The Merchant of Venice (2004)

The film opens with images of Venetian life in 1596, especially discrimination against the Jews. Words on the screen inform the audience about anti-Semitism in the period, describing the system of the ghetto and Jewish usury. Shylock and Antonio are seen among a crowd watching Jews being thrown from the Rialto Bridge into the canal.
Otherwise, the film follows the plot of Shakespeare’s play closely. There are some significant emendations: In Act III, scene i, Tubal tells Shylock that in Genoa, a person “showed me a ring that he had of your daughter for a monkey.” Shylock replies “Thou torturest me, Tubal: It was my turquoise; I had it of Leah when I was a bachelor; I would not have given it for a wilderness of monkeys.” Nothing more is said of it. However, in an added scene at the end of the film, there is a close-up shot of the turquoise ring on Jessica’s finger, implying that Shylock had jumped to the wrong conclusion.
Another significant emendation is that we don’t see that Antonio receives the good news that three of his ships were not stranded and have returned safely after all at the end of the film.

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