A tragedy

Rating: 6/10 (9 June 2013)

Firstly, I have to admit that I had never heard of Shakespearean tragedy Coriolanus before the film adaptation of the same name. Released in 2011, Coriolanus is set in modern-day Rome – there's mobile phones and 24-hour rolling news – but it remains true to the original language, something which gained it criticism in online reviews. I have to say that I also struggled to follow what was being said all the time and ended up turning to Google to check that I understood what was going on.
Roman General Caius Martius (Ralph Fiennes, who also directed the film) is at war with his old enemy Tullus Aufidius (Gerard Butler) "He is a lion that I am proud to hunt". But the citizens are angry and turning on Martius call for his death - a lot of the imagery is similar to images we see on the news from the current conflict in Syria. Banished from the city, Martius goes in search of Tullus, sealing his own fate.
Coriolanus doesn't work as well as other Shakespearean adaptations, such as the commercially successful Romeo and Juliet. There is too much dialogue, which bored me to distraction. This was an opportunity to bring Shakespeare to the masses but I feel that it will only appeal to people who were already fans of the bard - you could say, it's a tragedy.