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Ethics and Film: Messages, Themes, and Techniques Module 4: The Merchant of Venice by Magaret Haun, PhD Background The Merchant of Venice is a difficult play. I would recommend the play and the film-which is rated R-- for advanced classes. Shakespeare wrote The Merchant of Venice (MV) as a comedy but readers and audiences today find little to laugh at in this dark piece. Older discussions of the play argue that it upholds the "Christian values" of forgiveness, kindness, friendship, and generosity (Craig 505). Tell that to Shylock, a Jewish moneylender who is physically and verbally brutalized, and, at the play's close, divested of his fortune by powerful Venetian Christians. Director Michael Radford faced an extraordinary challenge in bringing MV to audiences in 2004. Faithful in the main to the text of MV, Radford's film departs significantly from the spirit of the original, offering a nuanced and atmospheric interpretation of Shakespeare's play through photography, costumes, and lighting. Ultimately, we have two different texts in the play and the film-and both are products of their historical milieu. It is likely that Shakespeare knew no Jews in London as they had been expelled from the country at the end of the 13th century (following decades of restrictions on their activities). His ideas about Jewish people were derived from texts that were rabidly anti-semitic. Perhaps most influential was Christopher Marlowe's The Jew of Malta (1589). As a 21st century filmmaker, Radford had the option of using the medium of film to challenge--or cannibalize--the play. The irony here is delicious. In essence, the film version of The Merchant of Venice turns Shakespeare's Christians into debauched profligates and Shylock into a man horribly wronged by his associates, his family, and his state. When we last see him he is broken, homeless, and childless-and then, to force the issue, Radford cuts away to the fairyland of Belmont where all is romance, music, and Christian camaraderie. In that edit, there is, for this viewer anyway, a world of meaning. Viewing Notes for MV* (We would not recommend showing this film without first reading the play with students. It is impossible for students to discuss Radford's debt to Shakespeare or his departures from the original text without the experience of the play under their belts, so to speak.) *Because students will here be watching the entire film, we are offering Viewing Notes, as opposed to Viewing Suggestions. 01:00:00 The play opens with text describing the political and cultural conditions under which Venetian--and by extension, European-Jews lived. "Intolerance," Radford tells us, "was a fact of life." "By law," we learn, Jews were forced to live in "ghettos." They could not own property or enter the professions and so they resorted to money-lending with interest. The text situating Jews in history dissolves and the next scene has a Jewish man being pitched off a bridge. We cut to the throng of men gathered on the crest of the bridge. One man (Antonio [Jeremy Irons]) passes another (Shylock [Al Pacino]) and spits in his face. The last image in this sequence is a powerful one--that of a burning Torah. The director has set the historical stage carefully. Not just intolerance but brutality was a "fact of life" for the Jews of Venice. Of course, there is no such contextualization in Shakespeare. The play begins with Antonio's self-involved speech about his inexplicable sadness: "In sooth, I know not why I am so sad. . ." (I, i, 1-22). While Radford's opening text prepares us to enter a hostile world and becomes the lens through which everything that follows is viewed, Shakespeare's focus is immediately on his merchant, the sad Antonio-with whom we are supposed to align ourselves and for whom we are supposed to care. (The film has already begun to consume the text to which it is indebted!) Students should take note of the editing techniques from 0:00:00 to 0:05:49 for they constitute a kind of commentary as Radford shifts his focus from Christian to Jewish subjects. Jews are at prayer, while non-Jews walk the streets in garish costumes and grotesque masks (and women wear dresses that expose much of their breasts). One man goes off a bridge and another spits in the face of a passer-by. The Torah burns and then Antonio speaks of his sadness (which, if we follow his gaze out a window, seems to have something to do with the good-looking Bassanio, played by Joseph Fiennes). Students should not miss these juxtapositions--accomplished through extraordinary editing. 0:09:19 Bassanio's problem is now the film's focus as we move into the exposition (that part of the film or play where we get the information we need to make sense of the action). Having squandered his fortune on extravagant living, he needs money to woo Portia, a rich heiress who presides over the small but wealthy kingdom of Belmont. Portia's suitors are all men of means (and title). Bassanio hints that if he can win Portia, he will have a way to discharge his "great debts." Antonio agrees to help Bassanio, for whom he clearly has strong feelings. His willingness to fund Bassanio's project with Portia is hindered by the fact that Antonio's money is tied up in merchandise at sea. He tells Bassanio to arrange for a loan with the ships and goods to be held as collateral. A grateful Bassanio leaves to work out the particulars of the loan. Students should note the use of tight and medium shots in this section of the film as well as mise-en-scene details. Medium shots establish that we are in Antonio's bedchamber. We begin to understand the dynamics of the relationship between Antonio and Bassanio with the assistance