Customer Reviews

The Merchant of Venice / Trevor Nunn, Royal National Theatre

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

If you are a fan of The Merchant of Venice but were disappointed by Al Pacino's Shylock this DVD may be for you. Henry Goodman brings a grounded and passionate honesty to the role that Pacino sorely lacked. Although, I was not impressed by David Bamber as Antonio (boring) or Derbhle Crotty as Portia (lacking any real substance; Raymond Coulthard as the Prince of Arragon is historical and steals his scene. The show worked better on stage than it does as a filmed version but it is still well worth a viewing.

As all of the other reviews seem to agree, I find this production to be magnificently performed, shot, and produced. In fact, the only problem the other reviews seem to state is the anti-Semitism present in the play.

In fact, many Shakespearean scholars disagree with this analysis, citing The Merchant of Venice as Shakespeare's tongue-in-cheek to contemporary Christopher Marlowe's anti-Semitic The Jew of Malta. Unlike Marlowe's play, Shakespeare paints all of the characters as very grey. There are no black and whites or absolutes here; Shylock has enough motive to be sympathized with (even if he takes things too far), and the other characters lack virtue enough that they cannot be seen as clear protagonists or heroes versus Shylock. In fact, Shakespeare through Shylock offers a case for equal treatment under the law, touching upon the cruelty exacted on the Jewish community by the Christian state of Vienna ("If a Jew wrong a Christian, what is his humility? Revenge. If a Christian wrong a Jew, what should his sufferance be by Christian example? Why, revenge. The villainy you teach me I will execute, and it shall go hard but I will better the instruction.")


The writing in this is fantastic, and the themes were revolutionary in Shakespeare's time. I feel that many others who have reviewed this have either misunderstood the play, or have failed to examine it carefully. It is certainly a masterpiece that more decries anti-Semitism than encourages it.

I can't decide if I love or hate this production. The acting is amazing, don't get me wrong. The sets are amazing. In reality, this play was done in a theatre resembling a stadium with the stage running down the middle of the auditorium, the wings on either side, and the audience on the left and right of the stage. That's why it looks so complex that you'd think, "how could they have done this onstage." The walls were built in later, I guess. But, here's where I can't decide whether I hate it or love it. This is one of Shakespeare's most controversial plays. It's probably his most controversial. Why? Because the Anti-Semitic content is more evident than it will ever be in Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ." And I mean no offense by this remark. I'm not saying that "The Passion of the Christ" isn't anti-semitic or that the Jews killed Jesus. I condemn anti-setism but I haven't seen that movie so therefore, I just don't get it entirely. I should know. I'm half-Jewish.

When I first read the play, I'm ashamed to say that this was my reaction. My first image of Shylock was a hunched-over, grumpy, little old man in [...]long robes and a long beard. His eyes were very leering (in my head) and he was much like those grumpy men you see in cartoons. I think he had a cane. In his last scene, I envisioned him shuffling off. I smiled. I thought he was a villain. So I was happy at the end when all was resolved. But then I did some more research on this play. I had only read it once before. They make him convert to Christianity!? That's an extremely anti-semitic act. Around the time that "The Passion of the Christ" was booming at the box office, I heard that a film adaptation of the play would be released the following year starring Al Pacino as Shylock, I thought, "God, hasn't the movie industry dealt with enough controversy." It didn't cause as big a stir as I anticipated.

Now, about this version. Trevor Nunn gives not an evil and plotting Shylock but a bitter and angry Shylock, a complex Shylock. Nunn is a master at shattering stereotypes. He presents with a Shylock who has dealt with years of anti-semititic behavior (for lack of a better word) directed towards him and his race. So we see his motivations. Also, we feel more for him when we see him in his yamurlke or setting up the lamp outside his house or conversing with his daughter, Jessica in Yiddish or singing with her in Hebrew (I can only wonder what that song meant but I like to think it's a song about happier times). Then, just as he is about to cut the pound of flesh from Antonio, his friend, Tubal, starts to leave the courtroom and gives Shylock a look that for me says, "This race has been through so much crap. Why do you want to make it worse for us, Shylock? Is it worth it?" It's moments like that that make this production so powerful and controversial for me. The sight of Shylock ripping off his traditional garments is chilling as is his exit of the courtroom. Everything's in silence. The ending also has its share of stereotypes. Basically, if you do the play and you do it so that Shylock looks like the villain, it's a happy ending for fans of anti-semitic entertainment because everyone's all happy, including Shylock's daughter. Instead, Nunn gives us an ending of uncertainty. Jessica backs away from the group. Portia notices that something is wrong and starts to converse about the coming of the day. For the first time in this production, it seems like a gloomy day is on the horizon. Meanwhile, Jessica breaks into that same Hebrew song. She is on the verge of tears. The film ends as thunder rumbles in the heavens as if to symbolize uncertainty.

