Subscribe to Print Edition | Sun., July 13, 2008 Tamuz 10, 5768 | | Israel Time: 10:19 (EST+7) web haaretz.com   Back to Homepage Rosner's Domain Diplomacy Defense Jewish World Opinion National Print Edition Car Rental Books Peres Conference Business Real Estate Easy Start Travel Week's End Anglo File

Last update - 10:17 13/07/2008 Jerusalem Film Festival 2008 Preview His only friend By Michael Handelzalts Tags: Shylock, Shakespeare  Over the centuries, Shakespeare's Shylock has been played both to the grossest of anti-Semitic types, and with sympathy and compassion. A new cinematic interpretation lends an extra measure of understanding to the character "Shylock," directed by Michal Shabtay (DeProductie Productions, 2008, 68 minutes), in Dutch Looking for a trick question to pose to a Shakespeare aficionado? Try this one: "Who is the 'Merchant of Venice'?" As Shakespeare's greatest tragedies are named for their heroes, and Shylock's fate -- at least as most people regard it, especially after World War II and the Nazi efforts to eradicate the Jews -- is thought to be tragic, many will see the question as offending the intelligence. Why, Shylock of course, they will say. Advertisement But remember, this is a trick question. Already in its first folio, we read that the play, probably written between 1596 and 1598, is the story of "the Merchant of Venice, with the extreme cruelty of Shylock the Jew toward the said merchant." Antonio, the man who borrows 3000 ducats from Shylock, is the merchant, and the play was labeled, at first, as a comedy, with the Jew being cast as a villain, and a comic one at that. Doesn't Shylock deserve a play of his own? There are many ways to present "The Merchant of Venice." One can portray the Jewish money lender as a greedy and bloodthirsty monster. The text of the play in fact allows it, and the Nazis did this with relish. One can portray Shylock as a member of a persecuted minority who is pushed into a corner, and who in the end is much more sinned against than sinning, and Shakespeare's text sanctions that as well. Any production of the play is, in a way, a stating of the case for or against Shylock, with the audience being both judge and jury. Although a character in "Henry VI, Part 2" says, "let's kill all the lawyers," it's a truism that the defendant who chooses to represent himself has a fool for a lawyer. At the trial Shylock speaks for himself, whereas Antonio's case is pleaded by an extremely shrewd lawyer. And indeed, things don't go so well for the moneylender. The Welsh-born actor Gareth Armstrong took it upon himself to give Shylock a retrial, in a one-man show in which he pleads Shylock's case. He toured the world with the play, which he named simply "Shylock," beginning in 1998, bringing it to Israel as well. Changes the meaning Armstrong's most inspired idea was to let one Tubal speak for the Jew. Tubal is not Gareth Armstrong's creation; rather he is a very minor character in Shakespeare's play, appearing in only one scene (act 3, scene 2), with a mere eight lines. But, as Armstrong points out to the audience, Tubal is Shylock's friend -- his best, in fact only, friend. And as Armstrong shows, brilliantly, having Tubal on stage, as a silent figure, nodding, changes the meaning of Shylock's famous opening line, when he makes his first appearance on stage ("Three thousand ducats? For three months? And Antonio bound? Well, well") from the monologue of a greedy usurer, to the words of a man who has received a business offer, and is seeking sage advice. The Israeli-born filmmaker Michal Shabtay, who has lived in the Netherlands since 1975, took Armstrong's idea and fleshed out his one-man show into a 68-minute movie, whose action takes place backstage, during an actual performance of "The Merchant of Venice," as performed (in Dutch) by Toneelgroep Amsterdam, and directed by Ola Mafaalani. (Armstrong, by contrast, appeared on stage alone, an actor presenting a long monologue to the audience in the guise of Tubal.) Shabtay's lead actor, Cahid Olmez, a handsome, tall, black-haired and dark-complexioned actor, waits for his his cue to play the minor part of Tubal, and he whiles away his and our time by giving us the background of the play and its reception through the ages. The film, to be screened at the Jerusalem Film Festival on July 11, is in Dutch, with English subtitles. The film starts with archival footage of a historic Dutch production of "The Merchant of Venice" from the early 20th century, in which we see Louis Bouwmeester (1842-1925) performing the "Hath not a Jew eyes?" monologue. Shylock was Bouwmeester's best-known creation, a role he performed some 2000 times, beginning in 1880. But the footage makes for an excellent introduction to Shabtay's film: The character is clearly tragic in the way he appeals to our emotions; and yet the style of his acting and the stylized make-up are in one way comic, and in another morbidly reminiscent