Actor Ralph Fiennes makes his directing debut with Coriolanus, a contemporary adaptation of Shakespeare's tragedy about power, politics and revenge. Gerard Butler, James Nesbitt and Vanessa Redgrave also star.
Fiennes is Coriolanus, a Roman war hero who under his mother's (Redgrave) influence makes a push into politics with his eye on the top position: Consul. After failing to connect with the common man, Coriolanus' rage angers the constituency leading to widescale riots. As the cause of the riots, he is ousted from Rome. Swearing revenge he allies with a former enemy (Butler) to avenge his former home.
As played by Ralph Fiennes in his own cinematic adaptation of the play, Coriolanus' military genius makes him a figure of awe, but it's his near-absence of empathy that makes him terrifying.
One of the pleasures of Fiennes' film is that the screenplay by John Logan ("Hugo," "Gladiator") makes room for as much of Shakespeare's language as possible. I would have enjoyed more, because such actors as Fiennes, Vanessa Redgrave and Brian Cox let the words roll trippingly off the tongue.
Exciting, ironic, with assured direction, accomplished performances and the tension of topical themes, this is Shakespeare as relevant as you like it.
A deeply, divisively political work, devoid of comic relief and short on endearing characters, its complex moral conflicts are as knotty as the verse.
Ralph Fiennes directs and stars in Coriolanus as William Shakespeare's Rambo in a production that delivers heavyweight screen acting at its best.
