The Merchant of Venice (2004)
Genre: Drama / Thriller
Duration: 138 minuten
Country:
United States / Italy / Luxembourg / United Kingdom
Directed by: Michael Radford
Stars: Al Pacino, Joseph Fiennes and Lynn Collins
IMDb score:
7,0 (40.360)
Releasedate: 3 December 2004
The Merchant of Venice plot
The story of William Shakespeare tells of Portia, a wealthy heiress, whose suitor Bassanio, has money problems. This stands in the way of their young love and also endangers the life of a friend of Bassanio.
Actors and actresses
Shylock
Antonio
Bassanio
Portia
Jessica
Gratiano
Lorenzo
Nerissa
Lancelot Gobbo
Salerio
Reviews & comments
mister blonde
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- 12766 messages
- 5986 votes
What a positive surprise. I thought it might be the best Shakespeare adaptation I've seen. Well made and acted. The greatest credit is that Radford conveys the story well on the canvas. Perfectly taking those ingredients from the original story and making it work in the film. Really liked it very much. 4 big stars.
Translated from Dutch · View original
Film Pegasus (moderator films)
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- 31491 messages
- 5627 votes
The first proper film adaptation of Shakespeare's well-known work. The merchant of Venice was therefore a sensitive piece about Jews and Christians for a long time, which was not really appreciated after the war. But presumably Shakespeare meant otherwise. The story is full of satirical humor. Not only the two faiths, but also the nobility and eternal love are dragged through.
The film's approach is to use the old language. That feels a bit uncomfortable for a layman like me in the beginning, but it does feel good and gradually you are so involved in this renaissance theater. Pacino in particular shines in his role of the Jew Shylock and brings back the beautiful dialogues with great verve. It just shows his acting skills. But the rest of the cast is also doing well. This in combination with the beautiful setting and costumes that take you back in time.
The film is very pleasant to watch and captures the atmosphere of Shakespeare very well. You have to get into it and it's not Romeo & Juliet, but the story itself is also worth it. Curious what the playwright would think of it...
Translated from Dutch · View original
blurp194
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- 6015 messages
- 4496 votes
Not my favorite Shakespeare.
While the story is rock solid, the timing isn't right for me - a bit long-winded and at times it loses itself a bit too much in side issues. Maybe I wasn't in the right mood, that's also possible.
Fortunately, in the original texts, I think that is more or less a requirement when it comes to Shakespeare. It also shows how strong they are, even someone who has never heard of Shakespeare could recognize a few of the lyrics - I just mention Shylock's words when he asks 'If you prick us, don't we bleed'. Which, incidentally, evokes some uneasy parallels with the current hatred of bankers.
Well played beautifully. Especially Pacino, of course, though he's very close to overacting. But the rest of the cast is also in top form - more often in Shakespeare films, by the way. Apparently that gives an enormous extra motivation to make something beautiful out of it, and that certainly comes out here.
Translated from Dutch · View original
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