The Merchant of Venice (1980) (TV)

User Rating:

7.5/10   

Director:

Jack Gold

Writer:

William Shakespeare (play)

Release Date:

17 December 1980 (UK)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

A rich merchant, Antonio is depressed for no good reason, until his good friend Bassanio comes to tell him how he's in love with Portia...

Plot Keywords:

Shakespeare's The Merchant Of Venice | William Shakespeare | Based On Play

Awards:

2 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

John Franklyn-Robbins	...	Antonio
John Rhys-Davies	...	Salerio
Alan David	...	Solanio
John Nettles	...	Bassanio
Richard Morant	...	Lorenzo
Kenneth Cranham	...	Gratiano
Gemma Jones	...	Portia
Susan Jameson	...	Nerissa
Daniel Mitchell	...	Balthasar
Warren Mitchell	...	Shylock
Marc Zuber	...	Prince of Morocco
Enn Reitel	...	Launcelot Gobbo
Joe Gladwin	...	Old Gobbo
Roger Martin	...	Leonardo
Leslee Udwin	...	Jessica

Also Known As:

The Complete Dramatic Works of William Shakespeare: The Merchant of Venice (USA) (video title)

Runtime:

Spain:156 min (DVD edition)

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Spain:13

Company:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Movie Connections:

Version of Le marchand de Venise (1953)

Marvelous Production That Says What Shakespeare Wrote

This is much, much better than Olivier's version, of which I own a copy and have used to teach high school Shakespeare. Gemma Jones is excellent as Portia (and not too old) and Shylock is performed the way Shakespeare wrote the part. I would argue the issue of anti-semitism in this play: it's not as cut and dried as people seem to think. But it is a product of Shak's time, not ours (which can't do anything controversial unless it is left-wing politically and politically correct). I recently saw Al Pacino play Shylock and his performance and the production was absurd. Unfortunately, because of WWII and the wrong-headed (but good-hearted) people who are afraid to touch any play that shows Jews in a negative way, this play is off limits to a decent production of The Merchant.. except it seems for the BBC production. Also, the viewer who gave this production a "one" rating obviously came to the play predisposed to dislike anything that wasn't modern in look and perspective. He/she simply didn't want to watch the play Shakespeare wrote. The BBC series of all the plays did have a number of clunkers, but this isn't one of them.