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The Merchant of Venice

The Merchant of Venice

Drama · Romance · 2004

Venice, 1596. Bassanio begs his friend Antonio, a prosperous merchant, to lend him a large sum of money so that he can woo Portia, a very wealthy heiress; but Antonio has invested his fortune abroad, so they turn to Shylock, a Jewish moneylender, and ask him for a loan.

Movie details

The Merchant of Venice

2004 Drama · Romance 2h 12m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.8 / 10

Community rating

Venice, 1596. Bassanio begs his friend Antonio, a prosperous merchant, to lend him a large sum of money so that he can woo Portia, a very wealthy heiress; but Antonio has invested his fortune abroad, so they turn to Shylock, a Jewish moneylender, and ask him for a loan.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over The Merchant of Venice?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Michael Radford

Written by

Michael Radford

Al Pacino

Al Pacino

Shylock

Jeremy Irons

Jeremy Irons

Antonio

Joseph Fiennes

Joseph Fiennes

Bassanio

Lynn Collins

Lynn Collins

Portia

Zuleikha Robinson

Zuleikha Robinson

Jessica

Kris Marshall

Kris Marshall

Gratiano

Charlie Cox

Charlie Cox

Lorenzo

Court is in session

Put The Merchant of Venice on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Sentimental Softie

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Cool Ironist

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.