of the tight shots in particular. Antonio has strong feelings for Bassanio; we see the depth of his regard when the camera frames his face. Bassanio, for his part, seems to understand Antonio's feelings; tight shots enable us to see his simpering. Several quick edits follow taking us to Belmont and back to Venice. We glimpse a still sad Antonio on a gondola and then shift to Shylock in the marketplace. By 0:30:00-0:31:00, we know the simple terms of the Antonio's bond with Shylock (a pound of flesh to be taken from whatever part of Antonio's body Shylock chooses). We know as well that Jessica, Shylock's daughter, plans to elope with Lorenzo, a non-Jew and friend of both Bassanio and Antonio. She also plans to convert, "becoming Christian [and] Lorenzo's loving wife." 0:31:05-0:43:00 It is evening and Shylock has left to finalize his agreement with Antonio and Bassanio. As a long shot shows Shylock walking into the Venetian night, Jessica says, "Farewell, you have a daughter lost." The line suggests her identification with the Christians and begins the brutalization of Shylock at the hands of his daughter. It might be productive to stop the film here for a discussion of the director's technical choices, particularly camera angle and mise-en-scene details. As Shylock walks into the night, the camera shoots down on him from his villa. Jessica watches him disappear into the night and thus the film opens up an opportunity for a good discussion of the POV shot. Shylock's departure gives Jessica a way to get out of the villa unnoticed, except by Lorenzo, who has provided a gondola for their departure. Shylock returns home to find his daughter gone and jewelry (including a turquoise ring he bought for his now-dead wife) missing. He cries and moans pitiably. (Pacino is at his best in these scenes where he communicates through gesture, facial expression, and inarticulate utterances.) An edit takes us to Bassanio whose fortunes are looking up as he leaves for Belmont (with Antonio locked in as his surety). Students should note contrast to Shylock's situation. 0:52:00 (approx.)-1:12:50 We get the news that Antonio's ships have gone down. The tempo of the film increases at this point. The Christians are engaged in an orgy when Shylock arrives claiming that they knew of Jessica's plans to leave. If indeed Antonio must make good on his debt, it will be the pound of flesh that Shylock will exact. It is in this section of the film that Shylock makes his famous speech, "Hath not a Jew eyes." In discussions of the play, students will often refer to this speech [I, iii, ll.55-76] to make their argument that MV is not anti-semitic. And indeed this powerful speech does underscore Shylock's status as an outsider. But the bulk of the play villainizes Shylock and exonerates the non-Jews. The Christians make jokes at Shylock's expense and Shakespeare assumes that we will laugh with them. (Radford's film makes no such assumption.) The Christians profess a belief in generosity of spirit and forgiveness. Shylock insists on his pound of flesh. The preponderance of evidence in the play cannot be explained away. Shakespeare assumes that we will align ourselves with the non-Jews against Shylock. 1:12:52 Bassanio arrives in Belmont and is successful in his suit to win Portia, who quickly gives both herself and everything she owns to her betrothed. Bassanio hears of Antonio's troubles and leaves for Venice (after a quick marriage ceremony to seal the deal with Portia). Before he leaves Bassanio tells Portia of his debt to Antonio. Portia decides to go to Venice herself in disguise to see if she can't help in some way. Bassanio has no knowledge of her plan. 1:17:50-1:54:00 Shylock insists on his bond. Antonio is horrified but resigned. Students should note the ways in which Radford foregrounds Antonio's vulnerability. Framing, color contrasts, and mise-en-scene details make Antonio seem powerless and Shylock strong. The court sequence begins. Portia (who travels as a male legal scholar Balthazar) appears in disguise. She begins to catechize Shylock. This must have been a difficult section for Radford because, true to the play, Shylock will not show mercy. He sharpens his knife in preparation for the "surgery." Ultimately, Portia/Balthazar argues that Shylock may exact his penalty, but he can take only flesh, not draw "Christian blood." In essence, then, Christian casuistry makes it impossible for Shylock to go forward. In fact, at this point--1:42:32--things begin to unravel quickly for Shylock. He agrees not to remove the pound of flesh but will instead take the 6,000 ducats offered earlier in lieu of the body mass. Balthazar declines (no explanation for this). Shylock is now an "alien" who tried to "move against a Venetian citizen." Immediately, one half of his estate is seized-for Antonio. Shylock begs for mercy, but the court will have none of it. Unless he converts to Christianity, the other half of his estate will go to the Venetian state. Antonio steps forward to say that his portion should go to Jessica and Lorenzo (who remained in Belmont). Shylock is a broken, miserable man. We last see him, alone in the courtroom. The camera pulls back for a full body shot as the doors to the room shut. That is it for Shylock. His options are horrendous-keep some fraction of estate by converting, or remain Jewish and lose the world. 1:55:00-2:00:46 Belmont homecoming. The victorious Christians return. Relationships are consummated. Antonio, still inexplicably sad, has returned to Belmont with Bassanio. Portia unmasks herself. Everyone rushes to bed. Interestingly, the last scene in the film shows a somber Jessica looking down at the turquoise ring she stole from her father. Fade out.

