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THE MERCHANT OF VENICE Send This Review to a Friend
I have seen various Shylocks, but Al Pacino’s Shylock in Michael Radford’s new screen adaptation of Shakespeare’s “The Merchant of Venice” is the best. It is a brilliant performance. Through his soulful eyes, his voice, his handing of the Bard’s memorable lines and his body language, he brings years of oppression of the Jewish people into his quest for revenge against the daily humiliations he has suffered in Venice. It illuminates his outrageous demand for the pound of flesh he seeks, and one understands when he says that the pound of flesh is “dearly bought.” The performance that Pacino builds also makes Shylock’s ultimate defeat all the more sad.
The film itself is a superb version of the play that has been controversial through the centuries. Radford has done some cutting and rearranging, and opted for a more modern word here and there, but he has remained faithful to the work by intensifying the manifestation of anti-Semitism to which the Jews of Venice were subjected, so that we understand what motivates Shylock when he thinks he has the upper hand and goes too far.
The director also succeeds by means of casting. Jeremy Irons brings Antonio to life in a way that makes the impending cutting of his flesh and his imminent death terrifying, as are the detailed preparations. Joseph Fiennes is excellent as Bassanio, and the way the two relate suggests the possibility of a love that may go deeper than the bond of friendship that is certainly there.
But the real surprise here is the engaging portrayal of Portia by Lynn Collins, whose screen beauty is matched by her lucid command of Shakespearean language and the diction required. This is a marvelous Portia. Radford has also chosen well with others that he has cast in supporting roles.
The film has been exquisitely shot, with accolades due the director of photography, Benoit Delhomme and production designer Bruno Rubeo. “The Merchant of Venice” is not only a grand screen adaptation of Shakespeare but it ranks high among the best films of 2004, and it is worth seeing if for Pacino’s performance alone. A Sony Pictures Classics release.
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