The Merchant of Venice

Two reasons to watch this film: 1) Pacino's amazing performance as Shylock. The film comes alive whenever he is on screen and falters whenever he isn't. His portrayal is pitiful and wretched, cruel and merciless... but at the same time sympathetic and compassionate. 2) The wonderful mise-en-scène. The dark streets, the moonlit canals, the beautiful castles, the lighting, the costumes. It looks amazing.

Although I only watched this as revision for an exam, the great acting from the majority of the cast, particularly Pacino, was good enough to hold my interest. A decent adaption as well, although it focuses a little heavily on the possible homosexual relationship between Bassanio and Antonio which I don't think is right, and certain events were unnecessarily added which may mislead the viewer into thinking that these things happened, when in reality, meaning in the play itself, they didn't.

some would call it a tale, me I call it a drama

Significant drop on a rewatch, more than 15 years later. Initially, I believed Radford had succeeded in navigating the problematics of the source material. However, upon a re-viewing, I am not convinced. Surely, Pacino plays Shylock with great sympathy. However, the story is so aligned with the Venetian "Christians" that once Shylock is defeated, they go off to joke about cuckoldry and get some (including a forced inheritance to Shylock's disobedient daughter).

Fantastic performances, great sets and such. Great adaptation of a classic.

The trial scene was fantastic; Pacino was an amazing Shylock.

Pacino's incredible, sad, wizened and emotionally raw and harrowing interpretation of Shylock distinguish an otherwise dutiful Shakespeare film, which is unable to reconcile the flaws inherent to the original play, including following two different stories with markedly different tones, and the ultimately offensive anti-semitism present (especially in Shylock's downfall scene which makes it particularly painful to watch). The entire cast is superb though, with Irons especially standing out.

For those who have enjoyed the play, or merely enjoy well-made period pieces, The Merchant of Venice provides all of the visual delights and fine acting performances to delight all but the most purist of Shakespeare admirers.

Dissapointing. But have come to expect this from newer Pacino material.

a descent adaptation.. jeremy irons is still better than pacino though

law is overrated

I'm an anti-fan of today's Al Pacino, but this is an alright adaptation. They got all the plot points on screen in the right order, so I guess they did a good job.

Pretty good. Zuliekha Robinson is darkly luminous as Jessica. (But then I'm a passionate "Lone Gunmen" fan)

The movie version of Shakespeare's take on semantics is even duller and more foolish than the original. It feels lifeless and pointless, and from a certain point, nausea is climbing through the throat.

Very pretty but lacks an emotional whallop, yes even from Pacino as the Shylock.

This is a great Shakespeare adaptation. Pacino is dead on as Schylock, as is the rest of the cast.

An enjoyable rendition of Shakespeare's classic tale, with am excellent performance from Al Pacino.

Great Al Pacino movie.

Al Pacino's strongest role in years. The film is not particularly memorable but the nuanced portrayal of Shylock is as close as you will get to the actual Shakespearian interpretation on film.

08.04.2015, Yurt

Very good screenplay work of Shakespeare and there for is assumed that is good movie. If we append good grope actor we then have splendid movie. And again proof that Al Pacino is marvelous actor...

Al Pacino is unrecognizable... but that doesn't make his unhinged over-the-top performance enjoyable. At least he doesn't mumblespeak his important lines like so many of the leads. Spanish prince was the highlight, but it wasn't enough to make this worth watching.

A nice adaptation! But why Joseph Fienes?

What I find to be a real shame about this adaptation is that it sometimes finds it too necessary to stick to Shakespeares lines in stead of relying on it's very powerful visual storytelling. That last shot of Pacino as Shylock is perhaps one of the most clear images of despair I've seen on film, and not a single word is uttered in the entire scene.

24/11/2010 watching it took more of my concentration than I could afford.

71.000

This movie left me moved for several days. But it was not the typical Shakespearian love story. It was the despise and yet sense of pity for Shylock the Jew (almost perfectly played by Al Pacino). Although a loathsome character in some ways i could not help to be moved by him. I felt that i completely understood the character somehow, the sadness, the despair.

Pacino is great, but the film is uneven.