BEIJING, Sept. 6 (Xinhuanet) -- Al Pacino growls, grimaces and demands a "pound of flesh" as Jewish moneylender Shylock in a new version of Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice."

    Director Michael Radford added that his picture shouldn't be seen as a tale just about tensions between Christians and Jews, but as a comment on the very modern problem of two cultures at odds, reported CRIENGLISH.com.

    The play has long sparked debate. It contains Shylock's eloquent expression of the pain of anti-Jewish prejudice ¡ª "If you prick us, do we not bleed?" he asks in a famous soliloquy. It also casts him in the ugly anti-Semitic stereotype of a greedy, bloodthirsty Jew.

    The nine-person jury that gives out the Golden Lions is headed by British director John Boorman and includes filmmaker Spike Lee, actresses Scarlett Johansson and Helen Mirren and others.

    The awards will be handed out on Sept. 11 at a ceremony hosted by Sophia Loren.

(CRIENGLISH.com)