The Merchant of Venice

Drama | English | 131 minutes

Info

In 16th-century Venice, Bassanio, a young Venetian, is planning to travel to Belmont to woo the beautiful and wealthy Portia. Bassanio approaches his friend Antonio for a loan to pay for his trip. Antonio’s cargo ships are at sea so he lacks the funds. To help Bassanio, Antonio decides to borrow the money from Shylock, a local money-lender. Because Antonio spat on and insulted Shylock a few days earlier, a revengeful Shylock stipulates if the loan is not repaid by a certain date, Shylock will receive a pound of Antonio’s flesh. All of Antonio’s ships are lost at sea and he cannot repay Shylock by the due date. An outraged Portia, now Antonio’s wife, petitions the court to nullify the contract since she is offering to settle the loan. Will Shylock render mercy and accept Portia’s offer or will he extract from Antonio what he feels he’s owed: a pound of Antonio’s flesh.

Cast

Al Pacino (Shylock) / Jeremy Irons (Antonio) / Joseph Fiennes (Bassanio) / Lynn Collins (Portia)

Why Stream This Film?

Many find Shakespeare’s depiction of the money-lending Shylock to be anti-Semitic. It might be a reason why this brilliant play is not performed more frequently. In this production, Michael Radford shrewdly introduces text and montages of how the Jewish community was abused by Christians in Venice. Jews became money-lenders because they were prohibited from participating in other forms of work.

Rotten Tomatoes Score (Critics Consensus): 71%
Metacritic Score: 63