I remember a seeing a video by the Royal Shakespeare Company where Patrick Stewart explained that it’s unwise to read Shylock and The Merchant of Venice in terms of a post-holocaust world. I agree. I think the play is as sympathetic to the Jewish plight as it is negative, and I think Michael Radford’s film has shown us that.

Shylock (Al Pacino) is a complex character, and that complexity is played out perfectly by Pacino. Self-protective, vengeful and seeking his own notion of justice, Shylock is not a villain – but an all too real character, even if he’s somewhat exaggerated. When fortunes change, and the justice seeker suddenly becomes a mercy seeker, we sense a very real – again, perhaps too real – a portrayal of a tortured soul.

It seems as if all the reviewers of the film have largely ignored the text to Radford’s adaptation. Such, of course, is appropriate, considering the already thoroughly discussed Shakespeare play. But I wonder if the focus on the adaptation in their writing is reflective of their focus on the adaptation of the watching. Point being here, whatever you make of Radford’s adaptive decisions, it’s still a pretty darn good play.

While I’m am not sufficiently familiar with the text and its theatrical history to evaluate the technical aspects of Radford’s decisions, I did feel that the straightforward adaptation was strong enough to carry the text. And that whatever weaknesses the adaptation may have had, the text is strong enough to carry the film.

The text is clever, amusing, dramatically moving, and soulfully penetrating. Bassanio (Joseph Fiennes) seeks the mercy of Antonio (Jeremy Irons) in order to seek the hand of Portia (Lynn Collins). Antonio, whose wealth is abroad at the moment, seeks the mercy of Shylock, a Jewish usurer, for the money. When Antonio’s ships fail, he seeks the mercy of Shylock for his life.

By the end of the play, almost everyone is at the mercy of each other for something or other, for deeds varying from harmless to grave. While nearly everyone will say that the play has interesting things to say “about” mercy and perhaps wax opaquely on its themes, the most powerful thing is the very simply and clearly stated claim that mercy – in any shape or form – is a valuable thing, and worth practicing.

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