Most of the post-90s generation in China first came into contact with the play "The Merchant of Venice" through middle school Chinese textbooks, and I was no exception. Thinking back then, I always liked to go against the views of the textbook. Regarding the excerpt of "The Merchant of Venice", I was dissatisfied with the cliché in the textbook that "justice was done, and the wicked received the punishment they deserved".
I have always felt that although the trick of cutting flesh is a bit too sinister, in the end, the punishment Sherlock received was too heavy anyway. Don't you have to win the lawsuit? Why should Portia be so unreasonable? So I have always been sympathetic to Sherlock.
After watching this movie of the same name starring Pa Ye and Tie Uncle recently, the injustice in my heart became even stronger. In fact, from the beginning of the film, when I saw Antonio spit on Sherlock, my heart completely fell on Sherlock's side. Antonio hates Sherlock because he is a loan shark Jew. On the one hand, loan sharks are a way of getting rich that he despises as a serious businessman. Worse than beasts. But is this Sherlock's fault? If the laws of Venice at the time allowed Jews to do legitimate business, then with Jewish shrewdness, Sherlock's business success was not necessarily inferior to Antonio's. And because of deep-rooted prejudice, Jews have always been regarded by Christians as synonymous with evil and depravity, but the truth is probably the opposite - at least in the movies: Jews obey the rules of the law, and those who consider themselves to be superior The Christians of the high society indulge in sensuality all day long, and live a luxurious and debauched life. The behavior of the noble ladies of the upper class is almost no different from that of prostitutes. And Bassanio, who sparked the conflict between Antonio and Sherlock, was one of those frivolous and boring Venetian men and women.
Some people say that Antonio and Bassanio are a pair of friends who love each other, which is probably not accurate in my opinion. Antonio and Bassanio's love for each other is extremely unequal, Antonio only pays blindly, while Bassanio only knows how to get, and wantonly squander Antonio's love for him. As Lancelot, who took refuge in him, said: "You, sir, have the grace of God." Yes, he has always lived by the grace of others, but it is not from God, but from those The one who loves him without asking for anything in return.
Let's see how Bassanio described Antonio: "My closest friend, a man of the most kind-hearted, kind-hearted, affectionate and righteous, he has the chivalrous spirit of ancient Rome more than any Italian."—— In fact, to put it bluntly, it is what we call "abusive good people". He allowed Bassanio to spend his own money recklessly, and even Bassanio borrowed money from Sherlock at the risk of being cut off for his wife and daughter-in-law. His doting of Bassanio has long gone beyond a friend, and in some cases, this love can become an Achilles' heel, and it is this weakness that gives Shylock, who has always been treated like a dog by Antonio, A chance to bite back.
Antonio pinned his hope of repaying the loan on his merchant ships that went to sea. Unexpectedly, the merchant ships were wiped out in the storm at sea. Antonio had to agree to let Sherlock cut a pound of flesh from himself according to the terms of the breach. Even after Bassanio successfully obtained the wealthy daughter Portia, which was enough to compensate Sherlock several times, it still did not shake the "Jewish dog"'s determination to operate on Antonio. For this reason, many people scolded Sherlock for his vicious heart, but no one thought about why Sherlock hated Antonio so deeply, and would rather give up thousands of gold coins in compensation in order to cut a piece of his flesh. His hatred was not just against Antonio, but all Christians.
When two of Antonio's friends pleaded with Sherlock on his behalf and accused him of being too callous, the hatred and anger that Sherlock had suppressed for a long time finally burst out: "He once humiliated me and took hundreds of thousands of dollars from me. Dollar business, mocking my loss, mocking my surplus; slandering my nation, destroying my business; dividing my friends, stirring up my enemies, what is his reason? Just because I am a Jew.... ..if you have bullied us, won't we take revenge? If we are all like you elsewhere, we are like each other in this. If a Jew bullies a Christian, how does a Christian behave? His humility? Vengeance. If a Christian bullies a Jew, how should the Jew show his tolerance? Vengeance, following the Christian example Do it, and do it twice as much!" His anger was actually directed at all the Christians who oppressed the Jews, and Antonio was just an early bird exposed at the muzzle of a gun. Not to mention the long-term humiliation of Christians, his daughter also ran away with a Christian because of his covetousness of the extravagant life of Christians. Lovers provide sanctuary - so it's not hard to see why Sherlock hates Antonio so much.
