The Merchant Of Venice Review

IMDb Rating: 7.1
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 72%
Notable Cast/Crewmembers: Joseph Fiennes, Jeremy Irons, Al Pacino, Lynn Collins, Kris Marshall, Michael Radford, Charlie Cox
Genre: Drama

It was okay.
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Bassanio needs money to travel to his lover, Portia. His friend Antonio makes a deal with the Jew Shylock to lend Bassanio the money. They agree that Shylock will receive one pound of Antonio's flesh if they fail to return the money on time. Of course, they can't give it back. In the meantime, Shylock's daughter Jessica elopes with a Christian, which does not soften Shylock in his deal with Antonio.
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We watched this in English class, because we are now learning about the Renaissance. In my opinion, it would've been better to show a different film, because I don't know an average fifth grade (grades are different in the Netherlands) that likes costume dramas. Though, I usually don't like them either, but I thought this one was okay. I'm not sure why, but it could be that Jeremy Irons and Al Pacino played much more natural than you'd expect in a Shakespearian film. Most of the time, the actors are only saying their lines, but they really acted with it.
Of course, I also don't like the antisemitism, but, as far as I'm aware, it is not entirely sure if Shakespeare meant it that way.
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Shylock: I am a Jew. Hath not a Jew eyes? hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions? fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases, healed by the same means, warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer, as a Christian is? If you prick us, do we not bleed? if you tickle us, do we not laugh? if you poison us, do we not die? and if you wrong us, shall we not revenge? If we are like you in the rest, we will resemble you in that. 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 villany you teach me, I will execute, and it shall go hard but I will better the instruction.
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-The Shy Hipster