Shakespeare's Ancient Tragedy Brilliantly Told

Rating: 9/10 (29 February 2012)

Shakespeare's most complicated tragedy set in the early days of the Rome Republic gets an updated setting in Fiennes' movie. Using story-telling techniques combining CNN, CSI, and YouTube along with images of street demonstrations, riots, and urban warfare, Fiennes gives us a Coriolanus befitting our times, clarifying how the titular hero can fall from national hero to banishment in a matter of minutes on the whims of a fickle populous easily swayed by political spin-masters. Still, the mamma's boy element of Coriolanus' tragedy remains intact.
Though significantly cut, the text is pure Shakespeare, even in the mouths of TV talking-head pundits. Spoken by the likes of Fiennes and Brian Cox, the verse lifts what could have been a gimmickry telling of Coriolanus into a five-star Shakespearean movie.