And the Christian "kindness" shown in the film is really hypocritical. When Antonio fell, almost the whole of Venice sided with him, and when Sherlock suffered the double blow of being betrayed by his daughter and his money was swept away, those "kind Christians" not only had no sympathy for him, but He sneered: "The Jewish dog was mad, his appearance changed, and he barked and jumped all the way in the street, shouting: 'My daughter! My gold! My daughter! With a Christian Run away!'" They bullied the Jews with all their might, and when the Jews began to fight back, they sternly denounced the other for showing no mercy. Hypocritical Christians treat Jews like animals without allowing them to hold grudges.
When Antonio's friend asked Shylock to be merciful, Shylock's meaning was clear: If Christians have no mercy to Jews, why should they ask Jews to show mercy to them?
Although I don't agree with the cruel method of revenge like cutting flesh, I can't tolerate the "if someone hits you in the left cheek, stretch your right cheek over and let him hit". At least Sherlock declared war on Christians through the court trial. The approach, in my opinion, is quite brave.
So when I saw that Sherlock was completely defeated by Portia's sophistry and was forced into a desperate situation, I only felt that my heart was blocked and uncomfortable, and there was no joy at all. To make matters worse, Sherlock, who had all his property confiscated, was handed over to Antonio by the Duke of Venice. Antonio seemed to be merciful and expressed his forgiveness for Sherlock's murder attempt, but asked him to immediately convert to Christianity in order to atone for his sins. You must know that this kind of punishment was more cruel than a person's life at that time. Although Sherlock saved a life, it was no different from the walking dead. Christians spurned him and regarded him as a street rat. His Jewish compatriots were like Avoid him like the plague, because those who turn away from the Pope are bound to be unacceptable to them.
I can't forget the scene in the film where Sherlock crouches for punishment: after even his faith was taken away by "merciful" Christians, he knelt down, clasped the Jewish relic in his hands, trembling all over, trying to restrain himself of weeping. The Christians on the sidelines all looked contemptuous and spit on this exhausted old man. Seeing this, I felt my stomach turned upside down, and I almost felt sick to the point of vomiting.
Who said Antonio was merciful?
Who said it was a comedy?
I can't see it anyway.
What I saw was just a group of frivolous noble men and women pushing a helpless old man into a corner, nothing more.
After the text is over, the following is the explosion of the small universe in my brain:
1. I actually arranged for Uncle Tie, who I love so much, to spit on Pa Ye, who also won my heart! Director, do you want me to be schizophrenic? !
2. You bastards dare to bully Pa Ye and his old man together!
3. No matter how much you love Uncle Tie, you can't help but admit that he has absolutely no room to play in this film, and loses his brilliance in front of Pacino's explosive performance!
4. Although the focus of this film is Papa, the director and actresses should be careful! Not to mention the mediocre acting skills of the one who played Portia, he was too far away from the word "alluring the country and alluring the city"! Also handsome! Didn't you see that both of our grandfathers eclipsed her?
5. Don't rush to scold many girls nowadays for being sugar daddy or something. Haven't you seen Shakespeare's Venetian gentleman befriending a little rich woman at that time?
6. Is that daughter mentally disabled? Don't want such a superb old man, but ran away with a glib little white face! You must know that your father was a godfather back then!
7. My God! I'm not really a slut! But why do I think the atmosphere between Antonio and Bassanio is not right?
8. When I saw the desolate scene where Grandpa Pacino stood alone outside the church door at the end of the film, I clearly heard my heartbreak!
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