Last night, I watched the movie adaptation of William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice, directed by Michael Radford, featuring Al Pacino, Jeremy Irons and Joseph Fiennes.
I read “The Merchant Of Venice” a long time ago, back when I was in school, I think, and I remember really liking it.
And as the guy I rent movies from is a big fan of Jeremy Irons and Al Pacino, he’s been pushing me to see this movie adaptation of it ever since he knew me. I heard the movie didn’t do that well, but eventually I gave in and rented it.
Now, I can see why it didn’t do that well; it’s not your usual commercial, popcorn movie.
The movie is a serious work of cinema that does its best to stick to the spirit of the play, recreating a decadent renaissance Venice with its fitting set of characters and places, not to mention the strict use of Shakespearean language.
I was impressed the most by Al Pacino’s performance in the role of Shylock, he did a great job, and really brought the character to life. You understand and feel sorry for him yet you hate him at the same time, and Al Pacino carries it perfectly.
I’m usually not really into movie adaptations of old plays or literary pieces, as they mostly turn out a bit boring, but this one was worth watching, because it was pretty well done and again because of Al Pacino’s performance.
My overall score for this movie would be: 6.5/10.
the movie was in limited release around christmas in 2004, which is one of the many reasons it didnt earn money.
but alpacino loves shakespeare apparently. i remember seeing a documentary he made a few years ago about King Richard (the second, i believe) and i think it was called Finding Richard. You should check that out. It has Alec Baldwin, Wyonna Ryder and all these other actors trying to put on this play.