Al Pacino is a beast as Shylock. He manages to make you empathize with him. But then again, Shylock is one of the greatest Shakespeare characters, both a victim and a villain.
I think it's Shakespeare that makes you empathize with him. Let's not forget that about the time it was written England hated Jews because one of them tried to hurt the Queen, yet Shakespeare wrote for Shylock this amazing monologue
i feel so bad for shylock, he was treated so badly , his daughter betrayed him , he lost all his wealth, he had to change religion i feel so bad for him
Even today in the 21st century, the overall messege of this speech is still as relevant and important as ever. I loved this scene in the movie, and I performed the monologue at college.
@@KIsaac-wp5dq I think what he line means is he will do the same as them but harder meaning without mercy. But better the instructions. Probably meaning show a better example of how to do it. His way being better understand but harsh and with the same fire the Christian use
@@KIsaac-wp5dq "The bad things you taught my by your example, I will now do [I will take a pound of flesh from Antonio's body, with a knife] and it will be very painful but I will teach you better than you taught me." It's a chilling threat.
To bait fish withal. If it will feed nothing else, it will feed my revenge. He hath disgraced me and hindered me half a million, laughed at my losses, mocked at my gains, scorned my nation, thwarted my bargains, cooled my friends, heated mine enemies-and what’s his reason? I am a Jew. Hath not a Jew eyes? Hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions? Fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases, healed by the same means, warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer as a Christian is? If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not laugh? If you poison us, do we not die? And if you wrong us, shall we not revenge? If we are like you in the rest, we will resemble you in that. If a Jew wrong a Christian, what is his humility? Revenge. If a Christian wrong a Jew, what should his sufferance be by Christian example? Why, revenge. The villainy you teach me I will execute-and it shall go hard but I will better the instruction.
@@yossielevitsky9757 Well he tries to murder Antonio through a legal loophole because Antonio makes it harder for him to make money, which he makes through usury- which is immoral.
Alienation is such a persistent theme in Shakespeare. I think Shylock has the most moral force of all Shakespeare's alienated characters. One almost takes his part after this speech. I think Shakespeare is making a comment on all moral systems, not just Christianity, in this play. There is a universality to Shylock's utterances.
I disagree, only in that I think Richard II is the most moral force of Shakespeare's alienated characters. "I have been studying how I may compare this prison where I live, unto the world. But seeing as the world is populous, and here is not a creature but myself, I cannot do it." Alienation, check. His dialogue with Henry Bolingbroke, arguing the nature of leadership, its cares, and the loss of responsibility... speaks deeply to me. Perhaps I am biased as a leader, watching a falling leader fall, but to me it is more profoundly moral than this.
Yes the guy goes im a persecuted jew. There was a reason jewish people are persecuted and have been kicked out of multiple nations throughout history. But yes, the guy whom instead of accepting payment defaults on a pound of flesh in hopes to kill the indebtor is the moral force. I hope i dont go to the moral heaven you beleive in.
I had a difficult time understanding the language in Shakespeare. But this exact scene, I understood every word out of Al's mouth. Hats off, such a brilliant preformance.
I first encountered this during my highschool english class. We memorized and recited this one by one. Im now 30 and until now out of all the poems, sonnets, psalms and verses ive read and performed, i still memorize this by heart. I dont know why but this one stucked with me forever i guess..
Why should he not yell? He has been wronged so severely, through out his life as well, that his response should be submissive? Ridiculous, he should be angry and his yelling is well warranted.
I must say that I love the positive likes I have revived. It is always frightening to express one's opinion to the public, but the positive response has made it an opinion that I am proud to defend!
He was a jew, and jews were in history, for centuries wronged. They were forbidden to do most trades and crafts, yet allowed to lend out money, by the same societies that then turned around and blamed them for lending out money, whol barely left them any other way to make a living.
Jeff N He was definitely wronged. All his life, he was treated badly because he is a Jew. Notice the red hat? He is forced to wear it at all times because he is a Jew. He was not allowed to leave his house after certain times. He was forced to live in the slums even though he is not poor. He is treated at the lowest rung in society even though he has done nothing wrong. His “friend” Antonio who is a Christian took him out to dinner so that his friend could kidnap his daughter and elope with her. She ends up converting to being a Christian. He loses his daughter, and is continually treated badly over his faith. He makes the deal with Antonio that he will give him a pound of flesh if he doesn’t pay up as a joke. But after all he’s done to Shylock, Shylock changes his mind and takes it seriously. This entire monologue is his finally saying that he’s had enough of being treated inhumanly, and that if he is like Christians in every other way except his faith then he will do the same thing they would do and take his revenge. He’s a product of his surroundings.