of anti-Semitic cartoons that would appear several decades later in the Nazi era. Olmez, as an actor preparing to play Tubal, through Armstrong and Shabtay's screenplay, tells the audience that Shakespeare couldn't have known many Jews: When he was writing, there were no Jewish communities in England, having been expelled some centuries earlier. His contemporary Christopher Marlowe did write a play about "the Jew of Malta," whose hero, Barabas, is a villain indeed. Shakespeare and his audience would also have read in the Gospels about Judas, and about the original Barabas, who is freed by Pilate at the request of the Jewish crowd, who vote to have Jesus crucified, saying outright that his blood will be on them and their children. This would have been the frame of mind of Shakespeare's audience when seeing the play for the first time. Richard Burbage, Shakespeare's favorite actor, for whom he wrote "Hamlet," "Othello" and "Macbeth," played Bassanio, Ilmez tells us, but says he believes that after opening night, Burbage would have realized that Shylock is the better part. The Jew's visit to Antonio's party takes place during the play's intermission, in the theater's foyer, where even Ilmez, with his oriental looks, sticks out as a bit alien. Olmez also tells us that Shakespeare stole the plot, as was his wont, from a romance by Pecorino about a rich heiress, who tests her suitors in bed. Those who do not stand up to the occasion, as it were, have to pay with their fortune. As Bassanio is very much to her taste, she makes him repeat the test again and again, thus forcing him to borrow from Antonio he does not specify if Bassanio actually failed, or was merely trying to improve his grades), who in turn goes to Shylock, which is what effectively starts the moneylender along the path to his bitter end. When Olmez, as Tubal, Shylock's lone friend, wants to illustrate a point about the Jew's behavior, he acts Shylock's lines in the real-time theater production going on in the background (at other times scenes are also screened behind him, sometimes with Tubal even fast-forwarding through them). And when we reach act three, scene two, Tubal's only scene with Shylock, Olmez plays both parts on camera. And so we see how it is that Tubal reports to Shylock on what is happening in Genoa, where according to rumors, Jessica, Shylock's daughter, has eloped with Lorenzo the Christian, and taken her father's money. Olmez, ever the actor with the small part, makes the point that the rascal no-good Lorenzo not only got the girl and the money, he also has the best lines in the play. When we see the short scene between Tubal and Shylock, now paying attention to every line, we witness once again Shakespeare's genius: Tubal, seemingly switching back and forth from reporting about Jessica's wanton spending to Antonio's approaching bankruptcy, drives Shylock out of his mind. It is after this scene that he starts his relentless pursuit of his bond, his pound of flesh, which was mentioned at the beginning "in jest." Olmez does not fail to note that "The Merchant of Venice" was Hitler's favorite play, and that the Nazis hastened to explain Jessica's marriage to Lorenzo, a forbidden one according to the Nuremberg laws, by claiming that she was Shylock's illegitimate daughter from a prostitute, and thus not Jewish. There is no doubt that since the Holocaust understanding of the play has changed irreversibly, without a word of its text being altered. Not many years after Shylock's first appearance on the stage, the puritans had their way, and theater performances in England were banned. Cromwell did not see theater as something England was in need of. He did, however, realize that it could benefit from Jewish presence on the "sceptered island," and allowed the Jews to return. Shylock disappeared from the English stage for over 100 years. When he reappeared, courtesy of the actor-manager Charles MacKline, the role of Tubal was cut from the playing script, Olmez tells us. Shabtay's film ends with Tubal realizing that by behaving as he thought befitted a best friend, the only adviser Shylock had in his corner, he might actually have pushed him to his downfall. Tubal-Olmez asks for Shylock's forgiveness. But the film ends before we hear Shylock's answer, just as the play itself ends without our knowing what becomes of the Jew. He leaves the stage, defeated, at the end of act IV, after the trial scene, leaving us with the whole of act V, in merry Belmont with its happy lovers, to sit through and think of him. Shabtay's movie certainly adds many layers of thought to this well-known and yet very much unknown story about theater and life, Jews and others, small and big parts. Haaretz Books, July 2008 Bookmark to del.icio.us   Smoking kills Tehran slams McCain for saying cigarettes could be used to kill Iranians. Case of deja vu Olmert and his office chief Shula Zaken were accused of similar charges back in 1991.

