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The Maori Merchant of Venice
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Wikipedia article
'The Maori Merchant of Venice' is a 2002 New Zealand drama film in the Mori language (with English subtitles), directed by Don Selwyn.
Production
The play 'The Merchant of Venice' was translated into Mori in 1945[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/1691261.stm "Shakespeare goes Maori"], BBC, 4 December 2001 by Pei Te Hurinui Jones,[http://www.dnzb.govt.nz/dnzb/default.asp?Find_Quick.asp?PersonEssay=4J11 "Jones, Pei Te Hurinui 1898 - 1976"], 'Dictionary of New Zealand Biography' and his translation is used for the film.[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0300179/ "The Maori Merchant of Venice"] on IMDb It is the first Mori-language film adaptation of any of William Shakespeare's plays. The film was shot in Auckland, but "recreate[d] 16th century Venice, with costumes and surroundings to fit the original setting".
Cast
Almost all the film's actors are Mori, many of them acting for the cinema for the first time. Waihoroi Shortland stars as Hairoka (Shylock), Ngarimu Daniels as Pohia (Portia), Te Rangihau Gilbert as Patanio (Bassanio), Scotty Morrison as Anatonio (Antonio) and Veeshayne Armstrong as Nerita (Nerissa).[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0300179/ "The Maori Merchant of Venice"] on IMDb[http://www.allmovie.com/work/280379 "Te Tangata Whai Rawa o Weniti"], Allmovie
Reception
According to the New Zealand Film Commission, the film deals with the themes of "religious discrimination, revenge for past wrongs", and "explores the nature of justice and mercy" as well as "the effect of heritage on an individuals life decisions and the strength, wit and wisdom of women": "The Maori take on Shakespeare's 'pound of flesh' drama is a story of deep seated social and religious prejudice, in which the Jew (Shylock) has a long memory of oppression, but revenge is not so sweet."[http://www.nzfilm.co.nz/FilmCatalogue/Films/The-Maori-Merchant-of-Venice.aspx "The Maori Merchant of Venice"], New Zealand Film Commission Valerie Wayne, in 'The Contemporary Pacific', underlined the apparent parallel drawn by the film between the oppression suffered by Shylock because of his Judaism and the sometimes violent subjugation of Mori by the colonial authorities in nineteenth century New Zealand.[http://muse.jhu.edu/login?uri=/journals/contemporary_pacific/v016/16.2wayne.html Review of 'Te Tangata Whai Rawa o Weniti, The Maori Merchant of Venice'], Wayne, Valerie, 'The Contemporary Pacific', volume 16, number 2, autumn 2004, , pp. 425429
Reviewing 'The Maori Merchant of Venice' for 'Te Kete Ipurangi',A Mori language learning centre supported by the New Zealand Ministry of Education. Lana Simmons-Donaldson described it as "an educational, even motivational tool" for Mori language learners, and provided glowing praise:
:'"No sex, action or violence here, 'Te Tangata Whai Rawa o Wniti' makes a refreshing change to the usual menu on offer to the movie going public. Chivalry, camaraderie, romance, justice, honour, cruelty, aristocracy and poverty all in te reo Mori, it's very palatable even exquisite depending on your taste. [...] Rurutao (Shakespeare) himself would have wept at its poetic brilliance."'[http://www.tki.org.nz/r/maori/te_reo/reo2_m.php "He pitopito krero na Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Mori"], Simmons-Donaldson, Lana, 'Te Kete Ipurangi'
Awards
The film won the audience award for best feature at the Hawaii International Film Festival in 2002, while Waihoroi Shortland won the film award for best actor at the New Zealand Film and TV Awards in 2003.
Other Mori productions of Shakespeare plays
'The Merchant of Venice' is not the only Shakespearian play to have been adapted to Mori themes, though it is the only one to have been released as a feature film. Adaptations of 'Othello', using a Mori cast and usually set during either the Musket Wars or New Zealand Wars of the nineteenth century, have been performed on numerous occasions since the late 1990s,[https://books.google.com/books?id=QtItCoy4MYAC&pg=PA83 Remaking Shakespeare: Performance Across Media, Genres and Cultures], Ed. Pascale Aebischer, Nigel Wheale and Ed Esche, Palgrave Macmillan, 2003, p. 83 most notably at Christchurch's Court Theatre in 2001.[http://www.theatreview.org.nz/reviews/review.php?id=2307 Othello Polynesia], New Zealand Theatre Review
References
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