Sir Edward Drake Some people would say so, others would not, but everyone has their own set of morals. Psychologically? The revenge isn’t worth it. Yes, it causes the reward sensors to go off inside ones brain but it also causes the initial hatred to become sooo much worse. In the long run it won’t help him at all, but he finally feels as though justice has been served even if he’s taking out all his anger on one person. It’s almost crazy to think about, but morally? It really depends on Shylocks morals over everyone else’s. For instance he feels that any Christian would do the same simply by how he’s treated so that it’s now morally acceptable in his head because that’s how it’s always been, no one cares who gets hurt as long as they’re the one who benefits in his head so now he’s finally changes from trying to do good to doing what’s “morally acceptable” even if he didn’t always agree with it!
Here's what's awesome about Pacino The inflection I've heard many a rabbi and jewish elders scream in dispair with that same exact dialect, inflection and accent. That takes observation, study, training.
@Athanasius Contra Marxism What type would that be? And I understand there are a few: Ashkenazi Jews and Sephardi Jews being the two examples I would think of off the top of my head.
THIS IS The Definitive Performance! Like Hestons Eulogy of Caesar, Branagh's Band Of Brothers, McKellens Richard 3rd, Mirrens Tilbury Speech....God, I love it so...
Best Shylock performance I have seen. I know this dialogue by heart, yet Pacino's performance has captivated me. His dialogue delivery has elevated this scene to a masterpiece similar to what Marlon Brando did for a similar monologue of Antony in Julius Cesar.
You served that dish cold my friend!! There is a shylock in all of us..there can be no understanding between the hands and the brain unless the heart acts as mediator..
This play was quoted in the Pianist, where Szpilman's brother reads out the 'If you prick us, do we not bleed?' line. His brother then hands him the book, and Szpilman reads the scene, before handing back to his brother, commenting: "Very appropriate,". His brother responds: "Yeah, that's why I brought it".
I was lucky enough to see this in person at the Delacorte theater in Central Park. Rain delayed the performance and half the audience didn't come back once it resumed so we grabbed a pair of abandoned front-row seats. Will never forget it.
It was 2005, When I was 16 years old, i watched this film for the first time in my life, that time i was hooked with the Play of Shakespeare.. it was also the first movie i watched where Al Pacino played a role.. This specific scene of Al Pacino create a huge impression on me, nd slowly i started to familiar with him.. After that i started to watch other fims by Al slowly like Dog Day Afternoon, Seprico, The Godfather etc.. For me Al Pacino is the actor who made me fall in love with watching fims, before that i used to be a bookworm only.. For me He is the greatest actor of our generation.. No one can come close to him when its about creating a role
Wow, this is the most powerful delivery of these lines I've EVER heard. My eyes are welling up with tears for him. I know Shakespeare's treatment of antisemitism was in its day a real step forward, but I still wish this play ended better for Shylock.
Read Shylock's first two speeches again, @@St.DemetriostheMyrrhGusher. Then compare Shylock's character to the Jew of Malta. I'm not claiming the play is more progressive than it is. Of course Shakespeare gave his wholly Christian audience what they wanted because he knew which side his bread was buttered on. But Shylock absolutely DOES address antisemitism in his speeches. To claim otherwise is to be willfully obtuse.
@@EyeLean5280 Shylocke may address anti-semitism but that doesn't make Shakespeare against anti-semitism. Also, this play is obviously about the disgust of usury.
When I hear of voices wanting to cancel Shakespeare based on this play and on Othello, I feel like smacking their ignorant faces. Shakespeare was capable of conveying so much emotion, his characters are so strong, fascinating and relatable that his plays are still open to many interpretations hundreds of years after they were written. His characters are never good/ evil. They are always in the grey area, they are real people like us, with qualities, defects, passions, fears. He's studied human nature so well... And, I'm sorry to say that we haven't changed at all in the past 500 years: we still hate and seek revenge, we still point at people and lable them, our justice is still prone to corruption and trickery, and alas, everything still revolves around money.
Bloody hell are people actually trying to cancel culture Shakespeare? Aren't Othello and Shylock both interesting characters *because* they are discriminated against, yet still have their own flaws and motivations? I suppose it is too nuanced to have a character these days who is part of a discriminated minority and also have some negative qualities about them
@@U_C_G and they completely ignore that the tempist was shakespeare expressing anticolonial sentiment, coreolanus and aufidius were homo-erotic, antonio was straight up gay, othello, despite being a moor was, at a high ranking position in the vinezian navy, beatrice, a woman, was savage at roasting benedick, and aaron said the very first yo mama joke. Despite pandering to an antisemitic crowd, he was the most progressive author in the entire world at the time, and he wasn't in your face about it. It was subtle and witty to the point that there was no socio-economic disparity in his fanbase and he played a large role in the exponential literacy increase during the elizabethan era.
