Shakespeare's pound of flesh

British actor retains period hierarchy in The Merchant of Venice

Once referred to as Ralph Fiennes' younger, less successful brother, Joseph Fiennes today is considered to be the foremost Shakespearean actor of his generation. His memorable roles as Robert Dudley in Elizabeth, and William Shakespeare in Shakespeare in Love had critics and fans alike clamouring for more of his star-turning work.
Though he's starred in non-period fare, such as Stealing Beauty, Enemy at the Gate and Killing Me Softly, Fiennes, 34, is never better than when he dons those tights and woos the damsels.
Such is the case with Michael Radford's The Merchant of Venice. After a long scroll that tells how Jews lived in 16th-century Venice, the film's first moments show Antonio (Jeremy Irons), a wealthy merchant, spitting in the face of Shylock the moneylender (Al Pacino). Antonio, y'see, is sad because the man he loves, Bassanio (Fiennes), is in love with a wealthy heiress, Portia (Lynn Collins). To help Bassanio get the money he needs to court Portia in style, Antonio, who has a cash-flow problem, appeals to Shylock for a large loan. This becomes the downfall of the lovesick merchant.
Tandem talked to Joseph Fiennes when he was in Toronto.

You must be comfortable in period clothes again...
"Yeah. [laughs] I'm in that sort of 15th, 16th-century gear. Yeah. I guess that I am. Although it's funny because the movies that have seemed to pop are the ones where it's in sort of Shakespearean time. Either Elizabethan or Shakespearean time. But I've done a huge amount of work which has been sort of modern and not in that period. It seems that the ones that have gotten more acclaim are the period ones, the period dramas. I hate to say that word because I look at them and think, 'Okay, why are we doing it? We're doing it because they're really modern. We're doing it because it's about the human condition, love, hate, redemption, mercy, forgiveness, fanaticism, shame, everything that's going on in our own dimensions and the greater sort of globe that we see a lot of today.' So without wagging the finger it seems to be a very politically, globally pertinent piece."

But you do seem pigeonholed somewhat. You were in The Royal Shakespeare Company, then Shakespeare in Love, and now this. Are you happy about this?
"I am. I feel that someone is governing me. The force of Shakespeare is like a puppet just guiding me over here and there. I went to drama school. First I went to youth theatre for 18 months, then I went to training for three years, I did the West End, and then I did the Royal Shakespeare Company. I always felt that I wanted to do the classics. That might be from Arthur Miller, the modern classics, or William Shakespeare or Marlow. It was that kind of text that really excited me. I think that for the actor it's kind of... the only analogy I have is that what the Olympics is for the athlete, Shakespeare is for the actor. It's that kind of demanding, muscular text, although, in the film Merchant of Venice we had to attack it differently on screen. You can't do it the same way as with theatre. So there was that discipline of joining the two ways of playing Shakespeare to make it work. You had to be honest to the wonderful language, but also while making sure it fit for a cinematic audience. It's certainly challenging. It's physically and mentally and spiritually challenging, and you don't get that all the time. So I guess I go back to it because it feeds me."

Do you get every Shakespeare project that comes out of Hollywood?
"No, I don't. But it'll be interesting to see after this what comes my way. And I'm quite careful. Again, if it's pertinent to me, if it's got a modern resonance, I think, 'Well, it's got the edge over something which although might be set in L.A. does seems really dated.' So I don't judge it just on its set, I judge it on the kind of truth or merit of what it's saying, how it's going to be expressive for a modern audience."

How was shooting in Venice?
"Are you Italian? Have you been to Venice?"

Yes, of course. My husband's Venetian and we go every year...
"Lucky you! It's incredible if you can shut down that city. That's not a small feat. I think that it was their mark of respect for a play set in their city. They wanted to act like hosts. So the production was wonderful. They talked to the powers that be there, and they shut down the main canal and certain areas that are heavy with traffic. It was great: three-hundred-and-sixty degrees of architectural stimulation totally befitting that period in Shakespeare's play. That's rare, really rare. So it was fantastic. It was very atmospheric."

How did the people in the city behave?
"They love film. I mean, of course they have Rossellini, Bertolucci and all these amazing filmmakers. Their love of cinema and culture is enormous. So their appreciation for actors is enormous. They love it. They're just very warm, and it was just great."

What was it like working with Al Pacino on this film?
"We could be here all day. Just amazing. Really inspired, brave, passionate, intelligent, well read, tireless, a company man, humble, always chiseling away, excavating to find the truth, and he just perseveres. He's a great inspiration. We had a wonderful time rehearsing. It's as much a collaborative as anything else. It was a really comfortable feeling, and it was Al who brought that feeling and inspired and fueled the level of work. He's great to act with. He constantly changes, twists, keeps you on your toes. It becomes a very good interaction. It becomes something that I'm more used to in theatre. I don't know if that's because he has a love and a passion and he's, perhaps, essentially a theatre actor apart from being just the greatest actor of our time. I think that he has a generosity of spirit and an understanding of the classics as well. That fueled for a really good time."

Did you learn anything from him?
"Yeah. I mean, it's something that you get subliminally. You can't NOT learn. It's something that I have trouble describing. But it's at a level that's very instinctive. Al is incredibly instinctive, and he follows his nose. He's very alert and very brave. So I think that it's his bravery and his passion and his love of his work... He's done a huge amount of work, and yet his love and passion are just so fired up. God, where do I begin? I mean, I'd love to work with him again, because it all just happened so fast. It was gone and done."

Your name came up for the James Bond character. Is that something that interests you at all?
"[Laughs] I'm too young. I'm too young. I mean, Sean Connery was more... the guys were men. Sean was a real man. You believed that he was a killer, a hard drinker, a womanizer. You felt that he was an assassin. I think that for me the real James Bond has to be a very dark, tough, twisted man. I don't see it in the veins of what you might call a nice, young guy."

The Merchant of Venice is currently playing at local cinemas.

Publication Date: 2005-01-23
Story Location: http://tandemnews.com/viewstory.php?storyid=4855