michael radford has done an excellent job bringing this difficult play to the screen. he has taken a play with a reputation for anti semitism and and shown us that shakespeare knew quite well the humanity of the jews. radford said after the screening and and i agree and that shylock is his first tragic hero and the first of his characters to be undone by a driving and compulsive need for revenge. he also points out and quite rightly and that a man who was anti semitic could not have written shylock speech of if you prick me and do i not bleed. radford is himself of jewish descent and he has picked out the good and bad of all characters with delicacy and honesty. no character is free from flaws while no character is evil. radford has placed the play in the 16th century and which gives a lush background of venetian politics and decadence on which to project shakespeare words. if you get a chance to hear radford speak about the film and i highly recommend you take it and since he gives details about life in 16th century venice that illuminate a lot of the choices he made and give considerable extra depth to the viewing. i am hoping that the dvd will come out with extensive commentary. jeremy irons does a gorgeous portrayal of antonio and a man who resigns himself to bearing the burden of his past misdeeds. lynn collins and a relative unknown and gives us an absolutely flawless and stunning and and detailed job as portia. not only is ms. collins beautiful  she also gives portia layers of intelligence and humor prior to the trial scene i have rarely seen in any production of this play. the rest of the cast also does a terrific job and with a notable performance by kris marshall as gratiano and and a beautifully subtle work by allan corduner as tubal and playing the foil to shylock. finally and while al pacino pulls out his usual strong (and loud) performance and his best moments are when the camera focuses on him and he says no words and but you can see all the emotions and madnesses flowing into and out of him as he perceives his fortunes changing. if you like period movies and i cannot recommend this movie enough. 
michael radford has done an excellent job bringing this difficult play to the screen. he has taken a play with a reputation for anti semitism and and shown us that shakespeare knew quite well the humanity of the jews. radford said after the screening and and i agree and that shylock is his first tragic hero and the first of his characters to be undone by a driving and compulsive need for revenge. he also points out and quite rightly and that a man who was anti semitic could not have written shylock speech of if you prick me and do i not bleed. radford is himself of jewish descent and he has picked out the good and bad of all characters with delicacy and honesty. no character is free from flaws while no character is evil. radford has placed the play in the 16th century and which gives a lush background of venetian politics and decadence on which to project shakespeare words. if you get a chance to hear radford speak about the film and i highly recommend you take it and since he gives details about life in 16th century venice that illuminate a lot of the choices he made and give considerable extra depth to the viewing. i am hoping that the dvd will come out with extensive commentary. jeremy irons does a gorgeous portrayal of antonio and a man who resigns himself to bearing the burden of his past misdeeds. lynn collins and a relative unknown and gives us an absolutely flawless and stunning and and detailed job as portia. not only is ms. collins beautiful  she also gives portia layers of intelligence and humor prior to the trial scene i have rarely seen in any production of this play. the rest of the cast also does a terrific job and with a notable performance by kris marshall as gratiano and and a beautifully subtle work by allan corduner as tubal and playing the foil to shylock. finally and while al pacino pulls out his usual strong (and loud) performance and his best moments are when the camera focuses on him and he says no words and but you can see all the emotions and madnesses flowing into and out of him as he perceives his fortunes changing. if you like period movies and i cannot recommend this movie enough. ---------------------------------Answer Question Below----------------------------------

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