The Merchant of Venice

2004
7| 2h12m| R| en| More Info
Released: 29 December 2004 Released
Producted By: Avenue Pictures
Country: United Kingdom
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Synopsis

Venice, 1596. Bassanio begs his friend Antonio, a prosperous merchant, to lend him a large sum of money so that he can woo Portia, a very wealthy heiress; but Antonio has invested his fortune abroad, so they turn to Shylock, a Jewish moneylender, and ask him for a loan.

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Reviews

ReaderKenka Let's be realistic.
Matialth Good concept, poorly executed.
FuzzyTagz If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.
Erica Derrick By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.
classicalsteve The phrase "a pound of flesh", written by William Shakespeare in "The Merchant of Venice", entered into the English lexicon by the 18th century. It refers to a vengeful payback for a debt or injustice. In the 16th-century story, the Jewish moneylender, Shylock (Al Pacino), loans 3000 ducats, a very hefty sum of money, to Antonio (Jeremy Irons), the merchant and title character. The bond stipulates if the 3000 ducats is not repaid on time, Shylock has the right to extract literally a pound of flesh from Antonio, rather than paying interest. The story concerns essentially three intersecting plots: the loan from Shylock to Antonio, the courtship of Antonio's friend Bassanio with the noblewoman Portia, and the elopement of Shylock's daughter Jessica.During the late Middle Ages and the Renaissance, Christians, be they moneylenders, tradesmen, or nobility, were not allowed to charge interest on debts, called usury. Those enacting usury could be fined themselves, imprisoned, or in some cases hanged. However, during the same period, Jews, who were exempt from being able to engage in many aspects of business, were allowed to charge interest on loans, one reason why Jews would eventually have a major presence in finance in modern times. Shakespeare's story begins when Antonio's friend Bassanio desires to woo Portia, a wealthy noblewoman and heiress who is shown in the film living on an island, presumably off the coast of Italy. Bassanio needs financing to make the journey to the island, so Antonio in turn borrows money from Shylock, the wealthy but ostracized Jew. Most of the story takes place in Venice with some scenes on Portia's island palace.Every character in Michael Radford's beautiful adaption of William Shakespeare's "comedy" (although more serious than many of his other comedies) is exquisitely cast. The stand-outs are Al Pacino as Shylock, the money-lending Jew, Jeremy Irons as Antonio, the merchant of Venice, Joseph Fiennes as Bassanio, the love-struck youth seeking Portia, and Lynn Collins as Portia, the single heiress whose stories of her beauty, wealth and availability have spread throughout Europe. According to the Will set forth by Portia's father, a suitor who desires Portia's hand must choose among three caskets/ornate boxes. The potential husband is told that one box contains Portia while the other two do not. If the suitor chooses correctly, he automatically wins Portia's hand in marriage. If he does not choose correctly, he must leave her presence never to return.From the Middle Ages all the way to circa 1800, Jews were marginalized in Europe. They had to wear special clothing to distinguish themselves from Christians. In Shakespeare's vision, Shylock is constantly harassed by Antonio, until, the latter needs money to help his friend Bassanio in his quest for Portia. Rather than charge interest on the debt if it's not repaid according to the agreement, Shylock desires "a pound of flesh" to be taken from Antonio's breast. He stipulates this in the bond or contract for the debt as payback for the many injustices inflicted upon Shylock simply because he is a Jew.Meanwhile, suitors are coming from all over Europe to attempt the "game" of the caskets to win Portia's hand. Simultaneously, Shylock's daughter, Jessica, has fallen in love with a Venetian Christian, against her father's wishes. The different story lines intersect and climax with the famous courtroom scene in which Shylock demands his "pound of flesh", arguing his case in a Venetian courtroom presided over by the Duke of Venice. One of the great masterpieces of English literature brought to the large screen with beautiful scenery, costuming and music which does justice to the era in which the story takes place.
generationofswine I'm sorry Al. I mean, I am stoked that you got to do Will on the big screen, I really am. I am ecstatic that it was one of my favorites and monumentally depressed that labor of loves like this only get a limited screening and small box office reviews.Who wants to see "The Merchant of Venice" anyway? So sayeth the Millennial.Clearly a lot of people do. I mean, how many centuries has it been in production? Is that were they got the name for the sports car? Who knows.The fact is that it was brilliant. Not totally true to the source, but close enough where you're going to sit back and be in Elizabethan bliss.Especially since, for us historians, films depicted so beautifully, as this one was, just reinforces the fact that Shakespeare was the Joss Wheadon of his day.It may be high brow today, but so is Dumas.The fact is, a film like "The Merchant of Venice" if done right, should give you the sense of Elizabethan pulp. You should be able to sit back and understand just how popular he was with the masses of the day. it should be funny and beautiful and dramatic and this film captured all of that. Not as action packed as Hamlet, but just as entertaining.And that was what Shakespeare tried to do, entertain us.
dallasryan Very good, solid film of Shakespeare's work. The directing is dynamic and the players in this film are well placed, therefore with all the interior shots that are going on, it still feels like there is a lot of space/room in the movie, when in actuality it's a lot of clustered interior shots ergo most of the actors probably feel like they are in a Cluster F99K most of the time. So the director did a great job at making it look like there wasn't much of a cluster. Excellent acting all the way down to the smallest of characters. I really enjoy watching Joseph Fiennes in these Shakespeare movies, I wish I saw more of him, he's a really good actor, but his forte is within the Shakespeare period. Plus Lynn Collins was terrific. I couldn't believe she was Dawn from True Blood and the wife of Hugh Jackman's Wolverine in the 2009 X-Men Origins: Wolverine film. A Very good actress. And also Pacino did not disappoint. A real treat with The Merchant of Venice.
TheLittleSongbird I was both excited and intrepid about seeing Merchant of Venice, excited because of the cast and intrepid because I worried the film wouldn't leave the cast much to work with. But I was surprised, apart from being overlong with a few scenes that looked as though they could've done with an edit I found The Merchant of Venice to be a very good film. It looks exquisite, the scenery and costumes as well the cinematography are some of the loveliest and sometimes even most ominous of any film I've seen recently. The soundtrack is just as beautiful, the story is just as compelling as the play with the courtroom scene and ring scene quite interestingly done and the writing is nuanced, intense and full of humanity considering the difficulty of adapting the play. Al Pacino is both angry and dignified of some of the best work of his of the past 15 or so years. Jeremy Irons also impresses in a suitably loyal, melancholic and in some way hypocritical(in regard to his religious bigotry) Antonio, while Lynn Collins is luminous as Portia and Joseph Fiennes proves here he is more than a handsome figure. Michael Radford directs with efficiency and sympathy also. In a nutshell, a very good movie, not my favourite Shakespeare-adapted film but worthy. 8/10 Bethany Cox