Great speech and applying to so much even now. Ethical axiom -we are *all* people, prick us, we bleed, warmed & cooled by the same seasons, equally human. Truth. Sometimes we are or could be all Shylocks "Jew" , whoever we are.
Talking about sweet in your mouth and bitter to your stomach… hats of maestro Pacino. All who were privy to hear this are captured by the subterfuge of his indignation.
William Shakespeare's genius is that this piece can be attributed to every oppressed minority on earth, Native American, African, Native Australian, the list is exhaustive... The Bard over 400 years later is so relevant today! ❤️🏴⚒️
Yes, this is an over-the-top performance, but I think it fits with the movie's general interpretation. This _Merchant of Venice_ casts it in the vein of a of modern fantasy, filled with the luscious excess of a Peter Jackson film. It's deliberately more a sensual than a nuanced, cerebral reading of the play. I think it works. There have been, and will continue to be, plenty of great performances of deep emotional complexity: I see no harm in doing a more modern interpretation that's painted with broad, gilded strokes.
Not sure what's "over-the-top" about a man displaying anger when he feels he's been wronged and is being purposely denied recompentence because of his ethnicity. Why should his response to this be reserved, submissive, and cerebral? If anything, Pacino's Shylock displayed a tempered response to the abuses he's claimed to experience all his life. I think the term over-the-top gets thrown around way too often when people talk about acting, as if actors aren't allowed to display any kind of emotion above even-keeled. In real life, people lose their tempers frequently, yell, throw tantrums, raise their voices in anger, etc. That's not over-the-top. That's just human emotion.
I understand him....i cry when i hear it or read it because at times i want that same pound of flesh from everyone who has wronged me...but at times i reflect and see it's just the justification of eye for a eye nothing else
He’s a really good character. But the sad twist at the court was a pound of flesh being smart arse attacked, so Shylock couldn’t do it. And then losing everything, and can only be reminded of the offers he was given to show mercy. Because he didn’t show mercy he got none to little back. Goes to show that it doesn’t matter if you’re in the right or wrong. It can always end bad for you. If you show mercy or not. Or showing mercy might make it less bad. Depends on the situation
There was an acting role in one of our subject in my high school day. And this is one of our lines. Man, 14 years had passed since that day and I still memorized this line
I've seen so many of these but Al Pacino's version is one of the best. A lot of the other actors lack range in the delivery. It feels flat but Al utilises the pitch range and makes his delivery engaging. ❤
Brilliant speech on how racism and persecution inspire vengeful extremism in the persecuted... written in the 16th century but as poignant today as ever
Tommy Two-shoes Actually it isn't meant to be a speech against racism and persecution: it's the exact contrary. What Shylock is saying is that even though he is a Jew he resembles in all aspects a Christian, and so that he can get his revenge as a Christian would normally do.
Yeah you are right. He's fitting it into a modern context of civil rights. But if you listen to the words and the context of the story in it's own right, you realize that he's justifying severe revenge. "An eye for an eye"
This is the reason why I chose shylock as my role for our voice act on the school I went, I can feel the emotions of being discriminated just because of different releigon.
From a powerful and flamboyant character like Don Michael Corleone to a wretched Hebrew like Shylock, Pacino shows his versatility in acting - no doubt he is a living legend.
Throughout this movie, as a Christian no less, Shylock was the character I rooted for throughout. The way they were presented I thought surely that Antonio and Bassanio were the antagonists and would get comeuppance for their treachery-- surely the pound of flesh would be taken, surely the debt would be paid, surely Portia and Nerissa on finding their husbands broke their oaths would do as just as they'd promised. I finished the film confused, wondering if it was some unique and strange sort of tragedy a la "A Series of Unfortunate Events". I do adore The Merchant of Venice, as despite my shock and disappointment at its ending, it is marvellously well written. This scene exemplifies its genius, as even when Shylock is shown as the antagonist, appealing to the antisemetic outlook of the era, he is not portrayed as a blindly cruel and evil man. He was, if ruthless, if flawed, near fully justified.
@Beano Christ died for any and all who come to the father by him. Are we to despise and persecute an entire group of people due to a thing that a select portion of their ancestors did? If they are lost, they are lost as equally as the rest of the world, and just as lost as we once were. Even if their fulfilling of God's prophesy were to be treated as an outstanding crime still warranting punishment, "Vengeance is mine saith the Lord".
@Beano You are triply delusional. Firstly I do not deny whatsoever that Christ is the Messiah and yet you correct me as though I had; secondly the only verse in the Bible I could find where Jesus uses the term "Synagogue of satan" is in Revelation 3:9 where he calls those who "say that they are Jews and are not" such; thirdly, and worst, you straight up deny the Holocaust? It seems you are exactly the audience Shakespeare expected to write for: an antisemetic "Christian" who serves the words of men who manipulate those of God. It seems the Jews are no more doomed than you.
