Merchant of Venice
Feb. 20th, 2005 09:10 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
matilda36Last night, we had a "nice family outing" to see the Merchant of Venice.
Good things: Al Pacino was a god as usual. The actresses who played Portia and Jessica were pretty good too. Kris Marshall is growing nicely as an actor, even when playing a total jerk. I liked the customs and stage settings (even if the historical details are a bit mixed up, but this may well be Shakespeare fault. And the director manage to make some good points about racism using a very poor text.
Now for the bad things: Joseph Fiennes'hair. They are bad, very bad. Nearly as bad as his acting. Jeremy Irons spends all his parts of the film making his kicked dog face. Nothing else. The rest of the actors are your average Shakespearean fare.
Now, for the very, very, bad. One of the greatest mysteries in the Universe is "Why is Shakespeare considered one of the greatest writers ever?"
If you do not know it, the basic story is that of three James Hewitt style cads, full of themselves and nothing else, who, under the protection of Antonio, hypocritical bigoted older queen, put together a plan to ensure themselves a nice future, by marrying some rich girls. Only that their plan involves ruining the life of Shylock, a Jewish money lender already embittered by the treatment his community and himself are receiving by the christians. Robbed of his money and his daughter, Shylock quest for justice ends with him being robbed of his dignity, pride and religion, while the scoundrels enjoy the high life with his money. But he is a Jew so it doesn't matter.
Leaving aside the plot holes, the hypocrisy, the vapidity of the so called good characters and the racism, the most appalling things is the language.
You know that the boys are having more fun amongst themselves than with the girls, but even so, Shakespeare feels the need to submerge us with a sea of fake, repetitive and cliche` ridden lovely dovely talk, that made me want to puke. This desire was increased by the tribunal scene when an incredible amount of rubbish about clemency, dignity and love was thrown at the audience by the most hypocritical of characters. The only saving grace was Al Pacino, able to cut through Shakespeare crap simply using his face.
So, go to see the film, because it is a good film, shame on the screenplay (and Joseph Fiennes hair)
N.B. I am a devoted slasher and not an homophobe at all, but even if Bassanio/Antonio is pure slash, I would never, ever read/write them. Because their are soo cliched to be homophobic.
Good things: Al Pacino was a god as usual. The actresses who played Portia and Jessica were pretty good too. Kris Marshall is growing nicely as an actor, even when playing a total jerk. I liked the customs and stage settings (even if the historical details are a bit mixed up, but this may well be Shakespeare fault. And the director manage to make some good points about racism using a very poor text.
Now for the bad things: Joseph Fiennes'hair. They are bad, very bad. Nearly as bad as his acting. Jeremy Irons spends all his parts of the film making his kicked dog face. Nothing else. The rest of the actors are your average Shakespearean fare.
Now, for the very, very, bad. One of the greatest mysteries in the Universe is "Why is Shakespeare considered one of the greatest writers ever?"
If you do not know it, the basic story is that of three James Hewitt style cads, full of themselves and nothing else, who, under the protection of Antonio, hypocritical bigoted older queen, put together a plan to ensure themselves a nice future, by marrying some rich girls. Only that their plan involves ruining the life of Shylock, a Jewish money lender already embittered by the treatment his community and himself are receiving by the christians. Robbed of his money and his daughter, Shylock quest for justice ends with him being robbed of his dignity, pride and religion, while the scoundrels enjoy the high life with his money. But he is a Jew so it doesn't matter.
Leaving aside the plot holes, the hypocrisy, the vapidity of the so called good characters and the racism, the most appalling things is the language.
You know that the boys are having more fun amongst themselves than with the girls, but even so, Shakespeare feels the need to submerge us with a sea of fake, repetitive and cliche` ridden lovely dovely talk, that made me want to puke. This desire was increased by the tribunal scene when an incredible amount of rubbish about clemency, dignity and love was thrown at the audience by the most hypocritical of characters. The only saving grace was Al Pacino, able to cut through Shakespeare crap simply using his face.
So, go to see the film, because it is a good film, shame on the screenplay (and Joseph Fiennes hair)
N.B. I am a devoted slasher and not an homophobe at all, but even if Bassanio/Antonio is pure slash, I would never, ever read/write them. Because their are soo cliched to be homophobic.
