Pacino takes Shakespeare to Venice Film Festival
Al Pacino launched his big screen version of The Merchant of Venice today and called for more of Shakespeare’s plays to be given the movie treatment.
Appropriately, the film is receiving its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival.
Pacino plays Shylock in director Michael Radford’s $30m production, which also stars Joseph Fiennes and Jeremy Irons.
A long-time Shakespeare buff, Pacino has previously played Richard III on stage, which he documented in the film Looking For Richard.
Speaking in Venice, the veteran actor said he would like to play more Shakespearean roles on screen and is keen to look at movie scripts based on the Bard’s other works.
“I believe Shakespeare in film is really something that should be tried more often, an opportunity to take some of the humanity that he writes into his characters and to express it,” Pacino said.
“In the theatre you are watching it as it happens and listening to the words. But in a movie you have the opportunity to cut away, to go in for close-ups, to bring in a different dynamic to a scene.
“I would like to do yet another Shakespeare if I could. I would prefer to do it as a play first.
“There are a lot of roles in Shakespeare I would like to play. If I feel the script is right for a movie I would definitely be interested in doing any role.”
Shakespeare has been adapted for the big screen before, with varying levels of success. The biggest box office hit was Baz Luhrman’s Romeo and Juliet, starring Leonardo di Caprio and Clare Danes.
Pacino, 64, said he had worked hard to bring a sympathetic edge to one of Shakespeare’s most unlovable characters.
“It would be hard to play a character that you don’t like, for me anyway. One of the things all actors do is find something in a character to relate to.
“We tried to figure out the back life of Shylock and what led him to the state he was in,” he explained.
“Shylock was alone, his wife had died recently, he was a victim of an abusive life. He had a daughter whom he loved and her flight affected him greatly.
“Generally the tone of his psyche was sad and despairing. He was able to do business well and get ahead in his work, but there was a deep sadness to him.”
Pacino’s role is being tipped for an Oscar nomination but the actor said: “I’ve not thought about that until now. But it’s a great thought.”
