Yes! This is the version I just watched tonight. It was excellent.
I... can't really get my head around the amount of antisemitism in the text. It's historically accurate (I guess?) and even as Shylock is a bastard, he's still sort of pathetically sympathetic. And, oh my, Al Pacino knocked that performance out of the park.
I'm both equally amazed that Shakespeare was able to make a stereotypical "bad Other" less stereotypical and horrified at the whole racist aspect of the story. I read a review online tonight which described the final courtroom scene as a showdown between the Jewish religion (Justice) and the Christian religion (Mercy) and am even more disturbed than before.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2010-06-21 03:18 am (UTC)I... can't really get my head around the amount of antisemitism in the text. It's historically accurate (I guess?) and even as Shylock is a bastard, he's still sort of pathetically sympathetic. And, oh my, Al Pacino knocked that performance out of the park.
I'm both equally amazed that Shakespeare was able to make a stereotypical "bad Other" less stereotypical and horrified at the whole racist aspect of the story. I read a review online tonight which described the final courtroom scene as a showdown between the Jewish religion (Justice) and the Christian religion (Mercy) and am even more disturbed than before.
But... Antonio/Bassanio... wow. Just... wow.