Film Review | Coriolanus

While Ralph Fiennes achieved international fame (and derision) amongst younger audiences for his portrayal as the evil wizard Voldermort in the Harry Potter films, he was an Oscar courting actor in the past, over and above his comprehensive theatrical oeuvre.

But if Coriolanus - a modern-day adaptation of one of William Shakespeare's lesser known plays - is anything to go by, his career might just take a new turn.

Fiennes not only stars in, but also directs this riveting new take on the story of a Roman general who scorns the common people but who fights valiantly for his country.

Caius Marcius (Fiennes) is a proud Roman general whose dislike of the common people is matched only by his prowess on the battlefield. After he leads an army into a successful coup of Corioli - a city within Antium, home of Rome's arch-enemies, the Volsicans - he is re-dubbed 'Caius Marcius Coriolanus' back home, and is encouraged to run for consul.

His mother, Volumnia (Vanessa Redgrave), ever proud of her son's military achievements, pushes him to get into the political game, but Coriolanus's stubborn refusal to pander to the people lands him in hot water.

Exiled from his country by the baying, hungry masses and their opportunistic political representatives, Coriolanus shockingly turns to the enemy for protection: vowing his sworn enemy - the Volscian commander Tullus Aufidius (Gerard Butler) - that he would fight by his side against Rome.

Coriolanus was filmed in Belgrade, and Fiennes makes direct parallels to the conflict that tore the region apart throughout the 1990s - a very clever move, as the play is all about political sects scrambling for power, while highly violent men are left to run things, heedless of the troubles of common people.

Shot in a documentary style, with news reports cleverly spliced in for exposition (Britain's Channel 4 News presenter Jon Snow is also employed), the gritty realism adds bite to what is already a bit of a hard sell of a play.

Sitting through the two-hour-plus production, you begin to realise why Coriolanus isn't up there with Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet. For one, its protagonist is profoundly unsympathetic. The Bard is renowned for his soul-searching, psychologically rich characters, but Coriolanus remains stubborn in his refusal to ingratiate himself with the common people, and no excuse is presented for his behaviour save for an overweening pride.

But Coriolanus's (largely self-imposed) predicament allowed Shakespeare to explore the ramifications of the political game, and it's a dynamic that remains relevant to this day. What do we expect from our leaders? How should far can 'integrity' go, and what is the true price of popular appeasement? Tongue somewhat in cheek, we could say that all of Corionalus's problems stem from inadequate PR know-how... which would make the outcome of the play all the more tragic, if anything.

It is a credit to Fiennes that all of these themes - despite being delivered in Shakespeare's original language - do come through. Of course, it helps that he surrounds himself with an excellent cast. Vanessa Redgrave is particularly engrossing as pushy parent extraordinaire Volumnia. The range of emotion she is made to express is impressive enough on its own, and the experienced British actress glides through Shakespeare's verse effortlessly. Jessica Chastain and Brian Cox - playing Coriolanus's wife and main advisor respectively - add a much needed humanity, while Gerard Butler gets Aufidius just right: he's a rough and tumble man of action, who despite being labelled a savage by the opposing side, does know a thing or two about honour. 

But this remains very much Ralph's show... and one hopes that, like Orson Welles, he will take the reins behind the camera more often.