Ethics and Film: Messages, Themes, and Techniques Module 4: The Merchant of Venice

by Magaret Haun, PhD

Background

The Merchant of Venice is a difficult play. I would recommend the play and the film-which is rated R-- for advanced classes.
Shakespeare wrote The Merchant of Venice (MV) as a comedy but readers and audiences today find little to laugh at in this dark piece. Older discussions of the play argue that it upholds the "Christian values" of forgiveness, kindness, friendship, and generosity (Craig 505). Tell that to Shylock, a Jewish moneylender who is physically and verbally brutalized, and, at the play's close, divested of his fortune by powerful Venetian Christians.

Director Michael Radford faced an extraordinary challenge in bringing MV to audiences in 2004. Faithful in the main to the text of MV, Radford's film departs significantly from the spirit of the original, offering a nuanced and atmospheric interpretation of Shakespeare's play through photography, costumes, and lighting. Ultimately, we have two different texts in the play and the film-and both are products of their historical milieu. It is likely that Shakespeare knew no Jews in London as they had been expelled from the country at the end of the 13th century (following decades of restrictions on their activities). His ideas about Jewish people were derived from texts that were rabidly anti-semitic. Perhaps most influential was Christopher Marlowe's The Jew of Malta (1589).

As a 21st century filmmaker, Radford had the option of using the medium of film to challenge--or cannibalize--the play. The irony here is delicious. In essence, the film version of The Merchant of Venice turns Shakespeare's Christians into debauched profligates and Shylock into a man horribly wronged by his associates, his family, and his state. When we last see him he is broken, homeless, and childless-and then, to force the issue, Radford cuts away to the fairyland of Belmont where all is romance, music, and Christian camaraderie. In that edit, there is, for this viewer anyway, a world of meaning.

Viewing Notes for MV*
(We would not recommend showing this film without first reading the play with students. It is impossible for students to discuss Radford's debt to Shakespeare or his departures from the original text without the experience of the play under their belts, so to speak.)

