Coriolanus - Movie Review

Coriolanus, the film, is based on a Shakespearean play of the same name. Both recount the legend of Roman General Gaius Marcius Coriolanus (or Caius Martius Coriolanus). The play is based on a fifth century BC figure that scholars disagree about. Because none of the major characters in Coriolanus seem to have corroborating details from other texts, it is believed that this story may be nothing more than legend arising from the dark days of fifth century B.C. Rome.

Ralph Fiennes has undertaken the task of finding modern parallels to the Shakespearean account of Coriolanus, adapting much of the original dialogue into a modern day tale to create a dystopian parallel to modern day Rome. Fiennes also undertakes the task of becoming the character Coriolanus, creating the additional challenge of directing his own performance. Luckily, he is joined by a solid cast that includes Vanessa Redgrave, Jessica Chastain, Gerard Butler and Paul Jesson. A stable cast seems to have tempered Fienne’s challenge. The adaptation from Shakespeare’s version of events was penned by John Logan.

Coriolanus was a Roman General who battled against the major Roman foe of his era, the Volscians. The modern day Coriolanus conducts urban warfare, moving house to house with automatic weapons while watching for booby traps and IEDs. Coriolanus has experienced great success on the battlefield and is pushed into politics by his aggressively vocal mother, Volumnia (Redgrave). His stoic nature and humility makes it difficult to connect with common people, who he genuinely perceives as below his own station in life. This character flaw is exploited by politicians that turn public opinion against our Roman warlord. Coriolanus’ quest for political office ends in his banishment from Rome.

Angered by the empowerment of commoners who have lost sight of his heroic defense of their homeland, Coriolanus seeks an alliance with his Volscian counterpart, Tullus Aufidius (Butler). Disguised, Coriolanus enters Aufidius’ chambers before revealing himself. Supplicating himself, he requests an opportunity to lead his former enemy into a revenge attack on Rome. Coriolanus grows cold as his quest for revenge consumes him. Is that cold revenge enough for him to destroy his homeland, or will he find mercy for his former people? And what are the consequences of failure?

The look of Coriolanus is what sparked me to watch this film. I liked the use of modern parallels for an ancient story. However, I did not realize that so much of the Shakespearean text was left completely intact. This ended up becoming a distraction. I have seen other films designed like this (“O” comes to mind, a modern take on Othello). While it shows an incredible ability to adapt, the use of the original dialogue made the film difficult to follow at times. I would have preferred a pure adaptation to modern language rather than a parallel of the original. No knock on Shakespeare, obviously the original text is superior to anything Hollywood could write. But I never felt a connection with this film. I think updated dialogue may have helped close that distance.

At its core, Coriolanus is a war film. As such, there are plenty of high definition battles that include graphic violence. This violence results in an R rating from the MPAA. The gore factor is not particularly gruesome, although there is plenty of violence to go around. The final scene might be the most graphic, but still nothing worse than the average video game. The content of this film is far from worthy of an R rating. The violence is contextual and integral to the story. I would have no problem with any age viewer screening this film. The dialogue will probably lose them (another knock on the use of the original text), but the visual aspects were not that disconcerting. The film has a 123 minute runtime. It was filmed in the United Kingdom.

My problem with Coriolanus is that I just didn’t feel connected to the story. The characters were decent, but I failed to find myself absorbed by the film. Maybe my expectations were too high based on the visual aspects of the trailers. Whatever the case, the film didn’t move me. I watched aloofly, wishing I had picked something else instead. Had the dialogue been adapted as well as the setting, I might have felt more engaged. As a result, my enjoyment of this film was dulled considerably. Fiennes was awesome, as was the entire cast. But I simply couldn’t get past the seeming mediocrity I felt. 6/10.