Read & React Tehran slams McCain for saying cigarettes could be used to kill Iranians Responses: 46 Report: Pentagon official says Israel has 'amber light' for Iran strike Responses: 25 Muslim charities targeted by Israel do more than fund terror Responses: 11 Zvi Bar'el: France is a friend of the Arabs because U.S. is a friend of Israel Responses: 2 U.S. presidential hopefuls use Hebrew to woo Jewish voters Send response Rosner's Domain Did Mossad chief Meir Dagan pay a visit to the White House? (WTR) Is the Arab love affair with Obama over? (WTR) On Iraq, Obama draws to the ground of reality Poll: The more religious the Jewish voter, the more pro-McCain More Headlines 08:51 Report: Pentagon official says Israel has 'amber light' for Iran strike 00:51 Olmert: Reports I defrauded charities are distorted, despicable 04:54 ANALYSIS / The latest allegations, what now? 08:10 Hezbollah hands report on Ron Arad over to Israel 10:00 U.S. presidential hopefuls use Hebrew to woo Jewish voters 02:20 Muslim charities targeted by Israel do more than fund terror 01:44 Sarkozy asks Syria to help resolve Iran nuclear crisis 05:01 The Mediterranean summit / Sarkozy in the role of Bush 05:35 Price of vacations to jump after Tisha B'Av fast 06:22 U.S. subprime mortgage crisis hits Discount and Leumi too 06:33 Goldwasser family thanks supporters, wearily eyes 'finish line' Previous Editions Select Day 11 jul 10 jul 09 jul 08 jul 07 jul 06 jul 04 jul 03 jul 02 jul 01 jul 30 jun 29 jun

Special Offers Advertisement Fattal Hotel Chain Perfectly located hotels on best resorts of Israel. Israel's Premier Real Estate Website www. israel-property.com Dan Hotels Israel Live the Legend & experience an Unforgettable Summer Vacation Yossi Avrahami Presents: New Luxurious Projects in North Tel Aviv & Eilat Holyland Park Jerusalem Apartment Tower World Class Luxury Right In the heart of Tel-Aviv The Meier on Rothschild tower Your vacation starts here Israel Travel Center Guaranteed Lowest Rates Hebrew Summer courses From $39.95 ISRAEL BONDS Build Israel Israel bonds - a multi-purpose way to celebrate Israel's 60th Eldan Rent a Car Israel's leading car rental company offers you a 20% discount on all online reservations Junkyard Junk a car - get free towing nationwide and a tax-deductible receipt

Home | TV | Print Edition | Diplomacy | Opinion | Arts & Leisure | Sports | Jewish World | Underground | Site rules |

Real Estate in Israel | Travel to Israel with Haaretz | Hotels Israel | Restaurants Israel | Tourist attractions Israel | Shops Israel

birthright Israel | Search engine marketing

Haaretz.com, the online edition of Haaretz Newspaper in Israel, offers real-time breaking news, opinions and analysis from Israel and the Middle East. Haaretz.com provides extensive and in-depth coverage of Israel, the Jewish World and the Middle East, including defense, diplomacy, the Arab-Israeli conflict, the peace process, Israeli politics, Jerusalem affairs, international relations, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the Israeli business world and Jewish life in Israel and the Diaspora.

© Copyright  Haaretz. All rights reserved