Shakespeare's Merchant

By: Scott Cranin
In-House Review - Oct 18 2010

In Paul Wagar's Shakespeare's Merchant, a fast-paced modern re-telling of Shakespeare's "Merchant of Venice," a Jewish woman is in broad daylight while people watch gleefully and a young man in a yarmulke is beaten senseless on the beach. In this atmosphere of 13th century lawless anti-Semitism, Bassanio (John D. Haggerty) is to borrow money from his lover Antonio (Donald Robert Stewart). But Antonio's investments are tied up so they proceed to the money-lender Shylock (Bruce Cornwall) to borrow money. Unknown to Bassanio, his lover has been harassing Shylock, who agrees to the loan, but extracts a pound of Antonio's flesh if the loan is defaulted for even one day. Meanwhile Portia is seeking the husband who can unravel her father's riddle to win her hand in marriage. After several suitors are rejected, Bassiano wins, but not without some help.
Paul Wagar's telling of Shakespeare's classic morality play gives us no heroes or villains; all the characters are flawed people of their time. Anti-Semitism was rampant in Europe as the fever of the Crusades and the Spanish Inquisition were bubbling over. What's of interest to us is that with minimal changes to Shakespeare's tale, these characters became gay in Wagar's adaptation. Was that one of the Bard's intentions? Who knows, we just know that the film is rather entertaining.

By: Marty

The anti-Semitism unsettling enough. (Jewish dog this. Jewish dog that. Don't wanna die? Convert to Christianity!) But the attempt to throw in a gay twist falls flat. Offering your life and fortune so that your boyfriend can run off and marry a woman? I don't think so.

By: Amos Lassen

"Shakespeare's Merchant"
"Doth a Jew Not ?" (or something like that)
Amos Lassen
Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice" is one of the Bard's most controversial plays as it deals with anti-Semitism, something that we know exists but rarely talk about. Jews were hated and treated unbelievably poorly in Europe in the 13th century where the orginal drama is set. In this adaptation written (adapted) and directed by Paul Wagar, the action is moved to Venice, California and it begins with the of a Jewish girl as a woman watches as the sun shines. At the same time, street thugs beat up a man wearing a yarmulke on the beach and the lead character, Shylock (Bruce Cornwall), an Orthodox Jew, is threatened and spat upon.
Wagar took the original text and totally altered it and "streamlined" it and raises to the fore the homosexual relationship between the characters of Antonio (Donald Robert Stewart) and Bassanio (John D. Haggerty), something only alluded to in other productions. Bassanio was facing hard times and asked his lover, Antonio, for a loan but unfortunately his money was already being used to finance an armada and so the lovers ask Shylock, the town moneylender, for a loan. However, we realize that the same Antonio had been one of Shylock's tormentors and is an anti-Semite. Shylock agrees to the loan but if it is forfeited, Antonio will be required to repay him with a pound of flesh.
It is a bit difficult to follow the opening of the film of blatant anti-Semitic attacks and if there is a fault with the film this is it. The opening is so intense and so disheartening that anything that would follow would be pale by comparison.
The language remains Shakespearean and sometimes it just doesn't feel right to hear it in modern day California. The other subplot deals with Shylock's daughter Portia (Lorna MacNab) who wants to be married and her father has been looking for a suitable husband for her and the suitors must answer Shylock's riddle to gain his daughter's hand in marriage. Most are rejected quickly and a conniving Bassanio wins Portia's hand and in effect, no one in the drama is a winner. At the end, everyone has lost something.
I, personally, enjoyed the modern-dress approach and even though everything doesn't quite fit, as a whole, I found the film to be an interesting experience and I applaud Wagar's efforts to bring "Merchant" to us. The adaptation is quite dark but the ensemble cast sheds some light on some of the ills of today's society and they do so in a very novel way.