I didn't get that ending at first. I thought Jessica was mourning for her father or asking forgiveness from her race. However, Nunn's interpretation is that by singing this song, she's saying, "You may have broken a Jewish man but his daughter's still around and she won't take the crap he had to take every day of his life." It's a haunting ending. The characters seem to be reminded of their sins.

All in all, as I write this review, I've decided that this production is powerful, not anti-Semitic. Nunn has given us a version of the play that should be considered the definitive production of the play. And now for the performances.

Henry Goodman deserved his Olivier for the part of Shylock. Had the production been brought to Broadway, he would have certainly won the Tony. He steals the show. Derbhle Crotty is a sassy and sexy Portia and looks just like she's been picked out of an old 30s [...]photo albumthis production being set in the 30s. Those were my two favorite performances. I particularly liked Nerissa's singing voice and I think she looks like Imelda Staunton a.k.a. the lady who played Vera Drake. Finally, while this production is powerful, it is funny, especially when the two princes are onstage. (Arragon does a flamenco dance. It's pointless but it helps define his character.)So, get this DVD and decide for yourself if you love it or hate it. And log on to the PBS website. They've got some stuff on this production 'cause it was on Masterpiece Theatre.

Shakespeare likely intended The Merchant of Venice as a comic fable about the love of money and money for love. It has since become a warning against bigotry. The comedy remains, only much darkened by recent history. Shylock the Jewish financier and Antonio the Christian royal merchant are joined in mutual loathing. It is not just business, it is personal. When Shylock loses, the punishment goes too far.

In 1600 England, when church and state were intimate and intolerance flourished, many could see a benefit in Shylock's forced conversion to Christianity. Prejudice has since lessened ... we hope. Now, enduring memory of the Nazi Holocaust requires this play to confront hostility against Jews.

Trevor Nunn ingeniously sets the scene in 1920s pre-war Venice, an era of frenzied celebration, sexual freedom, financial boom, and political foreboding. There is a vague dread, a sense that the party is ending, a hint of the rise of Fascism and the coming terror.

In Venice money's purpose is to breed money, whether interest on loans or venture of capital for profit. Shylock's loan allows weary Antonio to show his love for dear friend and prodigal borrower Bassanio, and it is an investment that may allow Bassanio to repay his debts. The money buys Bassanio passage from Venice to Belmont in a quest for great wealth by marriage to a rich heiress, Portia.

The play opens late-night in an abandoned cabaret. Deserted tables wait for partygoers to taste the wine, hear the band, and blow their horns. Barren walls, smoke, and dim lights belie the festivity. Antonio is weary. He knows that Portia is a rival for Bassanio's affection. Dark shadows hide the Venetian streets, the cabaret, and Shylock's house. There is one primary color in Venice, the color of money, sometimes bright, more often a darkly tarnished silver.

Shylock is as merciless as any loanshark, a harsh employer, and a tyrannical parent. When daughter Jessica elopes with his money, he wishes her dead at his feet. And yet, Shakespeare balances the character with glimpses of his humanity, the grinding prejudice, and his total humiliation in court. Actor Henry Goodman's sympathetic interpretation of Shylock is a masterpiece, and our knowledge of the coming Nazi terror, moves us to pity, as we also pitied Olivier's Shylock in John Sichel's 1973 National Theater production.

In lavish Belmont the purpose of money is the good life. Of the many colors that adorn Portia's Belmont, the most visible is gold. Nunn chose painter Gustav Klimt's murals to decorate the mansion's walls. His erotic, Byzantine-mosaic inspired works shimmer with gilt. Klimt's Belmont was a sophisticated, sensual, pleasure-palace.

Portia, well acted by Derbhle (pronounced 'Dervla') Crotty seems modeled on Klimt's "Portrait of Adele Bloch Bauer," whose wealthy Jewish family fled the Nazis. Derbhle wears Adele's clinging gown, has the same flawless pale complexion contrasting sharply with dark eyes, red lips, and jet black hair. Portia is weary. Unlike Antonio, who fears losing his dear friend, Portia is bored with her wealth and wants a suitable lover.

Gabrielle Jourdan achingly acts the part of run-away Jessica. While happy to be with her husband, she grieves the loss of her culture. This interpretation fits well with the play's critique of prejudice. To end the play Nunn has her sing a mournful jewish folk song. The song expresses her loss and what is to be lost during the Holocaust. The closing notes are even more touching than Olivier's incredible off-stage wail after he was broken at trial.

