If I
had one regret about by youth (!) it would be that I never really studied enough
Shakespeare in school, which is so sad as his incomparable prose just sings. Especially when it is performed as
well as in actor/director Ralph Fiennes’s new modern-day take on Coriolanus :
yet another of Will’s plays that I am unfamiliar with.
This
is a story of Caius Martius, a Roman general who cares more about battle than
about politics. There is rioting in the streets because the ‘war’ against their
nearby Volscian enemies means that Rome's food supplies have been cut off. After he deals with this, the General goes off to war again, wins, and returns home to be treated like a conquering hero, and he’s given the honorary title
"Coriolanus." His mother Volumnia. a very strong woman. (as they always
are in Shakespeare’s plays) urges him to run for the job of chief honcho i.e.
Consul. Trouble is like every politician
wanting to be the Republican Candidate for US President at this very moment in time, he holds the common
people in contempt, and Brutus a senator who is not a big fan easily works up the crowd into
a frenzy to get him banished. So he leaves the city and actually joins up with
the Volscians who were once his bitter enemies but who now invite him to be a
general in their army so that he can try his hand at defeating the people of Rome. Its Shakespeare so there is a lot of
double-dealing going on, and needless to say it doesn’t end well for many of
them.
Screenwriter
John Logan (3 time Oscar Nominee) has brilliantly made the story (one of
Shakespeare’s longest) much more accessible without tampering with Will’s
words, and giving the whole production a
contemporary setting really suits this tale of conniving and intrigue. Fiennes, who also takes
the title role, seems to continually have a blood–splattered face, and I’m
guessing with all the violent action of the battle scenes it may even attract a
wider audience than normal especially with the cinematographer using a shaky
hand-held camera in many of the crowd/war scenes to great effect. The movie played here not in one of my favourite Art
Houses. but in my local multi-plex theater, which I guess is what happens when
you have the might of Harvey Weinstein promoting you.
Fiennes
has cast his directing debut with some Brit acting heavyweights that included
the matchless Vanessa Redgrave, Brian Cox, Gerard Butler & James
Nesbit. Playing Mrs Coriolanus was the
ubiquitous Jessica Chasten who I counted was in 5 new movies last year (aside
from this) and was superb in them all.
A
rather wonderful film. Well done Mr
Fiennes.
★★★★★★★★
