Coriolanus

Trailer Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsYrGIQnmxo

United Kingdom, 2011
Director: Ralph Fiennes
Screenwriter: John Logan
Cinematographer: Barry Ackroyd
Editor: Nicolas Gaster
Composer: Ilan Eshkeri
Cast: Ralph Fiennes, Gerard Butler, Brian Cox, Vanessa Redgrave, Jessica Chastain
Running Time: 122 minutes

Described by the Independent as “one of the few films likely to appeal to action fans and Shakespeare lovers in equal measure,” Coriolanus is a trenchant tale of honor, politics and pride. It marks the directorial debut of the film’s star, two-time Academy Award nominee Ralph Fiennes.

Updating William Shakespeare’s late-period tragedy of ancient Rome to the 21st century of guerrilla insurgencies, instant polling and 24-hour news networks, Fiennes delivers a piercing tale of honor, power, politics and pride. Working from an adapted screenplay by award-winning writer John Logan, Fiennes takes a bracingly modern and naturalistic approach to Shakespeare, delivering a story that speaks strongly to our own polarized, volatile times. At the heart of the film is the personal journey of Caius Martius, the noble but flawed “Coriolanus” of the title. Scion of a proud, aristocratic military family, Coriolanus is a man of great courage and unshakeable integrity — but the values that have served him and his country in battle will be his downfall in civil society.

Andrew Pulver for the Guardian says: “The great strength of Fiennes’s film is simply its clarity and intelligence. He’s clearly paid a great deal of detailed attention to how the narrative and the interplay of character is to work — vital in Shakespeare films that can easily get bogged down in versification.”