SHAKESPEARE AT WAR
Actor Ralph Fiennes make his debut as a director with Shakespeare’s Coriolanus, and achieves the best of both worlds—the plotting, setting ("a place calling itself Rome," ) and language of the Bard’s play without the trappings of period drama. Some would say it’s a clever device, some would say it’s the easy (and cheaper) way out—but it works.
CLASSICAL TRAGEDY WITH A MODERN RESONANCE
Ralph Fiennes' directorial debut Coriolanus displays a spark of sheer genius and fortuitous timing. Coming as it does months after the Arab spring and in the wake of the economic crisis across Europe, by setting a Shakespearean tragedy against the backdrop of a war-torn country in economic and political disarray, it illustrates the timelessness of one of the Bard's most under-rated plays. Indeed, in terms of its protagonist's heroism it's second to none, and in fact, some may hardly view brave Coriolanus' contempt for the fickle masses as a flaw at all, although it does become the cause of his downfall.
Fiennes marries his contemporary Roman setting with Shakespearean dialogue and while it works beautifully for most part, sometimes the union seems uneasy -- particularly when Gerard Butler, playing the adversary Aufidius who hates Caius Martius (Fiennes) later rechristened Coriolanus -- mumbles his lines. But watch Fiennes, on the other hand, piercing the screen with his chilling blue eyes and delivering every nuance in every line masterfully, effortlessly, you can only sit back and marvel.
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