The Merchant of Venice which Shakespeare was likely familiar. (Auden sees the theme of usury in the play as a comment on human relations in a mercantile society.) Other interpreters of the play regard Auden's conception of Antonio's sexual desire for Bassanio as questionable. Michael Radford, director of the 2004 film version starring Al Pacino, explained that, although the film contains a scene where Antonio and Bassanio actually kiss, the friendship between the two is platonic, in line with the prevailing view of male friendship at the time. Jeremy Irons, in an interview, concurs with the director's view and states that he did not
The Merchant of Venice (1969 film) or near Malaga, Spain (different takes may have been taken in each of these places), and some of these can be seen in the documentary "Orson Welles: The One Man Band" (1995), along with clips from the first third of "The Merchant of Venice". Welles left all his materials from his incomplete film projects, including this one, to Oja Kodar, and she in turn donated these materials to the Munich Filmmuseum, which created the compilation "Orson Welles's Shylock" in 2001, integrating the first eight minutes of the film, and the Shylock-in-a-trenchcoat footage later shot by Welles. Additional elements are at