The Merchant Of Venice Details

WOW

for those of you who like shakespeare you won't be disappointed, for those of you who don't, think back to Romeo and Juliet. this film has the same impact. the acting is tremendous. the cast is a mixture of famous and infamous people from the theatrical world. the scenes are played tremendously well and it is easy to understand, even for those who would sooner watch the bourne supremecy.

[Highly rated reviewer]

superb.....................................

this is a superb film. In 1596 in Venice, the decadent centre of European culture, a young nobleman named Bassanio (played by Joseph Fiennes) has a plan to pay off his debts, and find happiness in love at the same time.

He wishes to marry wealthy young Portia (played by Lynn Collins), whose deceased father has dictated the method by which she will find a husband.

There is to be a contest. Potential suitors must choose between three caskets: a gold, a silver, and a lead box, each inscribed with a riddle.

The man who chooses correctly will have Portia's hand in marriage.

Bassanio asks his friend and mentor, the wealthy merchant Antonio (played by Jeremy Irons), for a loan to finance his trip to see Portia.

But Antonio has no cash on hand, so he offers to guarantee a loan for his friend from a Jewish usurer (or moneylender) named Shylock.

Embittered by his ill-treatment at the hands of gentiles, Shylock (played by Al Pacino) agrees to the loan -on the condition that Antonio guarantee it with a pound of his own flesh, if the 3,000 ducats are not paid in three months.

'The Merchant of Venice' is two stories loosely bound into one by some common characters and themes. There is the tragedy of Shylock and the romantic comedy of Bassanio and Portia.

In a sense, Shylock's story demonstrates what happens when people hang on to their hatred, while Portia's story shows what happens when they don't.

Shylock is one of Shakespeare's great tragic characters, and, as such, he is more a victim of his own flaws than of external forces. He is a flawed man living in a flawed society that amplifies his imperfection. 'The villainy you teach me, I will execute,' Shylock says. And in doing so, he brings everyone's faults to light. To say that Shylock is merely reacting to a lifetime of mistreatment would do Shakespeare and Shylock a disservice, though. If he were not fully in control of his actions, the play would have no point.

This film's great strength is the courtroom scene in which Shylock and Antonio appear before the Duke to find out if he will enforce the bond that requires Antonio to sacrifice a pound of his person.

'The Merchant of Venice' had something for everyone 5 centuries ago, and it's a testament to Shakespeare's talent that it still does. There is love, a beautiful young woman, and an undeniably funny challenge for her suitors. And there are hatred, bigotry, and one of Shakespeare's most complex and affecting characters.

Well worth watching, and would be a very good film to watch, for anyone studying Shakespeare for GCSE or A level English Literature.