A Credible Coriolanus

Rating: 8/10 (6 December 2013)

Making an up-to-date version of a Shakespeare play is always a risk. There will always be a certain disconnect between the Elizabethan language and the modern setting. Also the modern acting tendency towards naturalism can make the Shakespeare's words, so dense in meaning, unintelligible.
Neither of these traps are completely avoided in Fiennes production of Coriolanus which nevertheless may be considered one of the more successful Shakespearean adaptations. There is the modern embarrassment with the language which leads to much of it being cut. This is less of an issue in Coriolanus than in other Shakespearean play since the hero himself is a man of few words (by Shakespeare's standards).
The language is sometimes at variance with the on-screen action. The talk is of swords while the images are of guns. This is of course a necessary upshot of deciding on a modern adaptation and, by and large, it is not too troubling.
Fiennes himself is superb in the title role and speaks his lines with utter conviction. He is given admirable support from Brian Cox. Other actors cope less well with Shakespeare's language. Vanessa Redgrave is variable. She has a tendency to whisper. Butler speaks his lines in a moody mumble which makes me want subtitles. Others treat the verse as prose, or have distracting accents although surprisingly veteran newsreader John Snow does rather well.
The actual look of the piece is very impressive. Fiennes looks almost demonic caked in blood. There is a great deal of shocking violence as befits this bloody tale.