1. Gene

   9

   I hadn't watched or read any Shakespeare material since high school, and walked out the theater awestruck. I think I only got about 80% of the dialogue, but this was definitely the "watching the first shakespeare play" experience that critics talk about that I never understood. The set pieces and the action and combat scenes are expertly done, the visuals alone could carry this movie. Unfortunately the modernization didn't work 100% of the time. The scenes with unwashed mobs inside council chambers and new conferences kind of creaked. Movie would have been far better served repurposing their dialogue into "man on the street" news footage or town hall meetings. Roman style forums just don't translate into modern day life that well.… Expand

   • Helpful? 0 of 0 users said Yes.
2. Svoid

   8

   A great film. I enjoyed most aspects, notably the adaptation to the modern setting and particularly the characters. It is true that Caius Martius Coriolanus (R. Fiennes) remains something of a mystery and his motivations and ultimate intentions are not clear, but the relationship between him and Tullus Aufidius (G. Butler) is excellent. Fiennes and Butler portray their respective characters well, getting into the gritty rivalry and respect between these two men of war. The plot explores the vagaries of the mob excellently and the tension between one's role as an enforcer of the will of the electorate and the will of the people. Martius is an excellent portrayal of a barbaric general: violent and unrelenting; and the film captures the feeling of warring tribes and ethnic groups (as Rome was then, as Eastern Europe was in the nineties and as parts of Africa are today). The dirty, drab and dull nature of this Europe of conflicting city states is real, if not particularly beautiful to look at - dirty streets, spray painted walls, litter and trash - the abandoned detritus of a war zone. The film doesn't focus excessively on the battles themselves, using them mainly to develop the characters of Martius and Aufidius; and uses mass media shots to carry background action forward. I felt the film managed to step across time and portray the essence of tribalism, ethnic conflict and charismatic warlords particularly well. Do we like Martius? Do we feel some connection to his humanity? The same could be said of any warlord and general. They do what must be done and people's fear of their power leads to an ambivalent national relationship with them. One thinks of the relationship between the British and American masses with their own soldiers and police, which is equally confused and undecided. At times the olde English can be a bit tiring and confusing, particularly if you don't know the play well but overall a great film.… Expand

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3. MIKALE

   5

   This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. To be honest I struggled with the dialogue and it really killed my experience of this one. Wished they had gone all the way with turning this in to a contemporary take on the original material with the script too so the more average minded peeps like myself could get a better understanding of the drama unfolding.
   
   There were some interesting things going on, I really wanted to get some insight into the whole drama of a man turning on his own country and family and it seemed like the film might have drawn some interesting parallels to modern events but unfortunately I couldn't figure out much of it.
   
   Performances seemed strong and great visuals too.
   
   Definitely one best left to the Shakespeare types to figure out though.… Expand

   • Helpful? 1 of 2 users said Yes.
4. nascent

   4

   Fiennes' acting is great, but the direction is fairly eccentric, with MTV-style editing and extreme closeups ala Tony Scott style.
   
   The overall movie is pretty gimmicky, it's just Shakespeare with explosions and a modern day set design. The dialog isn't altered to fit the new style, nor is it particularly interesting to follow in it's theatrical overbearing dialog scenes, where rarely more than 2 of the dozens of con-screen actors ever talk at a time.
   
   The film would've been far better as a more true adaptation keeping things in their time period. