The Merchant of Venice 2004 / Al Pacino does justice to a Shakespearian icon in this comedy turned drama

Anything Shakespeare would be a classic, of course, but for the longest time, British filmmakers avoided The Merchant of Venice, for a variety of reasons. The most prominent of those reasons was the antagonist Shylock, who, as a Jewish moneylender, was characterized with many anti-Semitic stereotypes, yet, was written with one of Shakespeare’s most eloquent speeches on his humanity. Director Michael Radford’s take on the play sidesteps this issue by an explanation and montage, reframing the entire play to be more sympathetic to Shylock. It’s such an elegant solution, and with Al Pacino’s excellent performance, The Merchant of Venice becomes much more dramatic than comedic, and all the better for it.