When directors bring Shakespeare into modern times, the results are usually disappointing. It’s not that the Renaissance writer doesn’t have anything of relevance to say to us now. It’s that such directors usually care more about making a point than making great theater.
Thankfully, the new film of the Bard’s underrated tragedy “Coriolanus” is an exception. It’s a masterful piece of work that would be a real achievement for any director, let alone one making his debut. But Ralph Fiennes, of course, is a veteran of both stage and screen. The actor has proven himself a director of distinct talent — and an actor-director not too egotistical to share the limelight with talent almost as notable as his.
“Coriolanus” opens with a man deliberately sharpening a knife. It prepares us for the violence to follow — this is one of those Shakespearean bloodbaths — but is soon forgotten as we’re thrust into the story. Television reports fill us in, and establish the modern-day setting. There’s a “Roman food crisis,” and the people are restless. The protesters would be at home at an Occupy meeting.
| On screen |
| ‘Coriolanus’ |
| 4 out of 4 stars |
| Stars: Ralph Fiennes, Gerard Butler, Vanessa Redgrave, Jessica Chastain |
| Director: Ralph Fiennes |
| Rated: R for some bloody violence |
| Running time: 122 minutes |
They confront the title character, played by Fiennes, a general whose battle victories outside the city are beginning to pay off in power within it. “Go, get you home, you fragments!” he spits at them, one of those deliciously cutting Shakespearean insults.
This story hasn’t gotten old: A capable man fails at politics because he can’t hide his disgust for the people he’s meant to rule. The scenes in the Senate — Brian Cox and James Nesbitt are fabulous — are at once classic and current.
It’s not just a sense of his own superiority that brings down Coriolanus, though. His mother is a character for the ages. Played by Vanessa Redgrave, she’s almost believable as a woman whose affection and ambition destroyed the very person she loved most. Jessica Chastain, playing the nearly virginal Virgilia, is Redgrave’s match.
Gerald Butler is Tullus Aufidius, first Coriolanus’ rival, then partner in crime. He’s got the right amount of tough intelligence to play the more appealing military man. Fiennes, of course, is impossible to top, though. A few times, you might pause, watching the film — as when his wife says we “can’t have news yet,” though it’s clearly the Internet age.
But mostly, you’ll be engrossed in this film, which is stylish in its own way. The nuptial metaphors abound, and will have you thinking about the strange connections that still remain among men, women, family, politics, and bloodthirstiness.
