacks; I just wished this story would get to see the light of day more.