Pacino made the character more human. Shylock was not a villain. Actually, he was a money-lender, like a modern-day banker. He lend money and asked for interest against it. Nothin wrong with this. He was the victim. He lost everything in the end by the false judiciary.
Al Pacino is a beast as Shylock. He manages to make you empathize with him. But then again, Shylock is one of the greatest Shakespeare characters, both a victim and a villain.
A fantastic actor, though honestly it is a little bit weird hearing a Venician with a Brooklyn accent
I think it's Shakespeare that makes you empathize with him. Let's not forget that about the time it was written England hated Jews because one of them tried to hurt the Queen, yet Shakespeare wrote for Shylock this amazing monologue
@@FerretJohn Both rooted in Italia...
Im gonna watch this for a test. Is the movie accurate to the play?
george bsuh antisemetic nonsense shut the fuck up lol
This is the best scene in the entire movie and in the play.
+Soham Banerjee (Seraph) I have to agree ith you on this.
I'd argue it's one of the best pieces of writing Shakespeare ever did, it's quite beautiful and very powerful.
i feel so bad for shylock, he was treated so badly , his daughter betrayed him , he lost all his wealth, he had to change religion i feel so bad for him
and probably the best speech in the entirety of Shakespeare's plays
you can't change my mind
@@tasneemmogal1427 his daughter didn't betray him, she chosed her own road not the one he wanted for her. That's not betrayal, that's free will.
Even today in the 21st century, the overall messege of this speech is still as relevant and important as ever. I loved this scene in the movie, and I performed the monologue at college.
Hello, I am also going to perform this as a declamation speech. Can I ask what dress you used for this character?
@@ashisgurung5308 I used a yellow cape, gold hat with a blue feather, and black clothes underneath.
If you kill a jew, they die. Sad :(
"The villainy you teach me, I will execute and it shall go hard but I will better the instruction."
I live for this line!!!
Could you elaborate it for me ? I didn't get that line ?
@@KIsaac-wp5dq I think what he line means is he will do the same as them but harder meaning without mercy. But better the instructions. Probably meaning show a better example of how to do it. His way being better understand but harsh and with the same fire the Christian use
@@KIsaac-wp5dq "The bad things you taught my by your example, I will now do [I will take a pound of flesh from Antonio's body, with a knife] and it will be very painful but I will teach you better than you taught me." It's a chilling threat.
Truth.
@@standroid64 em j78 UK lol l lo
I get major shivers everytime i watch this
true
I mean same😂😂😂
Al pacino is a legend
Just hats off to Pacino's reading of this play - the immense emotion projecting from every word is amazing.
To bait fish withal. If it will feed nothing else, it will feed my revenge. He hath disgraced me and hindered me half a million, laughed at my losses, mocked at my gains, scorned my nation, thwarted my bargains, cooled my friends, heated mine enemies-and what’s his reason? I am a Jew. Hath not a Jew eyes? Hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions? Fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases, healed by the same means, warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer as a Christian is? If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not laugh? If you poison us, do we not die? And if you wrong us, shall we not revenge? If we are like you in the rest, we will resemble you in that. If a Jew wrong a Christian, what is his humility? Revenge. If a Christian wrong a Jew, what should his sufferance be by Christian example? Why, revenge. The villainy you teach me I will execute-and it shall go hard but I will better the instruction.
Shakespeare...oh, man...such beauty in language.
cacca
I love those lines so much, probably my favorite ones in the entire book
It's a play, not a book.
ty so much, i was searching for shylocks monologue from the movie version and couldnt find anywhere
This is one of the greatest portrayals of Shylock's speech,
Agreed.
Don't know, the Italian version is good too.
I regret not taking the role of shylock on our school play. Damn as i got older i understand villains
How is shylock the villain...
@@yossielevitsky9757 perhaps not a villain, more like an antagonist
@@asylumskp4391 absolutely agreed
@@asylumskp4391 let’s go!
@@yossielevitsky9757 Well he tries to murder Antonio through a legal loophole because Antonio makes it harder for him to make money, which he makes through usury- which is immoral.
Alienation is such a persistent theme in Shakespeare. I think Shylock has the most moral force of all Shakespeare's alienated characters. One almost takes his part after this speech. I think Shakespeare is making a comment on all moral systems, not just Christianity, in this play. There is a universality to Shylock's utterances.
I disagree, only in that I think Richard II is the most moral force of Shakespeare's alienated characters. "I have been studying how I may compare this prison where I live, unto the world. But seeing as the world is populous, and here is not a creature but myself, I cannot do it." Alienation, check. His dialogue with Henry Bolingbroke, arguing the nature of leadership, its cares, and the loss of responsibility... speaks deeply to me. Perhaps I am biased as a leader, watching a falling leader fall, but to me it is more profoundly moral than this.
