Excellent contemporary "Coriolanus"

Rating: 10/10 (13 June 2012)

For a long the and in published articles, I have maintained that "Coriolanus" is the most underrated of Shakespeare's tragedies, and perhaps his best. Ralph Fienne's contemporary version is "based on" the original text, but preserves the complex character of its eponymous hero. Though I feared a "Coriolanus" with machine guns and television, this updating liberates Fiennes to present Caius Martius in a much more nuanced manner than traditional portrayals would allow. Are there aspects with which I disagree? Of course--every Shakespeare lover has an ideal version in his or her mind. But this is more than a worthy one. It is a revelation. Add Vanessa Redgrave as Volumnia and Jessica Chastain as Virgilia and you have a sharp and well-drawn contrast between the public man of war and his private realm where he is well- loved by his wife and driven on by his mother. I do not understand any of the relatively negative reviews.