Jessica is homesick, but she will not return to her past abuse. In Belmont she now lives as Portia's elegant companion, quite at home in one of Klimt's luxurious paintings.

Trevor Nunn has created a memorable, subtle, and beautiful Merchant of Venice, well worth viewing, and a worthy successor to Sichel's version. Many adaptations of Shakespeare try to reflect the values and historical debates of their time. This one succeeds very well.

I watched this production not long after watching the Al Pacino one (which is very slick but with abridgement) and felt disappointed. First, the sound quality is poor and very uneven - I had to keep the remote to hand so as I could adjust the volume - Shylock, though he played the part well, was particularly hard to understand at times. I think the main issue was that it was difficult to warm to the characthers. Antonio was foppish (if that is the right word) - incidentally he is the chap who played the irritating vicar in the 1990s excellent BBC production of Pride and Prejudice - indeed, I recognised him almost immediately by his mannerisms which are carried over into Antonio. Nor did I particularly like either Bassanio or Portia. But, the key issue here was lack of warmth - I simply was not moved by the great scenes (I am thinking of the great speech by Portia, as the Doctor of law, on the quality of mercy).

I'm still searching for THE version to use in my classroom that will do the job. This was extremely boring and hard to follow. The Al Pacino version was much better as far as interesting to watch. This version does a much better job of following the original intent of the play and not getting caught up in political correctness. Safe to show in your classroom, but be prepared for your students to sleep through it.

The works of William Shakespeare are rightly hailed as the pearls of English literature. Alas, in any collection of pearls there is one that is misshapen. This is that one.

The story centers around a man who must borrow a sum of money from a Jew for the sake of a friend. Instead of charging interest, the Jew demands a pound of flesh if his bond is forfeited. This has often been played in such a manner as to depict jewry in general and Shylock (the Jew) in particular as evil money grubbing people who wish nothing so much as the painful demise of Christians. There are other subplots but this is the crux of the story which reaches a climax when the pound of flesh is demanded.

The story is blantantly anti-Semetic. This production, however, goes some distance in redeeming it. The cruelty and discrimination which plagued Shylock's people are made evident in this production. It is easy to see how, in his torment, Shylock is driven towards revenge. So too are many of the "Christians" depicted in a less than flattering light. Both sides of the story are so driven by their respective hatreds and predjudices that it is difficult to have much sympathy for either. In the end it is the women, another group mistreated by the age, that manage to temper harsh justice with some degree of mercy.

This production is magnificent, though non traditional. It is set in Europe at about the time of the Great Depression. Taking Shakespeare out of its normal temporal bounds is done fairly often but does not always work well. In this case it does. The sets are approached in a minimalist manner but are adequate to the task. It has the feel of a stage production while still being clearly produced for the cinema. It is done with understated elegance.

So too is the acting of the highest caliber. Each of the principle parts is portrayed with a passion which almost makes up for the unlikeability of the characters.

This production is at time painful to watch because it is so good. It highlights some of the worst features of men but does so in an engaging manner.

This updated version of "The Merchant of Venice" has some marvelous acting-- especially by Henry Goodman, who plays Shylock, showing his character as conniving but understandable and tragic all at the same time. The updated time period works, although it seems a bit of an anachronism to have people dressed in 1930's clothing speaking sixteenth century English. The sets are beautiful and would have been great for a cabaret era film. I have seen other Shakespearean plays done this way, and I have enjoyed them very much. The lines of the characters in this version are well preserved as is most of the play-- even when the time and setting are changed. However, it would have been interesting (and perhaps better) to see how this production would have been done in the traditional way with all of the same performers.

This Royal National Threatre production is an excellent presentation of one of Shakespeare's most controversial plays. I was riveted for the whole performance, which is what a good production of Shakespeare should do. Although it does not have the same production values as a Branagh production (it is more of a stage production on film), the acting and direction are suberb. Henry Goodman as Shylock delivers an especially strong performance and won an award for it. The setting in the pre-War period really works, unlike many other transpositions of Shakespeare I have seen, and the sets, with its use of contemporary art, though minimal, also work. I highly recommend this DVD.

This is a typical but well-done modern production, with far more sympathy for Shylock than the original text intended. The setting is pre-fascist Italy, with Portia's Belmont estate handsomely modeled after the art of Klimt. The interaction between Goodman's passionate, intelligent Shylock and Bamber's masochistic, hysterical Antonio is especially intense. There's a powerful moment when Shylock and his daughter share a Hebrew song; it has absolutely nothing to do with Shakespeare's play, but it's beautiful and poignant. The final courtroom scene contrasts well with the same scene in the BBC production (available in the "Comedies of William Shakespeare" 5-pack).