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…

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,…

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…

This is a largely enjoyable modernisation of one of Shakespeare's timeless tragedies (I would say it's a generally lesser known or appreciated work yet I believe TS Eliot rated it higher than Hamlet no less) helmed by first time director Ralph Fiennes who equally and impressively takes centre stage before the camera as Coriolanus.

The film preserves the setting of Rome in all but name; it is clear that Fiennes is really concerning himself with the Bosnian conflict of recent years. With his Coriolanus and Brian Cox's Menenius mirroring the relationship of Arkan and Milosevic. The atmosphere and setting is truly gripping, the crumbling granite of war zones beneath grey portentous skies bearing witness to Shakespeare's original dialogue between moments…

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…

"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…

This is a largely enjoyable modernisation of one of Shakespeare's timeless tragedies (I would say it's a generally lesser known or appreciated work yet I believe TS Eliot rated it higher than Hamlet no less) helmed by first time director Ralph Fiennes who equally and impressively takes centre stage before the camera as Coriolanus.

The film preserves the setting of Rome in all but name; it is clear that Fiennes is really concerning himself with the Bosnian conflict of recent years. With his Coriolanus and Brian Cox's Menenius mirroring the relationship of Arkan and Milosevic. The atmosphere and setting is truly gripping, the crumbling granite of war zones beneath grey portentous skies bearing witness to Shakespeare's original dialogue between moments…

As a play, Coriolanus isn't the most fun to watch. Great words, but the characters and plot aren't among Shakespeare's most memorable. Coriolanus and Aufidius have a backstory that doesn't make a lot of sense within the context of the play and the secondary characters often seem to lack insight (and they're all fairly one-dimensional). But the penultimate scene where Volumnia & Co force Coriolanus to capitulate is one of the Bard's best.

Ralph Fiennes's decisions in casting and setting do a lot to make Coriolanus more relevant to a modern audience. Vanessa Redgrave is fantastic as Coriolanus's mom. Gerard Butler did quite well as Aufidius considering that the character has almost no motivation beyond being Coriolanus's enemy (though I could…