Coriolanus
2012 Directed by Ralph Fiennes
Synopsis
Nature Teaches Beasts to Know Their Friends
The citizens of Rome are hungry. Coriolanus, the hero of Rome, a great soldier and a man of inflexible self-belief despises the people. His extreme views ignite a mass riot. Rome is bloody. Manipulated and out-maneuvered by politicians and even his own mother Volumnia, Coriolanus is banished from Rome. He offers his life or his services to his sworn enemy Tullus Aufidius
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I have seen plenty of films that tried to put Shakespeare in a modern setting and from what I've seen (Hamlet 2000, Romeo + Juliet, etc) they've all been either mediocre or downright terrible (I'm especially looking at you Romeo + Juliet). I began to doubt it was impossible to translate Shakespeare's words onto a modern setting. The one film that happens to come close to making it work is Coriolanus, one of Shakespeare's lesser known work.
Over the years, I have become a huge fan of Shakespeare as a writer, but I am unfamilar with his play Coriolanus. Therefore I have no idea how faithful it is to it's source material so I can only look at this as…
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Coriolanus is one of Shakespeare's lesser known plays and with good reason. It's one of his worst. This isn't because of the language, it is as always beautiful, perhaps lacking in flashes of iconic genius, but still beautiful. It's because it is riddled with one dimensional characters that have no arc whatsoever. Most problematic is Coriolanus. He is probably one of the worst protagonists the Bard has ever conceived. He is an awful person and not one I am willing to invest in. A lot of awful things happen to him which makes him a rather tragic and somewhat pathetic figure, but this does not automatically make it a great tragedy. You need a connection for that, one that is…
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It is thou that art the pribbling motionless object!
Of the few adaptations I've seen of Shakespeare's work, the ones I enjoy the most are those that transport the words and the setting to our modern days. Besides the modernization of old notions such as the sword being changed to the assault rifle, it's also really interesting to see how such an old text echoes so well in our day and age. Coriolanus is no exception to the rule, although some flaws rob it of the greatness it seemed destined to.
Ralph Fiennes stars as General Caius Martius, a roman officer that has proven himself in war, but who is not loved by the people. After his most recent victory,…
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After the ‘90s trend of transporting Shakespeare’s plays to modern day reaped mix results, from the good (Romeo + Juliet and Macbeth on the Estate) to the poor (O and Hamlet), it is a good few years since we have witnessed a successful modern interpretation. Sadly, I am unconvinced Coriolanus is it.
Corialanus is not a play I was familiar with and after seeing this adaptation I can see why it hasn’t been brought to the screen before. It certainly has a timely and timeless quality to it, the way Fiennes places it in a modern, war torn and divided city works reasonably well and the early going has an appealing visceral quality, but the film is at times torturously…
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"Would you have me false to my nature? Rather say I play the man I am."
The tale of Coriolanus, being a tale of pride and envy, might well be considered a timeless one, ever valid as it doth speak to the most base nature of men. Style myself a scholar of the great bard of Avon I can not do, yet to deny the truth of my words as I proclaim this retelling of his work as great an adaptation as any could wish for would be as to claim the sun sets in the east - a folly.
Were I but a plebeian, ignorant of the intricacies so vital to the art of filmmaking, might I speak of…
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A strange beast. Flecked with hints of brilliance and stunted by scale, Coriolanus has some great performances, most notably Ralph Fiennes, Vanessa Redgrave (in awesome mode) and Brian Cox. The focus is really on the title barer and other characters are driven to the wayside. It is a film of contradictions and I am not sure that the modern setting entirely works. I did rather enjoy it though, especially when Fiennes is in full indignation mode, spitting words and boring holes into people with malicious eyes.
Side note: Jon Snow (Journalist/News reporter) is in this and for some reason whenever I see him on TV, I want to punch him. This was doubly so.
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Despite majoring, and getting a B.F.A. in Creative Writing, I've just never been able to get into Shakespeare. The classes I had to take on his material for my degree never appealed to me, mainly because the language went right over my head. But still, this modern update of his play Coriolanus got my attention one, because of the talent involved and two, because of the way it chose to tell the story. And I can say that this has been one of the very few occasions where I've enjoyed Shakespeare. The language wasn't as head-scratching here as it has been in other film adaptations of his plays that I've seen, and I think that's due to the strength of…
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el énfasis actoral de esta actualización (que bien entra en el cajón de películas sobre la brutalidad policiaca en inglaterra y el de las que comparan a inglaterra con el imperio romano) rescata la freudianísima complejidad de coriolano: hay que ver cómo fiennes frunce y desfrunce su abultado ceño, se hinca y ablanda cuando aparece volumnia (vanessa redgrave). impresionante.
en serio habría que refutar de una vez por todas el histórico desprecio hacia coriolano, que eliot llamó "shakespeare’s most assured artistic success" y que yo traduzco como "obra mayor".
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por momentos, solo por momentos (el íncipit, la pelea contra aufidio, la sanación de las heridas), esta versión entra también en el cajón de películas acerca del cuerpo. -
Much better than I expected. Rafe Fiennes ( a belated directing debut here) does a great job with Shakespeare's warrior outcast and develops a very filmic yet sparse account of the Bard's tale. The scenes are given space to breathe although it helps that a heavyweight cast act their socks off in the process. Fiennes, Redgrave, Cox et al are all excellent and, you'll be relieved to learn, not an empty warehouse in sight!
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Coriolanus is one of Shakespeare’s political tragedies set in ancient Rome. The film version is set in the modern-day Rome except it is still under the Roman political system and the original dialogue is kept in tact - this blend takes some getting used to. This is an amazing film which is wholly committed to its goal and it succeeds. My only complaint is some of the camera-work which could be described as 'experimental' is more likely 'amateurish' as it's Ralph Fiennes Directorial debut. Fiennes gives a visceral and all-consuming performance and one can tell he devoted heart and soul to this role and film.
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The modern aesthetic works much more often than it doesn't and the acting is stupendous, but the film seems rushed. 7 B
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Shakespeare plays have been modernized for 400 years. Some are not good, some are amazing. This one is okay.
The acting is solid. It's tough to speak in 17th century English with ease, but Butler, Fiennes and all hundreds of extras and bit-part actors do an excellent job.
Anytime I think modern films are getting too violent, it's nice to watch something from Shakespeare to remember that "some things never change."
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Strong performances & good staging. Something is missing, but I'm not sure what.
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Not Shakespeare's best play (everyone's pretty one-dimensional and uninteresting and Coriolanus himself is a weak protagonist), but damn this is a great adaptation.
It might be initially jarring to have full-on Shakespearean dialogue in a modern warfare setting, but I was absorbed quickly enough.
Fiennes direction is brilliant, as is everyone in it, but somehow managing to rise above the rest of the brilliance is Vanessa Redgrave; she's rivetingly good.
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Solid Shakespearean drama sandwiched around a pretty fantastic action sequence. What's not to like? Sadly a few things. Some story beats don't translate well to the modern setting and more than a few scenes just left me waiting for Ralph Fiennes to verbally accost everyone with another amazing monologue delivery. Overall the film works thanks in no small part to the thematic timelessness of the Bard's work and great performances from the main cast.