Oh man Othello is similar kinda the main guy who is free man but is ostricized and tricked through out the whole play its stunning
@@DopyWantsAPeanut I haven't read Richard II yet, but I will now! Thank you!
@@DopyWantsAPeanut nah. It's your bias.
Yes the guy goes im a persecuted jew. There was a reason jewish people are persecuted and have been kicked out of multiple nations throughout history.
But yes, the guy whom instead of accepting payment defaults on a pound of flesh in hopes to kill the indebtor is the moral force.
I hope i dont go to the moral heaven you beleive in.
very beautiful speech by that multitalented actor Al Pacino. Well done.
multitalented ?? he is one dimensional as fuck....Shylock Montana
@@thet-x2853 His portrayal of Michael Corleone has about fifteen dimensions.
@@thet-x2853
Al Pacino one dimensional as fuck.... 😆
I needed a laugh!
@@thet-x2853
Talk about his over the top Scarface all you want but don’t say it doesn’t have dimensions.
I had a difficult time understanding the language in Shakespeare. But this exact scene, I understood every word out of Al's mouth. Hats off, such a brilliant preformance.
I first encountered this during my highschool english class. We memorized and recited this one by one. Im now 30 and until now out of all the poems, sonnets, psalms and verses ive read and performed, i still memorize this by heart. I dont know why but this one stucked with me forever i guess..
We remember what touches us, the more powerful the touch, the stronger the memory.
Why should he not yell? He has been wronged so severely, through out his life as well, that his response should be submissive? Ridiculous, he should be angry and his yelling is well warranted.
I must say that I love the positive likes I have revived. It is always frightening to express one's opinion to the public, but the positive response has made it an opinion that I am proud to defend!
He was a jew, and jews were in history, for centuries wronged. They were forbidden to do most trades and crafts, yet allowed to lend out money, by the same societies that then turned around and blamed them for lending out money, whol barely left them any other way to make a living.
Jeff N He was definitely wronged. All his life, he was treated badly because he is a Jew. Notice the red hat? He is forced to wear it at all times because he is a Jew. He was not allowed to leave his house after certain times. He was forced to live in the slums even though he is not poor. He is treated at the lowest rung in society even though he has done nothing wrong. His “friend” Antonio who is a Christian took him out to dinner so that his friend could kidnap his daughter and elope with her. She ends up converting to being a Christian. He loses his daughter, and is continually treated badly over his faith. He makes the deal with Antonio that he will give him a pound of flesh if he doesn’t pay up as a joke. But after all he’s done to Shylock, Shylock changes his mind and takes it seriously. This entire monologue is his finally saying that he’s had enough of being treated inhumanly, and that if he is like Christians in every other way except his faith then he will do the same thing they would do and take his revenge. He’s a product of his surroundings.
Sir Edward Drake Some people would say so, others would not, but everyone has their own set of morals. Psychologically? The revenge isn’t worth it. Yes, it causes the reward sensors to go off inside ones brain but it also causes the initial hatred to become sooo much worse. In the long run it won’t help him at all, but he finally feels as though justice has been served even if he’s taking out all his anger on one person. It’s almost crazy to think about, but morally? It really depends on Shylocks morals over everyone else’s. For instance he feels that any Christian would do the same simply by how he’s treated so that it’s now morally acceptable in his head because that’s how it’s always been, no one cares who gets hurt as long as they’re the one who benefits in his head so now he’s finally changes from trying to do good to doing what’s “morally acceptable” even if he didn’t always agree with it!
@@DragonForceWrath do you speak like this in public?
I think Pacino has a marvolous understanding of the dialogue and most of all the story. Such brilliance! :)
Here's what's awesome about Pacino
The inflection
I've heard many a rabbi and jewish elders scream in dispair with that same exact dialect, inflection and accent. That takes observation, study, training.
André Crema I was wondering if anyone would be able to explain the inflections to me. Thank you.
@Athanasius Contra Marxism What type would that be? And I understand there are a few: Ashkenazi Jews and Sephardi Jews being the two examples I would think of off the top of my head.
THIS IS The Definitive Performance! Like Hestons Eulogy of Caesar, Branagh's Band Of Brothers, McKellens Richard 3rd, Mirrens Tilbury Speech....God, I love it so...
Well, ya know....Italians and Jews are very similar ;)
@@lilafeldman8630 yes we both humans.
This is surely one of the best performances of any Shakespeare soliloquy
This, and St. Crispins day speech :)
@@lilafeldman8630 We few....
@@lilafeldman8630 Agreed. Branagh is a beast in Henry V. Orson Welles Macbeth soliloquy is pretty powerful too.
