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The Merchant of Venice
In 16th century Venice, in order to win a woman's heart, Bassanio is forced to make a deadly deal with pitiless moneylender Shylock (Al Pacino). Bassanio will get his money, and without paying interest. If he doesn't pay it back, however, he will owe Shylock a pound of his flesh.
1948, South Shields, Tyne and Wear, England, UK
8 December 1965, Birmingham, England, UK
1981, Bolton, Lancashire, England, UK
29 June 1977, London, England, UK
February 25, 2005
A vivid, engrossing and defensible Shakespeare adaptation, a period piece that truly has a feel for a time long past -- and a place and attitude that are not.
July 04, 2008
Pacino is at least dynamic, something harder to say about the women in the cast.
July 10, 2009
The text is wonderful, Radford's film has some fine performances from Jeremy Irons and Joseph Fiennes, and he makes good use of Venice locations.
September 26, 2005
It tilts so far in one direction that the comic elements seem to come from another, lesser film.
July 02, 2009
It is really a pleasure to watch a masterful actor like Al Pacino wring every nuance out of the multifarious character of Shylock.
February 18, 2005
Pacino's stentorian delivery and punctuating hands are almost parodistic, as likely to draw a chuckle as to elicit empathy.
June 12, 2009
We see what an actor's actor Pacino can be: he's careful and watchful; respectful of other actors' timing; and says his lines perfectly, resisting all temptation to grandstand.
March 10, 2005
Radford has rendered off the comedy to find the dramatic skeleton underneath. It is an approach that works stunningly well and is perhaps the only way the play can now be done.
June 05, 2009
A richly cinematic and robust rendition of Shakespeare's pre-political correctness play about the place of Jews in anti-Semitic 16th century Venice, Michael Radford's film takes delight in dramatics thus pulling us into the story.
January 03, 2011
Pacino seeks his pound of flesh as a tragic outsider.
June 24, 2006
This is Al Pacino's show, and thankfully his Shylock is absorbing enough to carry the day.
