When it comes to stories, Shakespeare is the gift that keeps on giving. There's something incredibly timeless about his plays, a factor which lends itself very well to modernisations and re-imaginings. The latest of these is Coriolanus, a lesser known Shakespeare title, which deals with morality, social unrest, politics and war. I simply can't imagine how they're going to make that relevant (!)
Coriolanus is Ralph Fiennes' directorial debut in which he stars as Caius Martius, a military hero who is all set to make the move into politics. However, Martius soon finds himself set up by conniving politicians and as a result is banished from Rome. Embittered by his banishment, Martius joins forces with old enemy Tullus Aufidius (Gerard Butler) to make Rome pay. Coriolanus is one of the more awkward plays in the Shakespeare library. It's the type of work where you have to keep referring to the included notes every half-page to properly grasp what's going on. Luckily, the film realises this and streamlines the story without losing its essential elements. Unsurprisingly, ol' RADA Ralph is fantastic as Martius, giving us a proper war bastard one minute and a barely contained, simmering pot of rage the next. What's more surprising about Fiennes is the high quality of his behind the camera work, turning what could have been a yawnsome passion project into an assured, solid debut which has me looking forward to any future projects he's got lined up. Gerard Butler is fine, but when sharing screentime with Fiennes and Brian Cox, he comes up a little short. Actually, talking of Cox (haha), he plays against type here as Menenius and has probably the most affecting arc in the film. Special mention goes to Vanessa Redgrave as Martius' mother Volumnia, a character incredibly important to the story and played with the manipulative edge she deserves.
Coriolanus modernises everything but the original Shakespearean language, which works wonderfully. Everything from the news reports (read by Channel 4's Jon Snow!) to the Youtube clips are spoken in the Bard's tongue and it seems less like a gimmick than in frippery like Baz Luhrmann's Romeo & Juliet. The actual dialogue is occasionally hard to follow, but the delivery and context manage to fill in any gaps in your understanding. It's better to let it wash over you than try and figure out what every single little turn of phrase means. Despite having read the play, I kept getting confused as to the character names, usually only grasping them once something fatal had happened, undermining the drama somewhat. Still, maybe that's just me being thick- you may not have the same problem.
All in all, Coriolanus is a damn good film. It takes a surprisingly relevant story, modernises it and fills it with a great cast, all under some fantastic direction by Mr. Fiennes himself. It won't be for everyone, but then again, what is? Highly recommended.
Ben Browne
UK DVD/BD Release Date: 4th June 2012
Rating: 15 (UK)
Director: Ralph Fiennes Stars: Ralph Fiennes, Gerard Butler , Brian Cox, Vanessa Redgrave
Buy Coriolanus Om: DVD
/ Blu-ray[Region Free]
Coriolanus - Official UK Trailer Published via LongTail.tv
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