in performance: Antonio
I’ll have a proper final Antonio not-so-August post next time, but as this week got away from me a bit, here’s a video preview of our final Antonio, from The Merchant of Venice.
This is from the 2004 film directed by Michael Radford, and starring Al Pacino as Shylock. This scene, with Jeremy Irons as Antonio and Joseph Fiennes as Bassanio, comes early in the play, and sets up the film’s very explicit take on the romantic— or at least sexual— relationship between the characters. The scene, staged with the two of them eventually sitting together on a bed, is darkly lit and filled with regret and weariness. Fiennes’ Bassanio does not seem enthusiastic about the courtship he is about to undertake, just determined. Irons’ Antonio is weary and resigned, and once he starts looking at Bassanio, can’t really tear his eyes away.
At Bassanio’s request for financial help to woo Portia is what sends Antonio away at last, turning from him— much to Bassanio’s surprise—and rising from the bed. But it’s just to provide a note of credit, which Bassanio thanks him for with a kiss to the hand— and then on the mouth.
Unfortunately this clip, the best I could find, cuts off there— but there’s enough time to see Antonio’s look of surprise, even as he doesn’t even begin to flinch away from Bassanio’s touch. It’s a really nicely troubled and inconclusive moments, picking up on the implications about Antonio’s feelings that run through the text but never quite find fully explicit expression.