*Because students will here be watching the entire film, we are offering Viewing Notes, as opposed to Viewing Suggestions.

01:00:00 The play opens with text describing the political and cultural conditions under which Venetian--and by extension, European-Jews lived. "Intolerance," Radford tells us, "was a fact of life." "By law," we learn, Jews were forced to live in "ghettos." They could not own property or enter the professions and so they resorted to money-lending with interest. The text situating Jews in history dissolves and the next scene has a Jewish man being pitched off a bridge. We cut to the throng of men gathered on the crest of the bridge. One man (Antonio [Jeremy Irons]) passes another (Shylock [Al Pacino]) and spits in his face. The last image in this sequence is a powerful one--that of a burning Torah. The director has set the historical stage carefully. Not just intolerance but brutality was a "fact of life" for the Jews of Venice.

Of course, there is no such contextualization in Shakespeare. The play begins with Antonio's self-involved speech about his inexplicable sadness: "In sooth, I know not why I am so sad. . ." (I, i, 1-22). While Radford's opening text prepares us to enter a hostile world and becomes the lens through which everything that follows is viewed, Shakespeare's focus is immediately on his merchant, the sad Antonio-with whom we are supposed to align ourselves and for whom we are supposed to care. (The film has already begun to consume the text to which it is indebted!)

Students should take note of the editing techniques from 0:00:00 to 0:05:49 for they constitute a kind of commentary as Radford shifts his focus from Christian to Jewish subjects. Jews are at prayer, while non-Jews walk the streets in garish costumes and grotesque masks (and women wear dresses that expose much of their breasts). One man goes off a bridge and another spits in the face of a passer-by. The Torah burns and then Antonio speaks of his sadness (which, if we follow his gaze out a window, seems to have something to do with the good-looking Bassanio, played by Joseph Fiennes). Students should not miss these juxtapositions--accomplished through extraordinary editing.

0:09:19 Bassanio's problem is now the film's focus as we move into the exposition (that part of the film or play where we get the information we need to make sense of the action). Having squandered his fortune on extravagant living, he needs money to woo Portia, a rich heiress who presides over the small but wealthy kingdom of Belmont. Portia's suitors are all men of means (and title). Bassanio hints that if he can win Portia, he will have a way to discharge his "great debts." Antonio agrees to help Bassanio, for whom he clearly has strong feelings. His willingness to fund Bassanio's project with Portia is hindered by the fact that Antonio's money is tied up in merchandise at sea. He tells Bassanio to arrange for a loan with the ships and goods to be held as collateral. A grateful Bassanio leaves to work out the particulars of the loan.

Students should note the use of tight and medium shots in this section of the film as well as mise-en-scene details. Medium shots establish that we are in Antonio's bedchamber. We begin to understand the dynamics of the relationship between Antonio and Bassanio with the assistance of the tight shots in particular. Antonio has strong feelings for Bassanio; we see the depth of his regard when the camera frames his face. Bassanio, for his part, seems to understand Antonio's feelings; tight shots enable us to see his simpering.

Several quick edits follow taking us to Belmont and back to Venice. We glimpse a still sad Antonio on a gondola and then shift to Shylock in the marketplace. By 0:30:00-0:31:00, we know the simple terms of the Antonio's bond with Shylock (a pound of flesh to be taken from whatever part of Antonio's body Shylock chooses). We know as well that Jessica, Shylock's daughter, plans to elope with Lorenzo, a non-Jew and friend of both Bassanio and Antonio. She also plans to convert, "becoming Christian [and] Lorenzo's loving wife."

0:31:05-0:43:00 It is evening and Shylock has left to finalize his agreement with Antonio and Bassanio. As a long shot shows Shylock walking into the Venetian night, Jessica says, "Farewell, you have a daughter lost." The line suggests her identification with the Christians and begins the brutalization of Shylock at the hands of his daughter. It might be productive to stop the film here for a discussion of the director's technical choices, particularly camera angle and mise-en-scene details. As Shylock walks into the night, the camera shoots down on him from his villa. Jessica watches him disappear into the night and thus the film opens up an opportunity for a good discussion of the POV shot.