@@jpkatz1435 we happy few
@@mikek5958 Olivier, not Branagh.
A small loan of 3000 ducats
+Potato Shylock doth be banking
+Sai Sistla its a donald trump joke
Lol look how many likes
Don't you mean a small loan of 1 million ducats
edmund price small 400,000,000 ducat loan.
Best Shylock performance I have seen. I know this dialogue by heart, yet Pacino's performance has captivated me. His dialogue delivery has elevated this scene to a masterpiece similar to what Marlon Brando did for a similar monologue of Antony in Julius Cesar.
Totally agree, the late great Lord Olivier and Sir John Gielgud were also big fans of Brandon's Mark Antony,high praise indeed!
After he finished his speech in this movie, I actually clapped out loud!
If I had been sitting near you in the cinema I would have told you to STFU.
I actually didn’t see it in the cinema. I watched it at home!
movie name...?
@@funnyconversetions1830 The Merchant of Venice
You served that dish cold my friend!! There is a shylock in all of us..there can be no understanding between the hands and the brain unless the heart acts as mediator..
The king of monologues !
My favourite quote! Explains many things during the human history.
I saw Pacino in the Broadway production of Merchant. It and he were spellbinding.
In my school we had to memorize the whole speech Lmfao
cv_Heat same
I need to memorize shylock i will portray him and im a girl
@@misheequinan429 yeah i feel you.
Zionist indoctrination of children
Currently doing it in my school this is hard
One of the best characters in Shakespearian literature.
My favorite character.
This play was quoted in the Pianist, where Szpilman's brother reads out the 'If you prick us, do we not bleed?' line. His brother then hands him the book, and Szpilman reads the scene, before handing back to his brother, commenting: "Very appropriate,". His brother responds: "Yeah, that's why I brought it".
Al Pacino always make it a special movie... what a genius!
Simply brilliant! Never seen such passion in the shyloc monologue, and trust me, I've seen many a performance, but this top it all!
I was lucky enough to see this in person at the Delacorte theater in Central Park. Rain delayed the performance and half the audience didn't come back once it resumed so we grabbed a pair of abandoned front-row seats. Will never forget it.
Absolutely splendid Al scene
One of the most powerful speeches in Literature ! Al Pacino's brilliant performance just added to the magic of the words. Magnificent.
It was 2005, When I was 16 years old, i watched this film for the first time in my life, that time i was hooked with the Play of Shakespeare.. it was also the first movie i watched where Al Pacino played a role..
This specific scene of Al Pacino create a huge impression on me, nd slowly i started to familiar with him..
After that i started to watch other fims by Al slowly like Dog Day Afternoon, Seprico, The Godfather etc..
For me Al Pacino is the actor who made me fall in love with watching fims, before that i used to be a bookworm only..
For me He is the greatest actor of our generation.. No one can come close to him when its about creating a role
Really love this speech, our late teacher made us recite this one by one in front of the class its so enjoyable..
I would say impressive rather than enjoyable.
I'm about to perform this in a oration contest sooo good luck to me!
Let us know how it went!
sure
how did it go?
?
best of luck
Wow, this is the most powerful delivery of these lines I've EVER heard. My eyes are welling up with tears for him. I know Shakespeare's treatment of antisemitism was in its day a real step forward, but I still wish this play ended better for Shylock.
Bro missed the entire point of the play, Shakespeare was not addressing anti-semitism.
@@St.DemetriostheMyrrhGusherShakespeare was literally antissemitic
Read Shylock's first two speeches again, @@St.DemetriostheMyrrhGusher. Then compare Shylock's character to the Jew of Malta. I'm not claiming the play is more progressive than it is. Of course Shakespeare gave his wholly Christian audience what they wanted because he knew which side his bread was buttered on. But Shylock absolutely DOES address antisemitism in his speeches. To claim otherwise is to be willfully obtuse.
See my comment to St. Demetrios, above, @@colemacgrath2005 .
@@EyeLean5280 Shylocke may address anti-semitism but that doesn't make Shakespeare against anti-semitism. Also, this play is obviously about the disgust of usury.
SUCH A GREAT ACTOR........
This is gold.
When I hear of voices wanting to cancel Shakespeare based on this play and on Othello, I feel like smacking their ignorant faces.
Shakespeare was capable of conveying so much emotion, his characters are so strong, fascinating and relatable that his plays are still open to many interpretations hundreds of years after they were written.
His characters are never good/ evil. They are always in the grey area, they are real people like us, with qualities, defects, passions, fears. He's studied human nature so well... And, I'm sorry to say that we haven't changed at all in the past 500 years: we still hate and seek revenge, we still point at people and lable them, our justice is still prone to corruption and trickery, and alas, everything still revolves around money.
