Arts 11 Life

Al Pacino and filmmaker. Michael _Radford:
"When you first read ("Merchant'], there's so much
anti-Semitic language in it that it just sticks in
your throat," says Radford.

SHYLOCK ON SCREEN from page 43

being a Jew and a moneylender.
"I had to be specific because otherwise most of the
people out there have no idea what the concept of
usury is," Radford explains. "You go to a bank; you
borrow money; you pay interest. The thought that it
was forbidden is a concept you have to get across.
Otherwise the play makes no sense."

Beyond Religion

As a result of being true to the text, Radford frets,
audiences will see Merchant solely as a Christian-
Jewish tale.
"It's about the way we live in a multicultural socie-
ty and the way that we treat each other," he declares.
"We're no longer in the 20th century, and the world
has changed. Yes, there are anti-Semitic movements
still and we have to beware of those, but we have to
beware of them in the way we have to beware of all
racial intolerance, not just specifically Jewish histo-
ry. ,,

Radford was the toast of the film world a decade
ago for II Postino ("The Postman"), the Italian film
that garnered him an Oscar nomination for Best
Director and countless other prizes. So he likely
expected to get the benefit of any doubts about a
Merchant film.
He's also an internationalist, with homes in Los

Angeles and London,
whose life transcends
borders. His father was a
British officer based in
India, descended from a
long line of military
men. Radford's mother
was an Austrian Jew on
course to swim in the
1940 Olympics, until the
Anschluss precipitated her
dismissal from the team
in 1936 and convinced
her father to move the
family to Bombay.
"I have to say, I didn't grow up with any Jewish
culture," says Radford, who was born in New Delhi.
"Once I asked my mother why, and she just said,
`I've seen so much done in the name of religion, I'm
not interested.'"

you tolerate this stuff, because you have your own
community.
"When he sees his daughter run off, that's when it
all breaks down for him. He experiences a rage, which
is uncontrollable. It's not Jewish, it's human." ❑

William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice,

_About Shylock

Shylock has seen more than his share, also, and has
endured the burden of living in a ghetto.
"I see Shylock as a man whose dignity is constant-
ly affronted in his life," Radford asserts. "He can
take it, and all the other [Jews] can, too. That's how

rated R, screens 7 and 9:30 p.m. Friday and
Saturday and 4 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 18-20, at the
Detroit Film Theatre at the Detroit Institute of
Arts. $7.50/$6.50 DIA members, senior citi-
zens and students. (313) 833-3237. The film
will then play at the Uptown Birmingham 8.

From Serpico To Shylock

Al Pacino takes on Shakespeare's notorious moneylender.

IVOR DAVIS

Featurewegcorn

M

ichael Corleone has taken a crack at
Shylock. Oscar winner Al Pacino — always
a daring actor — steps into the shoes of
Shakespeare's most notorious moneylender in the latest
big-screen version of the Bard's classic The Merchant of

Venice.
Tom Tugend, film critic of the Jewish Journal of
Greater Los Angeles, called Pacino's portrayal "a complex
heart-wrenching portrait" and notes: "He has elevated
Shylock from a two-dimensional vengeful villain to a
fully fleshed, tortured and humiliated human being."
Sony Picture Classics, which is distributing the film,
is releasing it carefully, aware that in today's global cli-
mate of mounting anti-Semitism, it could be used to
stir hatred. Aware that the film follows closely on Mel
Gibson's Jesus bloodbath, Sony is sensitive to interpre-

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tations of the most famous anti-Semitic stereotype in
literature.
Having Pacino in the lead guarantees attention will
be paid. At 64, the actor is one of the few movie names
that command instant respect, part of
an elite band that includes Brando,
Garbo, De Niro, Streep, all known
simply by their last name.
He first tackled Shakespeare on film
in 1996 as Richard III in Looking for
Richard Last year, he played another
controversial Jew, the despicable lawyer
Roy Cohn, in the award winning
miniseries Angels in America.

Q: How do you view Shylock?
A: I see him as more sinned against
than sinning. When I chart the history
of this character, when I go into his
life and his conditions, that's what I

come away with.

Q: Because of the history of this play and the rise of
anti- Semitism around the world today, can Merchant
not be seen as some kind of a provo-
cation?
A: I never had a desire to do Merchant
of Venice for a lot of reasons, but cer-
tainly I just couldn't quite see the
character. I saw some great perform-
ances done, but I myself had no rela-
tionship to it. But then I read Michael
Radford's text, and I thought I under-
stood somehow where Shylock was
coining from.
I thought that he made a case for
Shylock, and in doing that I was able
to see the other elements of the char-
Al Pacino as Shylock: "I
acter, those human elements. I started
thought, can play this."
to understand his motivation, and

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