The Merchant of Venice (2004)

I haven't been writing much lately, especially about movies, so I'm going to post the pieces I have to write for class until I' back into the swing of it.


In his adaptation of The Merchant of Venice, director Michael Radford’s choices of setting and camera work seamlessly blend with William Shakespere’s famous and iconic words in both expected and unexpected ways. The setting of the play is of course the city of Venice, Italy,  and this version spares no detail, with elaborate depictions of Venice’s canals and architecture. Everything in the set looks really used and lived in, like it is a real place with real people instead of a simple film set. This is to be expected in a big-budget adaptation of such a well-known story.

The best example of unexpected decision is probably the scene of Shylock’s monologue, which in the text is in Act III, Scene I. Instead of putting Shylock on some symbolic soapbox or stage, or otherwise making him ‘front and center’, as might be the temptation for such a famous and memorable speech, he is in what is basically just a back alley along the canals of Venice. The place is foggy, and there is a blue tint to everything, giving the scene an almost melancholy feel. This simultaneously contrasts the passion of the speech (which could easily incite temptation to use reds and other warm colors) and compliments it. Shylock is essentially alone with Solanio and Salarino, save for a few prostitutes hanging around in the background, but they are only found behind Solanio and Salarino. The combination of all these factors provides a background and environment that don’t distract from the importance of Shylock’s words, leaving the viewer only Shylock and his promise to outdo the evil that has been done to him.

Overall, Radford’s choices only help to enhance the significance of Shakespeare’s words, by making everything feel real and relatable, as opposed to the distance of foreignness that some Shakespearean productions sometimes have.