Shylock's departure gives Jessica a way to get out of the villa unnoticed, except by Lorenzo, who has provided a gondola for their departure. Shylock returns home to find his daughter gone and jewelry (including a turquoise ring he bought for his now-dead wife) missing. He cries and moans pitiably. (Pacino is at his best in these scenes where he communicates through gesture, facial expression, and inarticulate utterances.) An edit takes us to Bassanio whose fortunes are looking up as he leaves for Belmont (with Antonio locked in as his surety). Students should note contrast to Shylock's situation.

0:52:00 (approx.)-1:12:50 We get the news that Antonio's ships have gone down. The tempo of the film increases at this point. The Christians are engaged in an orgy when Shylock arrives claiming that they knew of Jessica's plans to leave. If indeed Antonio must make good on his debt, it will be the pound of flesh that Shylock will exact. It is in this section of the film that Shylock makes his famous speech, "Hath not a Jew eyes." In discussions of the play, students will often refer to this speech [I, iii, ll.55-76] to make their argument that MV is not anti-semitic. And indeed this powerful speech does underscore Shylock's status as an outsider. But the bulk of the play villainizes Shylock and exonerates the non-Jews. The Christians make jokes at Shylock's expense and Shakespeare assumes that we will laugh with them. (Radford's film makes no such assumption.) The Christians profess a belief in generosity of spirit and forgiveness. Shylock insists on his pound of flesh. The preponderance of evidence in the play cannot be explained away. Shakespeare assumes that we will align ourselves with the non-Jews against Shylock.

1:12:52 Bassanio arrives in Belmont and is successful in his suit to win Portia, who quickly gives both herself and everything she owns to her betrothed. Bassanio hears of Antonio's troubles and leaves for Venice (after a quick marriage ceremony to seal the deal with Portia). Before he leaves Bassanio tells Portia of his debt to Antonio. Portia decides to go to Venice herself in disguise to see if she can't help in some way. Bassanio has no knowledge of her plan.

1:17:50-1:54:00 Shylock insists on his bond. Antonio is horrified but resigned. Students should note the ways in which Radford foregrounds Antonio's vulnerability. Framing, color contrasts, and mise-en-scene details make Antonio seem powerless and Shylock strong. The court sequence begins. Portia (who travels as a male legal scholar Balthazar) appears in disguise. She begins to catechize Shylock. This must have been a difficult section for Radford because, true to the play, Shylock will not show mercy. He sharpens his knife in preparation for the "surgery." Ultimately, Portia/Balthazar argues that Shylock may exact his penalty, but he can take only flesh, not draw "Christian blood." In essence, then, Christian casuistry makes it impossible for Shylock to go forward. In fact, at this point--1:42:32--things begin to unravel quickly for Shylock. He agrees not to remove the pound of flesh but will instead take the 6,000 ducats offered earlier in lieu of the body mass. Balthazar declines (no explanation for this). Shylock is now an "alien" who tried to "move against a Venetian citizen." Immediately, one half of his estate is seized-for Antonio. Shylock begs for mercy, but the court will have none of it. Unless he converts to Christianity, the other half of his estate will go to the Venetian state. Antonio steps forward to say that his portion should go to Jessica and Lorenzo (who remained in Belmont). Shylock is a broken, miserable man. We last see him, alone in the courtroom. The camera pulls back for a full body shot as the doors to the room shut. That is it for Shylock. His options are horrendous-keep some fraction of estate by converting, or remain Jewish and lose the world.

1:55:00-2:00:46 Belmont homecoming. The victorious Christians return. Relationships are consummated. Antonio, still inexplicably sad, has returned to Belmont with Bassanio. Portia unmasks herself. Everyone rushes to bed. Interestingly, the last scene in the film shows a somber Jessica looking down at the turquoise ring she stole from her father. Fade out.