Background
for Teachers
The
Merchant of Venice is a difficult play. I would recommend
the play and the film—which is rated R-- for advanced classes.
Shakespeare wrote The
Merchant of Venice (MV) as a comedy but readers and audiences
today find little to laugh at in this dark piece. Older
discussions of the play argue that it upholds the “Christian
values” of forgiveness, kindness, friendship, and generosity
(Craig 505). Tell that to Shylock, a Jewish
moneylender who is physically and verbally brutalized, and,
at the play’s close, divested of his fortune by powerful
Venetian Christians.
Director
Michael Radford faced an extraordinary challenge in bringing MV
to audiences in 2004. Faithful in the main to the text
of MV, Radford’s film departs significantly from the spirit
of the original, offering a nuanced and atmospheric interpretation
of Shakespeare’s play through photography, costumes, and
lighting. Ultimately, we have two different texts in the
play and the film—and both are products of their historical
milieu. It is likely that Shakespeare knew no Jews in London
as they had been expelled
from the country at the end of the 13th century (following decades
of restrictions on their activities). His ideas about Jewish people
were derived from texts that were rabidly anti-semitic. Perhaps
most influential was Christopher Marlowe’s The
Jew of Malta (1589).
As
a 21st century filmmaker, Radford had the option of using the
medium of film to challenge--or cannibalize--the play. The
irony here is delicious. In essence, the film version of The
Merchant of Venice turns Shakespeare’s Christians into
debauched profligates and Shylock into a man horribly wronged
by his associates, his family, and his state. When we last see
him he is broken, homeless, and childless—and then, to force
the issue, Radford cuts away to the fairyland of Belmont where
all is romance, music, and Christian camaraderie. In that edit,
there is, for this viewer anyway, a world of meaning.
Viewing
Notes for MV*
(We would not recommend showing this film without first reading
the play with students. It is impossible for students to discuss
Radford’s debt to Shakespeare or his departures from the
original text without the experience of the play under their belts,
so to speak.)
*Because
students will here be watching the entire film, we are offering
Viewing Notes, as opposed to Viewing Suggestions.
01:00:00
The play opens with text describing the political and cultural
conditions under which Venetian--and by extension, European—Jews
lived. “Intolerance,” Radford tells us, “was
a fact of life.” “By law,” we learn, Jews
were forced to live in “ghettos.”
They could not own property or enter the professions and so they
resorted to money-lending with interest. The text situating
Jews in history dissolves and the next scene has a Jewish man
being pitched off a bridge. We cut to the throng of men gathered
on the crest of the bridge. One man (Antonio [Jeremy Irons])
passes another (Shylock [Al Pacino]) and spits in his face. The
last image in this sequence is a powerful one--that of a burning
Torah. The director has set the historical stage carefully.
Not just intolerance but brutality was a “fact of life”
for the Jews of Venice.
Of
course, there is no such contextualization in Shakespeare.
The play begins with Antonio’s self-involved speech about
his inexplicable sadness: “In sooth, I know not why
I am so sad. . .” (I, i, 1-22). While Radford’s opening
text prepares us to enter a hostile world and becomes the lens
through which everything that follows is viewed, Shakespeare’s
focus is immediately on his merchant, the sad Antonio—with
whom we are supposed to align ourselves and for whom we are supposed
to care. (The film has already begun to consume the text
to which it is indebted!)
Students
should take note of the editing techniques from 0:00:00 to
0:05:49 for they constitute a kind of commentary as Radford
shifts his focus from Christian to Jewish subjects. Jews
are at prayer, while non-Jews walk the streets in garish costumes
and grotesque masks (and women wear dresses that expose much of
their breasts). One man goes off a bridge and another spits
in the face of a passer-by. The Torah burns and then Antonio speaks
of his sadness (which, if we follow his gaze out a window, seems
to have something to do with the good-looking Bassanio, played
by Joseph Fiennes). Students should not miss these juxtapositions--accomplished
through extraordinary editing.
0:09:19
Bassanio’s problem is now the film’s focus as we move
into the exposition
(that part of the film or play where we get the information we
need to make sense of the action). Having squandered his
fortune on extravagant living, he needs money to woo Portia, a
rich heiress who presides over the small but wealthy kingdom of
Belmont. Portia’s suitors are all men of means (and
title). Bassanio hints that if he can win Portia, he will
have a way to discharge his “great debts.” Antonio
agrees to help Bassanio, for whom he clearly has strong feelings.
His willingness to fund Bassanio’s project with Portia is
hindered by the fact that Antonio’s money is tied up in
merchandise at sea. He tells Bassanio to arrange for a loan with
the ships and goods to be held as collateral. A grateful Bassanio
leaves to work out the particulars of the loan.
Students
should note the use of tight and medium shots in this section
of the film as well as mise-en-scene details. Medium
shots establish that we are in Antonio’s bedchamber. We
begin to understand the dynamics of the relationship between Antonio
and Bassanio with the assistance of the tight shots in particular.
Antonio has strong feelings for Bassanio; we see the depth of
his regard when the camera frames his face. Bassanio, for
his part, seems to understand Antonio’s feelings; tight
shots enable us to see his simpering.
