Educational Media Reviews Online

Shakespeare wrote The Merchant of Venice as a comedy, but it is frequently presented as a tragedy with the spotlight given to Shylock. In fact, many theatrical and film productions, such as the 2004 film version with Al Pacino as Shylock, fall into that very trap. The Merchant of Venice: A New Perspective restores Shakespeare’s original balance of characters in his play.

Presented by the Cambridge University players under visiting scholar Douglas Morse, The Merchant of Venice: A New Perspective is a stage production filmed in front of a live audience. The youthful exuberance of the student cast makes this an ideal teaching tool for college and amateur theatrical groups. Certainly, some of the student actors are more accomplished than others, but overall the cast is of excellent quality. In addition, the production has the youngest Shylock I’ve ever seen in a film performance.

This Merchant is presented uncut on a small darkened stage with minimal scenery and stage effects. The cinematography is not elaborate but consistent with other small scale live productions. Sound is occasionally hollow-sounding and slightly distant for some down stage players. The color and picture quality are good. English subtitles are available through the subtitles menu button on your DVD player’s remote. Chapter or scene selection seemed somewhat clunky but is present. The audience is unobtrusive in this production with few incidents of interruptions or laughter. Finally, a “Visual Guide” –commentary on The Merchant of Venice with Shakespeare scholar Professor Phyllis Rackin and director Douglas Morse—is provided in the menu.

While I found the student production to be energetic and delightful, the commentary seemed somewhat off-hand and non-scripted. Nevertheless, the commentary should be useful for university theater departments. Obviously, this student production can’t compete with the professional actors in the BBC version of The Merchant of Venice (1980) starring Warren Mitchell and Gemma Jones. However, it does compare favorably to most other (sometimes very eccentric) film productions that I’ve seen.

I must add a note of caution because this uncut version of the play does contain language that could be considered anti-Semitic. In conclusion, I strongly recommend this traditional and appealing uncut version of The Merchant of Venice to college theater departments, high school and college English classes, as well as Shakespeare classes.