Impossible to understand anything being said.

Rating: 2/10 (20 October 2012)

I'm happy to admire any adaptation of classic literature for the screen that has the best intentions; Romeo and Juliet, for example. However, what the writers and crew must learn is that they are making a film for a 21st century audience, and while many adaptations are made successfully - such as the simple things like era, politics, etc - the adherence to Ye Olde English was a disastrous and terrible choice. The actors are well motivated and there are stars galore, but what good is this when nothing can be made sense of in any conversation throughout the film? I feel awful for the non-English speaking viewers, even a European who has learnt English as a second language will be left for dead trying to figure out what's being said. Of course, you'll pick up key words in among the dozens of "thous" and "thees" and discern an idea of what's going on, but for the most part you'll be left watching Ralph Fiennes and his Scottish nemesis utter poetry with their best grimaces for two hours relying only on visual cues to understand the plot. This adaptation also loses touch with reality in trying to take Renaissance violence and apply the same scenes to 21st Century conflict. Scenes such as the early bare-knuckle showdown in which the two sworn enemies peel away their armour and throw down in the middle of a ongoing urban battle, Queensbury Rules style, had me cringing in embarrassment for the screenwriter. I gave up after an hour. I usually watch any film - no matter how bad - to the end, to give it a fair opportunity to overcome early shortcomings. However, when presented with a film full of dialogue that only a Yale English professor can understand, what point is there waiting for the end to a story that you can't follow to begin with? Coriolanus' problem is not its actors, its production, its director or its story - it was the unwillingness for the writer to swallow his pride and make a true remodelling of a classic story for contemporary audiences. Hopefully it is a lesson learnt.