Several
quick edits follow taking us to Belmont and back to Venice. We
glimpse a still sad Antonio on a gondola and then shift to Shylock
in the marketplace. By 0:30:00-0:31:00, we know the simple
terms of the Antonio’s bond with Shylock (a pound of flesh
to be taken from whatever part of Antonio’s body Shylock
chooses). We know as well that Jessica, Shylock’s
daughter, plans to elope with Lorenzo, a non-Jew and friend of
both Bassanio and Antonio. She also plans to convert, “becoming
Christian [and] Lorenzo’s loving wife.”
0:31:05-0:43:00
It is evening and Shylock has left to finalize his agreement with
Antonio and Bassanio. As a long shot shows Shylock walking into
the Venetian night, Jessica says, “Farewell, you have a
daughter lost.” The line suggests her identification with
the Christians and begins the brutalization of Shylock at the
hands of his daughter. It might be productive to stop the film
here for a discussion of the director’s technical choices,
particularly camera angle and mise-en-scene details.
As Shylock walks into the night, the camera shoots down on him
from his villa. Jessica watches him disappear into the night
and thus the film opens up an opportunity for a good discussion
of the POV shot.
Shylock’s
departure gives Jessica a way to get out of the villa unnoticed,
except by Lorenzo, who has provided a gondola for their departure.
Shylock returns home to find his daughter gone and jewelry (including
a turquoise ring he bought for his now-dead wife) missing. He
cries and moans pitiably. (Pacino is at his best in these scenes
where he communicates through gesture, facial expression, and
inarticulate utterances.) An edit takes us to Bassanio whose fortunes
are looking up as he leaves for Belmont (with Antonio locked in
as his surety). Students should note contrast to Shylock’s
situation.
0:52:00
(approx.)-1:12:50 We get the news that Antonio’s
ships have gone down. The tempo of the film increases at this
point. The Christians are engaged in an orgy when Shylock arrives
claiming that they knew of Jessica’s plans to leave.
If indeed Antonio must make good on his debt, it will be the pound
of flesh that Shylock will exact. It is in this section
of the film that Shylock makes his famous speech, “Hath
not a Jew eyes.” In discussions of the play, students will
often refer to this speech [I, iii, ll.55-76] to make their argument
that MV is not anti-semitic. And indeed this powerful
speech does underscore Shylock’s status as an outsider.
But the bulk of the play villainizes Shylock and exonerates the
non-Jews. The Christians make jokes at Shylock’s expense
and Shakespeare assumes that we will laugh with them. (Radford’s
film makes no such assumption.) The Christians profess a belief
in generosity of spirit and forgiveness. Shylock insists
on his pound of flesh. The preponderance of evidence in the play
cannot be explained away. Shakespeare assumes that we will align
ourselves with the non-Jews against Shylock.
1:12:52
Bassanio arrives in Belmont and is successful in his suit to win
Portia, who quickly gives both herself and everything she owns
to her betrothed. Bassanio hears of Antonio’s troubles
and leaves for Venice (after a quick marriage ceremony to seal
the deal with Portia). Before he leaves Bassanio tells Portia
of his debt to Antonio. Portia decides to go to Venice herself
in disguise to see if she can’t help in some way.
Bassanio has no knowledge of her plan.
1:17:50-1:54:00
Shylock insists on his bond. Antonio is horrified but resigned.
Students should note the ways in which Radford foregrounds Antonio’s
vulnerability. Framing, color contrasts, and mise-en-scene
details make Antonio seem powerless and Shylock strong.
The court sequence begins. Portia (who travels as a male
legal scholar Balthazar) appears in disguise. She begins
to catechize Shylock. This must have been a difficult section
for Radford because, true to the play, Shylock will not show mercy.
He sharpens his knife in preparation for the “surgery.”
Ultimately, Portia/Balthazar argues that Shylock may exact his
penalty, but he can take only flesh, not draw “Christian
blood.” In essence, then, Christian casuistry makes
it impossible for Shylock to go forward. In fact, at this point--1:42:32--things
begin to unravel quickly for Shylock. He agrees not to remove
the pound of flesh but will instead take the 6,000 ducats offered
earlier in lieu of the body mass. Balthazar declines (no
explanation for this). Shylock is now an “alien”
who tried to “move against a Venetian citizen.”
Immediately, one half of his estate is seized—for Antonio.
Shylock begs for mercy, but the court will have none of it. Unless
he converts to Christianity, the other half of his estate will
go to the Venetian state. Antonio steps forward to say that his
portion should go to Jessica and Lorenzo (who remained in Belmont).
Shylock is a broken, miserable man. We last see him, alone
in the courtroom. The camera pulls back for a full body
shot as the doors to the room shut. That is it for Shylock.
His options are horrendous—keep some fraction of estate
by converting, or remain Jewish and lose the world.
1:55:00-2:00:46
Belmont homecoming. The victorious Christians return. Relationships
are consummated. Antonio, still inexplicably sad, has returned
to Belmont with Bassanio. Portia unmasks herself. Everyone
rushes to bed. Interestingly, the last scene in the film
shows a somber Jessica looking down at the turquoise ring she
stole from her father. Fade out.
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