Lancoor
A very feeble attempt at affirmatie action
Billie Morin
This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows
Edwin
The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.
eric262003
Ralph Fiennes can fall into similar pool of talented performers who can also have a knack at direction just like Robert Redford, Mel Gibson and Clint Eastwood. In his directorial debut, "Coriolanus" Fiennes combines a Shakespeare film that anyone can grasp at. Even if you don't have a degree in Shakespearean literature. In his 30 year career, Fiennes has built an impressive reputation of really getting emotionally deep into his characterizations and going out of way to make the complexities of his characters something to get his audience a reason to root for. His direction has similar traits to his performances. The film explores the strengths and vulnerabilities of his character along with the many triumphs and failures while keeping his characters look and feel real.Fiennes stars as Caius Martius Coriolanus, a mighty but questionable general in the Roman army. During a altercation with a rival army brigade, he goes beyond protocol that cause his civil liberties to be in doubt. An activist elite wants Coriolanus evicted for his violations. For his heroic accomplishments, his supportive mother Volumnia (Vanessa Redgrave) suggests he be ranked to the position to the high office of the Consul. But he must get support of from the destitute who were the ones most affected by his questionable deeds. Many people want him to reach out and restore peace which also includes his wife Virgilia (Jessica Chastain). He agrees to get support, but the activists don't want any of that. Feeling rejected from those he stood up for, Coriolanus joins forces with his enemy Tullus Aufidius (Gerard Butler). The consequences come into play once these two form an alliance.I may feel like a complete idiot, but I may as well make confession to all of you. I have always had trouble deciphering Shakespeare. The language and the lingo was all so complex. Even simple tales like "Romeo and Juliet" are hard to fully translate. On the plus side, "Coriolanlus" was quite easy to get invested in. Thanks to the script from John Logan his technical skills make it easy to get under without insulting our intelligence. In various scenes, mock TV newscasts appear to gather updates during the coarse of the action. A real added treat is that some of the characters actually speak in more modernized language so that not all Shakespearean literature geniuses will be lost in translation. The actors also contribute to the worthy cause by generating emotions that are effective and their language tones are clear enough so that we can care about the characters while the performers understand that we're not living in the 16th century and our language has altered a bit over the years for better or worse.The ensemble cast is quite remarkable. Fiennes is just genuinely jacked up as the titular character. His rage and intensity sends chills as he plays a man who doesn't act, but demands our respect. If you put this guy down in any way, vengeance will be just a motion away whether you deserved it or not. Fiennes is just powerfully scary. Redgrave is equally ambitious as his mother who is there at all times for her son. In an extended scene, we see Volumnia trying to get some sense into Coriolanus, but her efforts end up becoming ostracized. Butler as Tullus Aufidius is just the perfect foil of an adversary to Coriolanus. There clashes are fierce with neither of them backing down. Jessica Chastain and Brian Cox show get support as Coriolanus' boss and his trusty confidant are brilliant in their respected performances.It must've took a lot of work to adapt a Shakespearean story told in modern times. But Fiennes and Logan manage to accomplish that by finding the theme while modernizing the scenarios for our viewing pleasures. The action scenes are plugged in fantastically to keep us over the edge and supports the plot flawlessly. In our lifetimes, we had very powerful figures and they all shared one thing we all strive for, to earn respect. People have not always made choices to seek our approval without concern of who will face the consequences. We've been victims under leaders who have been barbarians, psychopaths and cynics. The film explore all those surfaces which makes it very symbolic and accurate.Well executed cinematography, perfectly placed editing and very well performed, "Coriolanus" went beyond my expectations to being a very entertaining film. The intense atmosphere will likely suck you in. It might help that you understand Shakespeare to get the grasp of the story. If you don't understand the old English of Shakespeare, fear not, the Bard's work are still effective while also has the liberal license to offer new approaches to the classic play. This is clearly a great adaptation to a Shakespearean classic.
Jackson Booth-Millard
Like Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet, this film was based on a play by William Shakespeare, but set in the modern world, but with the Shakespearean language remaining, this was also the directorial debut for noted Shakespeare interpreter Ralph Fiennes, so I was looking forward to seeing how it fared. Basically in a contemporary alternate version of Rome, the city is at war with the neighbouring Volsci, Caius Martius Coriolanus (Ralph Fiennes) is the revered and feared Roman General trying to help bring order. Coriolanus is at adds with the city of Rome and the citizens, he is pushed and manipulated by his controlling mother Volumnia (Vanessa Redgrave) to seek the exalted and powerful position of Consul. But Coriolanus fails to win public approval and gain support from votes he needs to secure office, Senator Menenius (Brian Cox) and Coriolanus' wife Virgilia (Jessica Chastain) lose hope in him following this failure, Coriolanus' anger causes a riot to break out, culminating in his exile from Rome. The banished hero sees the only solution is to offer his own life and services, and ally with his sworn enemy, Tullus Aufidius (Gerard Butler), and to take revenge on and conquer the city, but this can only end in tragedy, it ends with Aufidius betraying him, he and his men attack and kill Coriolanus. Also starring John Kani as General Cominius, James Nesbitt as Tribune Sicinius, Paul Jesson as Tribune Brutus, Channel 4 journalist Jon Snow as TV Anchorman (an unintentionally amusing performance) and Nikki Amuka-Bird as TV Pundit. Fiennes certainly makes his presence as the commander somewhat forced into forging a powerful political career in a conflict-ravaged society, then furious and trying to get his own back siding with the enemy, Jackman is less convincing as the enemy, Redgrave is a bit hammy at times, Cox as the influential politician and Chastain as the tender spouse give the best supporting performances. Whereas Romeo + Juliet had a fast pace and stylish visuals, this modern day adaptation certainly has some exciting battle sequences near the beginning and some places throughout, with characters covered in blood, but the pace slows with the chatty scenes with the characters in rooms talking, and obviously you have to concentrate to understand what they are saying, overall it is an alright political drama. It was nominated the BAFTA for Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer for Ralph Fiennes. Worth watching!
