domingo, 17 de mayo de 2009

The Merchant of Tragedy


The Merchant of Venice is al film directed by Michael Redfort. It is basically based on the famous William Shakespeare’s play.

Basanio was a liberal merchant without money that decided to captivate Portia´s love, who was the princess of Belmont. The liberal young merchant, in his desire to get this purpose, decided to lend Antonio´s money, who was his loyal and best friend. Antonio was an important and wealthy dealer of the epoch. Nevertheless, this dealer did not have the amount agreed. Antonio decided to talk whit Shylock, a moneylender Jewish, to help his friend. The Jewish took advantage of the situation and decided to take revenge because of the discrimination and mistreat he used to suffer by Catholics of the epoch. Shylock finally accepted lending Antonio the ducats, but with a particular conditions, which was to take a pound of Antonio’s flesh, if he can not definitely pay what he had borrowed.


A remarkable point of the film is the way it portraits the values, behavior, beliefs and customs of that epoch. I was really impressed watching the film by the manner how men used to kiss each other in the mouth. In fact, it represented a natural or common way of greeting or expressing love in those times. Besides, if we compare this situation with our modern times, it is apparently different or less common.

On the other hand, something that is fairly important to mention about Merchant of Venice film, is the discrimination as an important theme or issue of the film. As an evidence of this, is the opposition between Shylock and Antonio. These characters play the most important role in the movie, because of the reason both represent the confrontation among two different cultures such is Catholicism and Judaism. The director of the film tries to portrait on Shylock that he, as a Jewish, had the same rights as every human beings. In fact, it is demonstrated in Shylock’s words when said; he suffered and loved as every single people. For this reason, he should be treated equally as others. However, from Antonio`s point of view, he despise and looked down on Jewish, not for a personal reason, but mainly as a consequence of the cultural pattern of the epoch. In other words, his behaviour is a clear demonstration of the cultural background.

Concluding with the review, I would definitely say The Merchant of Venice is a wonderful and interested tragedy film, because we can appreciate the different human conditions such is discrimination, revenge, ambition, suffering, sadness, which has not changed through the time. Moreover, the quality of the actors is excellent. They make a well done performance portraying the customs, beliefs of Shakespeare’s epoch.

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