The Merchant of Venice (2004)

Voti degli utenti:

7.2/10   

Regista:

Michael Radford

Scrittori:

William Shakespeare (play)
Michael Radford (screenplay)

Data di uscita:

3 dicembre 2004 (UK)

Genere:

Drammatico

Plot:

In 16th century Venice, when a merchant must default on a large loan from an abused Jewish moneylender for a friend with romantic ambitions, the bitterly vengeful creditor demands a gruesome payment instead.

Plot Keywords:

Merchant | Jew | Loan | Love | Christian

Premi:

Nominated for BAFTA Film Award. Another 1 win & 5 nominations

Recensioni degli utenti:

When a director doesn't understand the script.

Cast

Al Pacino	...	Shylock
Jeremy Irons	...	Antonio
Joseph Fiennes	...	Bassanio
Lynn Collins	...	Portia
Zuleikha Robinson	...	Jessica
Kris Marshall	...	Gratiano
Charlie Cox	...	Lorenzo
Heather Goldenhersh	...	Nerissa
Mackenzie Crook	...	Launcelot Gobbo
John Sessions	...	Salerio
Gregor Fisher	...	Solanio
Ron Cook	...	Old Gobbo
Allan Corduner	...	Tubal
Anton Rodgers	...	The Duke
David Harewood	...	Prince of Morocco

Alias:

Il mercante di Venezia (Italy)
William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice (USA) (complete title)

MPAA:

Rated R for some nudity.

Durata:

138 min | Finland:134 min

Nazionalità:

USA | Italy | Luxembourg | UK

Lingua:

Inglese

Colore:

Colore

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sonoro:

Dolby Digital

Divieti:

Argentina:13 | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Zurich) | Mexico:B | Iceland:12 | South Korea:12 | Peru:14 | Brazil:14 | Canada:G (Quebec) | Finland:K-7 | Germany:12 | Hong Kong:IIB | Ireland:12 | Singapore:NC-16 | Sweden:7 | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | UK:PG | USA:R

Luoghi riprese:

Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg

Compagnia:

Spice Factory

Curiosità:

The bare-breasted prostitutes were not put in the film to make it more risqué, but rather to add a note of historical authenticity. Venetian law at the time required all prostitutes to bare their breasts because the Christian authorities were concerned about rampant homosexuality in their city.

Errori:

Continuità: When Portia and Nerissa arrive disguised as s judge and a clerk they have a letter with them. When the duke reads this letter out loud it can be clearly seen that there is also text written on the back of the letter. The duke, however, finishes reading the letter without turning the letter around.

Citazioni:

Shylock: I will buy with you, sell with you, talk with you, walk with you, and so following; but I will not eat with you, drink with you, nor pray with you.

Collegamenti:

incluso in 'Merchant of Venice': Shakespeare Through the Lens (2005) (V)

Colonna sonora:

How Sweet the Moonlight

When a director doesn't understand the script.

Watching this movie and then listening to the commentary, it's clear that Michael Radford doesn't understand this play. The first clue that he fails to fully grasp the work is that he takes pains to set the film in seventeenth-century Venice. Which sounds truly odd, yes, that misunderstanding the film would mean trying to make it as accurate to its location as possible. But anyone who's studied Shakespeare knows that, while he set most of his plays in exotic locals, the culture and values are always contemporary England. This doesn't hurt the film, but it displays a lack of necessary knowledge.

Where Radford kills the film is in making it so dead serious. He manages to suck every joke out of the script, leaving the whole production flat. Every ounce of passion is beaten out of the characters. Even Shylock's 'Do we not bleed' speech is a mild, awkward ranting from a choleric who seems to only be saying and doing what he does because he's supposed to. The lovers are solemn and far too restrained (Joseph Fiennes delivers some of the most romantic lines in the cinema this year in a barely audible whisper), Gratiano (who has to promise to behave at one point) is more sober and collected than Bassiano (who makes him promise to behave), Jessica is reluctant to leave her father and spends her life with Lorenzo pouting.

In the commentary for the bland and watered-down court scene, the director voices his shock that an audience laughed at Portia's 'A pound of flesh, no more, no less' sentence; ultimately concluding that it had to tension release laughter. 'The Merchant of Venice' is a comedy and Radford scoffs at the idea that the most absurd and hysterical portions of the story are anything but the most daringly provocative drama.

The film has no intelligible focus, yet cuts out some of the most entertaining scenes. The characters are forced into high drama veils, so they come out sounding like Ibsen characters reading Victorian poetry. And the comedic ending, where all of the good guys go to bed happy, is drowned in a dignified despair that feels like they're finding stiff- upper-lip peace with impending death, rather than reconciling with lovers. Even Lancelot and Antonio exit the film holding their hats like aristocratic mourners.

The film is poorly done because the creative powers that be don't understand the script. It is stern where it should hysterical. It is reserved where it should be passionate. It is Michael Radford where it should be William Shakespeare.