Pacino, Irons do great work in The Merchant of Venice, but is it enough?

The works of William Shakespeare have always proved to be a fertile ground for Hollywood productions. And why not -- they have gorgeous poetry, strong roles for both men and women, stories that cover both comedy and tragedy, and instant name recognition. To sweeten the deal, get some big names to take the leads, sumptuous production values, and this one should have been packing them in the theatres.

But this time, the formula didn't quite work. Perhaps it was the fact that this is in essence a very dark tragedy, even with the touches of comedy to be found in the courtship of Portia. But the underlaying message of anti-Semitism and revenge without judgement is also a bitter touch, and made the experience of watching this film a bit queasy for me.

In sixteenth century Venice, Jews are not just shunned by most of the population, they are forced to live in overcrowded, separate conditions (the word 'ghetto' was derived from the Venetian word for the Jewish quarter of the city), forbidden to own property, and forced to wear distinctive clothing -- in this case, a red hat. For one Jew, Shylock (Al Pacino), the only solaces in his life seem to be the companionship in the synagogue and the love he has for his daughter, Jessica (Zuleikha Robinson). But as we see in the opening sequences of the film, Jessica is about to betray him, running off with not just a young man, Lorenzo (Charlie Cox) but with a goodly portion of her father's wealth.

The one profession that Shylock has -- and indeed, it was the only profession for most Jews in the middle ages and Renaissance -- is lending money at high rates of interest. It's for this that two friends and businessmen, Antonio (Jeremy Irons) and Bassiano (Joseph Fiennes), come to visit. But Shylock already has a bone to pick with Antonio -- the Venetian spat on him in public, a bitter humiliation. But Antonio, who expects a fine profit from several ships that are coming in soon, thinks nothing of standing as surety for the loan of three thousand ducats to Bassanio so he can go and woo the lovely Portia (Lynn Collins). Shylock agrees to loan the money -- but if the loan is defaulted on, and not paid back within three months, he demands that Antonio surrender a pound of flesh instead.

Portia, who has to marry whichever man fits the demands of her father's will, is clever and witty, living in a palatial home on a small island. With her handmaiden, Nerissa (Heather Goldenhersh) she is independent and views her suitors as buffoons, but hopes that none of them picks the right casket. Indeed, we get to see two courtships play out, with the prince of Morocco and a Spanish grandee, with each of them chosing one of three caskets. Each one has a riddle inscribed on the lid, and inside is a prize. But which casket to choose -- gold, silver or lead?

Of course, it's pretty much a given that Bassiano will chose correctly, and soon he is wed to the beautiful Portia. But tragedy comes hard on the heels of the honeymoon, when Antonio suffers the loss of his ships, and Shylock, in pitiless revenge, decides that it is time to collect on the loan. In this one, as most of those who have either read the play or seen it, it's the ladies who come to the rescue when Antonio and Shylock have their time in court.

So onward toward the problems that I have with this film. It is highly unlikely that William Shakespeare personally knew anyone who was Jewish, being that Jews could not openly live in England until some time after Shakespeare died, and so must have gathered most of his information from various secondary sources. He was merely expressing the views that most people had towards Jews at the time -- namely that they were fair game for brutality, and deserved all the kicking around that they got for denying Christianity as the one true faith. They were money-grubbing, selfish and damned. But Shakespeare also included two of his most compassionate speeches in this play, namely Shylock's if you prick us, do we not bleed? and the famous the quality of mercy... It leaves the viewer with a rather questioning aspect of their own views on racism and our attitudes towards others.

Of the acting in this one, Al Pacino and Jeremy Irons stand out well. Pacino gives the character of Shylock the mein of a man pushed to the absolute limit by ill-treatment and the loss of his daughter, and decides to take revenge in the only way he can. Irons as Antonio is a man who makes one very bad mistake, and is about to lose his life for it -- but I also liked how his friendship with the much younger Bassiano is protrayed, that of a man who will do anything for his young protogee. Alas, Joseph Fiennes is not much more than a dressed up bit of cardboard as Bassiano; I had to wonder why he didn't have the means of his own to go woo Portia, or that she couldn't see the more sterling qualities of him, and let him choose without having to go heavily in debt.

As for the women, well, the character of Jessica has most of her role sliced out of the production. I had no idea as to why she would risk marrying out of her faith to a Christian, nor seems to feel any remorse from stealing from her father. But Zuleikha Robinson certainly looks pretty in the part. So does Lynn Collins as Portia. Again, we really don't get any idea of why she has to obey the conditions set by her father in that her suitor has to be the man who choses the right casket, and except for the big courtroom scene at the end, doesn't get much to do but look attractive and pining during the courtship sequences.

The production values are certainly worth it, as Venice is recreated. The costuming tends to be of the suspense type for the women -- the courtesans go about with bared nipples in various shots -- and the men certainly do look good in this one. But all the prettiness can't cover up what is at times a very ugly story.

The dvd version has a feature about the filming, as well as an alternate audio commentary from the director, Michael Radford, and Lynn Collins. The featurette have an interview with Al Pacino, and why he decided to take on the role of Shylock, despite his reservations about the part. There are also previews for similar films packed in, and the standard scene selections. The only subtitle included is in French, but not English, which would have really been handy for the more muddled bits of speech in the film.

Summing up, this was a film that I really wanted to like, but given the story and the underlying theme, I couldn't. Pacino does his best to make Shylock a sympathetic character, but given material, it's pretty much an impossible task. For the die hard Shakespeare or Pacino fans out there, but it's not one that I can recommend without reservations. There's very little nudity, no sex, some roughing up, and the imminent death of Antonio, so parents may want to be cautioned on this one. So, I give it three stars, despite the fact that this is Shakespeare.

Recommended, sort of.