Bloody hell are people actually trying to cancel culture Shakespeare? Aren't Othello and Shylock both interesting characters *because* they are discriminated against, yet still have their own flaws and motivations? I suppose it is too nuanced to have a character these days who is part of a discriminated minority and also have some negative qualities about them
@@U_C_G and they completely ignore that the tempist was shakespeare expressing anticolonial sentiment, coreolanus and aufidius were homo-erotic, antonio was straight up gay, othello, despite being a moor was, at a high ranking position in the vinezian navy, beatrice, a woman, was savage at roasting benedick, and aaron said the very first yo mama joke.
Despite pandering to an antisemitic crowd, he was the most progressive author in the entire world at the time, and he wasn't in your face about it. It was subtle and witty to the point that there was no socio-economic disparity in his fanbase and he played a large role in the exponential literacy increase during the elizabethan era.
Nah, this is good but othello is irredeemable. There are so many others to perform instead, let it die
@@ernesto8738what's wrong with Othello?
this is so meaningful and potent. I love it!
Great speech and applying to so much even now. Ethical axiom -we are *all* people, prick us, we bleed, warmed & cooled by the same seasons, equally human. Truth. Sometimes we are or could be all Shylocks "Jew" , whoever we are.
Such a great delivery, I've watched this 30 times and only just noticed the woman with her baps out in the background...
One of the few movies I bought a physical copy of - utterly brilliant.
El Pacino deserved another Academy Award for his role as Shylock more than any other.
Simply a majestic performance
Amazing portrayal by Al Pacino of Shylock. Captures the lifetime of frustration and wretchedness afflicted on him in this speech.
Im always watching this everytime I go youtube.. Very excellent
Talking about sweet in your mouth and bitter to your stomach… hats of maestro Pacino. All who were privy to hear this are captured by the subterfuge of his indignation.
Cry out in pain as they strike you.
Most inspirational speech ever
It's a play written by Shakespeare you idiot
William Shakespeare's genius is that this piece can be attributed to every oppressed minority on earth, Native American, African, Native Australian, the list is exhaustive...
The Bard over 400 years later is so relevant today! ❤️🏴⚒️
I am so grateful to have known him. I hope to understand your value better day by day. Thanks for everything!
You know A. P. ? Write more!
Needed this for an English project. Thanks so much!!!
Yes, this is an over-the-top performance, but I think it fits with the movie's general interpretation. This _Merchant of Venice_ casts it in the vein of a of modern fantasy, filled with the luscious excess of a Peter Jackson film. It's deliberately more a sensual than a nuanced, cerebral reading of the play. I think it works. There have been, and will continue to be, plenty of great performances of deep emotional complexity: I see no harm in doing a more modern interpretation that's painted with broad, gilded strokes.
Not sure what's "over-the-top" about a man displaying anger when he feels he's been wronged and is being purposely denied recompentence because of his ethnicity. Why should his response to this be reserved, submissive, and cerebral? If anything, Pacino's Shylock displayed a tempered response to the abuses he's claimed to experience all his life. I think the term over-the-top gets thrown around way too often when people talk about acting, as if actors aren't allowed to display any kind of emotion above even-keeled. In real life, people lose their tempers frequently, yell, throw tantrums, raise their voices in anger, etc. That's not over-the-top. That's just human emotion.
I remember this as my declamation piece back in the 6th grade. Very powerful.
I understand him....i cry when i hear it or read it because at times i want that same pound of flesh from everyone who has wronged me...but at times i reflect and see it's just the justification of eye for a eye nothing else
This really does sound like a person who's been hurt so many times finally lashing out.
Shylock : ( mic drop )
Thanks to the forgotten reaction paper, I got to understand shylock's side.
he's so good and the way he act it is so amazing.
He’s a really good character. But the sad twist at the court was a pound of flesh being smart arse attacked, so Shylock couldn’t do it. And then losing everything, and can only be reminded of the offers he was given to show mercy. Because he didn’t show mercy he got none to little back. Goes to show that it doesn’t matter if you’re in the right or wrong. It can always end bad for you. If you show mercy or not. Or showing mercy might make it less bad. Depends on the situation
There was an acting role in one of our subject in my high school day. And this is one of our lines.
Man, 14 years had passed since that day and I still memorized this line
Amazing!!
Y'all I'm using this speech as my piece for my declamation, what a great speech!
Should've ended on a "Hooh-Hah"
legendary
Major Tomrade 😂😂😂!
Two words
Pus-sy
😂😂im dead
@@jimmy2k4o that is 2 syllables not words
I've seen so many of these but Al Pacino's version is one of the best. A lot of the other actors lack range in the delivery. It feels flat but Al utilises the pitch range and makes his delivery engaging. ❤
That was a great take on the awesome work 👏
God, I am crying. The best scene and this scene is my project in my campus.
