Dramatically inert

Rating: 7/10 (29 April 2013)

The 2011 Ralph Fiennes-directed film of William Shakespeare's Coriolanus is updated from its ancient Roman origins to a modern day battlefield that could easily be Iran or Afghanistan. This is done presumably to try and make it more "relevant" to an audience raised on non-stop mayhem. At the core of the story are several relationships. The main one is between Caius Martius (Ralph Fiennes) and the Roman citizens. Martius, now called "Coriolanus" because of his victory against the Volscians at Corioles, seeks political office as a member of the Roman Consul on the urging of his mother Volumnia (Vanessa Redgrave). With less than striking political acumen, however, he dismisses the masses with disdain (perhaps as the 47% who would never vote for him), saying that allowing citizens to have power over the senators is like allowing "crows to peck the eagles," not a sure-fire way of getting elected.
As a consequence of his attitude, two tribunes Brutus (Paul Jesson) and Sicinius (James Nesbitt), stir up the masses against him (not a hard sell), brand him as a traitor, and banish him from Rome. Another relationship is between Coriolanus and his adversary, Tullus Aufidius (Gerard Butler) whom he seems to admire and who he joins forces with to march on Rome after he is banished. A third is the one between Coriolanus and his mother (Vanessa Redgrave), who is sent, along with Coriolanus' wife Virgilia (Jessica Chastain) and his son, to persuade him not to take up arms against Rome. Coriolanus, on his knees, succumbs to the appeals of "mommy dearest," but it his pride and arrogance that will cause his undoing.
Fiennes does not hesitate to use the equivalent of CNN "Breaking News" to provide the audience with a running television commentary of what is taking place, though one would hope with more accuracy than what we have seen of late from cable news. Ultimately, however, the film seems unable to bridge the gap between the incongruity of AK-47s firing 30-magazine rounds and the eloquence and humanity of William Shakespeare, and Fiennes dramatically inert and mannered performance does not help it out.