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I use this version to accompany my British Lit unit. I own all of the versions and while I love Olivier, the modernization of the play makes the themes of the play more difficult to imagine. The most recent one has so many cut lines and frankly nudity that I am not showing in my classroom, that I am left with this version. As an earlier poster stated Gemma Jones is too old for the part and not attractively made up, but maybe that age gives a sense of maturity that makes her knowledge easier to accept. In addition, when Shylock is forced to kiss the cross, I and my class always discuss the uncomfortable feeling of denying someone their heritage. The play is full of conflicts but to a certain degree if it didn't, the play would be somehow condoning the very acts we find repulsive today. The limits of the Jews, women, and social class are all symbolized in the caskets. If one is to see how this can be used in a modern connotation, you only have to ask students who has the newest ipod, car, or house and they see the concept of gold, silver, or lead in a very modern light. I warn them before they see the play that they are watching a filming of a play, the costumes are Elizabethan, not the period it would have been lived and the acting is somewhat the result of BBC trying to pump out all of the Shakespeare plays on a limited budget, but all the lines are there!