Brilliant speech on how racism and persecution inspire vengeful extremism in the persecuted... written in the 16th century but as poignant today as ever
Tommy Two-shoes Actually it isn't meant to be a speech against racism and persecution: it's the exact contrary. What Shylock is saying is that even though he is a Jew he resembles in all aspects a Christian, and so that he can get his revenge as a Christian would normally do.
isn't it called whataboutism?
Yeah you are right. He's fitting it into a modern context of civil rights. But if you listen to the words and the context of the story in it's own right, you realize that he's justifying severe revenge. "An eye for an eye"
Holly Hughes That would Still be a Speech against Bigotry .
Saying a Jew has just as much Pride and Capacity as a Christian.
So Judaism IS about race then?
amazing and thanks.......
It rly helped me with my speech at school ty
great .......thanks.......
Every time I think I’m out..... they pull me back in again
What do you mean
@@ninata7868
Godfather III reference
So Well Performed!
al placino the man of best monologues in cinema history
i love this speech ..
This speech reminds me of Pacino’s speech at the end of devils advocate. 1:10 especially reminds of the “look but don’t touch” part.
I’m a humanist.....maybe the last humanist.
What a movie I had studied Merchant of Venice for icse , I just watched the movie and scored great marks
Best dialogue with best actor, it touches every sense of me
Shylock has a point. Anybody is capable of revenge. It doesn’t matter what race or religion.
This is the same guy that rapped about coffee in Jack and Jill 7 years later
A powerful speech indeed !
The pinnacle of acting: terrific performance from the greatest actor
We are reading "M of V" at school. This helps a lot :)
Loved the speech.
what grate words do come out of someones mind, no dif to an artists painting !
My teacher showed this video in Literature class and no one noticed the half nude ladies at the back 😂
+Noor Rifat That's how great of an actor Al Pacino is
I know right great speech. Totally not immature like you
Only shows how strong the speech is
Somebody did, I am sure.
The best speech by Shylock...
This reminds me years back in my high school, I like it.
Masterpiece indeed.
Shylock: Don't ever ask me about my business. Dont do that
If only i saw this scene before my 7th grade declamation recital..
I have to learn this speech so i will be watching it alot!
This is the reason why I chose shylock as my role for our voice act on the school I went, I can feel the emotions of being discriminated just because of different releigon.
''The villainy you teach me I will execute-and it shall go hard but I will better the instruction.''
From a powerful and flamboyant character like Don Michael Corleone to a wretched Hebrew like Shylock, Pacino shows his versatility in acting - no doubt he is a living legend.
Michael Corleone was powerful, yes, but most certainly not flamboyant. Sonny was flamboyant
He’s goated
Quite simply the greatest actor of all time.....
This is so memorable. Al Pacino did a great job.
WOW Al should play Shakespearean roles more often!
Throughout this movie, as a Christian no less, Shylock was the character I rooted for throughout. The way they were presented I thought surely that Antonio and Bassanio were the antagonists and would get comeuppance for their treachery-- surely the pound of flesh would be taken, surely the debt would be paid, surely Portia and Nerissa on finding their husbands broke their oaths would do as just as they'd promised. I finished the film confused, wondering if it was some unique and strange sort of tragedy a la "A Series of Unfortunate Events". I do adore The Merchant of Venice, as despite my shock and disappointment at its ending, it is marvellously well written. This scene exemplifies its genius, as even when Shylock is shown as the antagonist, appealing to the antisemetic outlook of the era, he is not portrayed as a blindly cruel and evil man. He was, if ruthless, if flawed, near fully justified.
@Beano Christ died for any and all who come to the father by him. Are we to despise and persecute an entire group of people due to a thing that a select portion of their ancestors did? If they are lost, they are lost as equally as the rest of the world, and just as lost as we once were. Even if their fulfilling of God's prophesy were to be treated as an outstanding crime still warranting punishment, "Vengeance is mine saith the Lord".
@Beano You are triply delusional. Firstly I do not deny whatsoever that Christ is the Messiah and yet you correct me as though I had; secondly the only verse in the Bible I could find where Jesus uses the term "Synagogue of satan" is in Revelation 3:9 where he calls those who "say that they are Jews and are not" such; thirdly, and worst, you straight up deny the Holocaust? It seems you are exactly the audience Shakespeare expected to write for: an antisemetic "Christian" who serves the words of men who manipulate those of God. It seems the Jews are no more doomed than you.
Pacino made the character more human. Shylock was not a villain. Actually, he was a money-lender, like a modern-day banker. He lend money and asked for interest against it. Nothin wrong with this. He was the victim. He lost everything in the end by the false judiciary.
Al pacino is love😍