xavierPoulain
In his directorial debut, Ralph Fiennes shows that not only he is capable of directing film, but that Shakespeare's insights into human behavior, especially in observations of politics, remain timeless. He puts the play written in the early 1600s in modern context, and gives such an raw, real performance you can't help not recognize from. Gerard Butler amazes in his performance no one thought he could do, because all roles before and since 300 have been beefcake roles and questionable performances. Butler masters Shakespeare with such depth and tactics that fulfill that his performance is one of the best he's done. Vanessa Redgrave's Volumnius is one of many phenomenal performances she has done in her career- the scenes where she is talking plans with her character's son and the scene outside of the Senate are excellently done. Redgrave has done Shakespeare before, and can easily make the language accessible as the speaker. Jessica Chastain shows her versatility in her performance in this film greatly, but, as Shakespeare wrote, it cannot be said that she is underused because of that. Chastain gives a great supporting performance of a character who is still not well known of Shakespeare's tragic heroines. A great film that speaks of our time, where officials of wealth and privilege feel the need that that wealth and privilege makes them special enough to disregard the right and voice of the people they claim to represent, and where officials with their own interests can stir the masses for private gain.
TdSmth5
The people of Rome are starting to revolt, they're poor, starving and desperate for grain. The police force is merciless. The guy in charge is Martius. When the Volscians threaten to invade, it's again Martius who is in charge of the military unit that meets them at the city of Corolia where he near single-handedly defeats them, not before engaging in a knife duel that ends up in a wrestling match with his sworn enemy Aufidius.On his return to Rome Martius he's seen as a hero and made a senate consul with the approval of the senate. Next he has to reluctantly ask for the people's permission of sorts. They grant it only to take it back minutes later when two of their representatives who are anti-Martius convince them. These two are constantly scheming to get rid of Martius. In a meeting with these two and with the people, he flips out and starts cursing at the people. When he has to apologize to a live audience on TV again he loses it. That gets him banished from Rome much to the delight of the two schemers.He does what any reasonable person would do...join forces with the person he hates the most, Aufidius, to take over Rome by force. The Romans send some politician/family friend to convince Martius, who now is a leader among the Volscians, to reconsider, but he won't have any of it. Next they send his mother, wife, and son, to beg for mercy for Rome. He agrees to sign a peace treaty, but that doesn't win him any friends anywhere.Coriolanus starts out as a modern war/conflict movie with a social message. What initially looks like foreign actors speaking in broken English actually turns out to be Shakesperan English and the entire movie is spoken that way. I've never heard it, but it definitely takes some getting used to, perhaps an hour or so into the movie one gets the hang of it. Unfortunately, that is the biggest drawback of this movie. I guess those with literary inclination feel right at home. I didn't. I didn't find this English beautiful at all. To my ears it sounds like English spoken in Latin grammar. And it's not so much that it's sophisticated and we the viewers are a bunch of dummies. It's just old English, with words forms that are out of usage and with a very cumbersome sentence structure. This forces also the characters to stand there and give speeches to no one in particular making the movie more like a theater piece.But there are more problems. Martius is very dislikable. He thinks of himself as noble and vastly superior to the common folk. He's a war hawk, childishly uncompromising even when his life is at stake, and holds on to his beliefs like they're religious dogma. So how are we to root for this guy or care about his fate? Especially when his enemy is so much more likable. The story itself is nothing special either. At every step of the way he gets what he deserves. What is interesting though is the political structure, which I assume is based on how Rome worked. Political intrigue is also always entertaining.Coriolanus is an ambitious and audacious project. It wouldn't surprise me if the intended audience loved it. But I suspect its aim is to go beyond that group and introduce others to Shakespeare, tragedy, and so on. In that regard it failed. It's too long a movie, and I take it too faithful to the original text. Had they settled for a more updated English it could have been a bit better. For instance the English spoken in Spartacus is truly beautiful and would have been ideal for Coriolanus. Tightening the script would also have helped as so much is said that doesn't say anything and doesn't advance the story in any way.
