The Merchant of Venice (2004 film)

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The Merchant of Venice
215px
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Michael Radford
Produced by Cary Brokaw
Michael Cowan
Jason Piette
Barry Navidi
Luciano Martino
Screenplay by Michael Radford
Based on The Merchant of Venice
by William Shakespeare
Starring Al Pacino
Jeremy Irons
Joseph Fiennes
Lynn Collins
Music by Jocelyn Pook
Cinematography Benoît Delhomme
Edited by Lucia Zucchetti
Production
company
UK Film Council
Arclight Films
Spice Factory
MoVision Entertainment
Distributed by Sony Pictures Classics
MGM (international)
Optimum Releasing (UK)
Istituto Luce (Italy)
Release dates
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  • 3 December 2004 (2004-12-03) (UK)
  • 29 December 2004 (2004-12-29) (US)
  • 11 February 2005 (2005-02-11) (Italy)
Running time
 138 minutes
Country United Kingdom
Italy
Luxembourg
Language English
Budget $30 million[1]
Box office $21,417,725[1]

The Merchant of Venice is a 2004 romantic drama film based on Shakespeare's play of the same name. It is the first full-length sound film in English of Shakespeare's play — other versions are videotaped productions which were made for television, including John Sichel's 1973 version and Jack Gold's 1980 BBC production.

The title character is the merchant Antonio (Jeremy Irons), not the Jewish moneylender Shylock (Al Pacino) who is the more prominent character. This adaptation follows the text, but omits much. Director Michael Radford believed that Shylock was Shakespeare's first great tragic hero who reaches a catastrophe due to his own flaws.[2] The film begins with text and a montage of how the Jewish community is abused by the Christian population of Venice and brings attention to the fact that, as a convert, Shylock would have been cast out of the Jewish ghetto in Venice.

The film is a co-production between the United Kingdom, Italy, and Luxembourg.

Plot

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Main article: The Merchant of Venice § Synopsis

Cast

Reception

The Merchant of Venice received generally positive reviews, with a favourable rating of 72% at Rotten Tomatoes and an average score of 63/100 at Metacritic.[3][4] Most critics praised both the interpretation of the Shylock character by Michael Radford and Al Pacino and the dark, realistic look of the streets of Venice, for which production designer Bruno Rubeo was honoured by the Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists.

In 2005, the film had a Royal Premiere in the presence of Prince Charles and received a BAFTA nomination for Best Costume Design.

Its worldwide theatrical gross was about $21.3 million, with a production budget of $30 million.[1]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 The Merchant of Venice at Box Office Mojo
  2. ↑ http://www.landmarktheatres.com/mn/wsmerchantofvenice.html
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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