Nothing undervalu'd to Cato's daughter, Brutus' Portia.
I finally got to see the new "Merchant Of Venice" movie and from the opening editing of Antonio's "In sooth" speech I was concerned. And as the movie progressed my concerns were amply justified. There is just too much monkeying about with the text. Shoot where is "How sweet the moonlight sits upon this bank?" and all the "on such a night.." stuff? The text was pared down way too much, breaking the poetry very badly. And then inserting modern words just kills the beauty of the language even more. So "Not until it is paid according to the tenure" has to become "Not until it is paid according to the terms". There are many other jarring examples you can pick out for yourself, needlessly changing the lines. I was also disappointed by the playing down of the Lorenzo and Jessica story. If the most important aspect of this work is the humanizing of Shylock with the "hath not a Jew hands?" speech, surely almost equally importantly is the Lorenzo and Jessica story showing that love can overcome prejudice? That being said, Pacino is excellent as is Lynn Collins, primarily because they have less of the "updated dialogue to say. The "quality of mercy" speech is just about the best thing in the picture, delivered flawlessly by Lynn Collins.
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