 | Merchant of Venice |  |
"If you prick us, do we not bleed?
if you tickle us, do we not laugh?
if you poison us, do we not die?
and if you wrong us, shall we not revenge?" Act III, scene i
Written: 1598
MGM ; 2005 (Film)
Starring :
Reviewed on : 2005-01-31 08:49:07 ; Reviewed by : Antonia Mandry
| The bitter and utter humiliation of the Jews is the subject of not only this particular play but also this production. Shylock is not a nice guy, true, but the world he lives in is even more villainous.
The film begins with a scene where Antonio the eponymous character but certainly not the hero spits on Shylock during a spontaneous anti-Jew "demonstration." This incident is not enough to make Shylock a villain but it is one more step on the path to his rageful and degrading end.
Jeremy Irons' Antonio is sexier and more sympathetic than he has any right to be. Sexier because this is the first production that I have seen where Antonio's sexuality is explicit and more sympathetic because of Irons' hangdog approach to the character. Antonio is passive, fatalistic, and a puppet of his own prejudices.
Joseph Fiennes' Bassanio is an opportunistic social climber who uses his old lover Antonio to obtain Portia whom he likes. Sexuality to him is a tool and he knows, even when he personally gets raked over the coals, that he will come out of it smelling like roses.
Portia remains an enigma even when explicit in her statements. The actress seems to excel at watchfulness and deliberate actions even when in the seeming throes of love at first sight. Better is Nerissa, a delightful imp with a mobile face that is a joy to watch.
But in the end it is Shylock who anchors the film as he anchors the text. Al Pacino is certainly up to the job although I disagree mightily with some of his vocal choices. I am petty and therefore would have my Shylock declaim a bit differently. His accent slips in and out (in fact, I am unsure what kind of accent he was trying to do) but that is a minor complaint in a film full of Englishmen pretending to be Italians. In the end, the performance is subsumed into the text and the audience is left with disturbing questions about Shakespeare himself.
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Sir John Gilbert, R.A.,
The Moneylenders
Reviews
|  | Royal Shakespeare Company
April 10, 2008 |  | Stratford Festival of Canada
August 3, 2007 |  | OVO at Trestle Arts Base
April 20, 2007 |  | California Shakespeare Theater
August 17, 2006 |  | MGM
2005 |  | Royal Shakespeare Company
1998 |  | William Poel
1898 |  | Junius Brutus Booth (1796-1852)
c. 1800 |  | John Philip Kemble (1757-1823)
1784 |  | Charles Macklin
c. 1740 |  | George Granville
1701 |
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