The Merchant of Venice
The Merchant of Venice
The Merchant of Venice
- R
- 2h 11m
- 2004
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From Michael Radford, the Academy Award(r)-nominated director of Il Postino, comes the critically-acclaimed screen adaptation of William Shakespeare's controversial classic, The Merchant Of Venice. Antonio (Jeremy Irons), a successful but cash-poor merchant, approaches Shylock (Al Pacino), a wealthy money lender, for a loan to help his young friend Bassanio (Joseph Fiennes, Shakespeare in Love) woo the fair Portia (Lynn Collins, 13 Going on 30). Despite being longtime enemies, Shylock grants there quest, but demands one pound of Antonio's flesh if the debt is not repaid on time. When Antonio defaults on the loan, Shylock seeks what is legally owed to him but soon learns that those to whom evil is done, do evil in return.
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© 2004 Shylock Trading Ltd., Delux Productions S.A., UK Film Council and Immagine E Cinema S.r.L. All Rights Reserved.
Rotten Tomatoes® Score
TOMATOMETER®
Critics Consensus: A respectable if uneven take on the Bard's The Merchant of Venice.
Reviews
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Common Sense Media
Common Sense Says
Sumptuous but not for everyone.
What Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that most teens will have trouble at first following Shakespeare's untouched and dense prose. Given that the anti-Semitism of the time is given explicit treatment with Christian characters spitting on, cursing, threatening, and "damning" Jewish citizens forced to live in a ghetto, parents should be aware that sensitive viewers of any age may be upset and that this plus other mature themes render it unsuitable for younger viewers. A character's life is threatened, a young woman runs away with a man against her father's wishes, a man's anger becomes madness, a young woman refers to being orphaned, characters manipulate and lie to one another, and otherwise "good" people show grave intolerance to others based upon their religion or nationality. There is social drinking. Bare-breasted prostitutes beckon to passing men, and one scene has two characters doing business in a brothel.
A Lot or A Little?
The parents’ guide to what’s in this movie.
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Additional Info
- Genre:Drama
- Release Date:December 3, 2004
- Languages:English
- Captions:English
- Audio Format:5.1
- Screen Pass Eligible:No
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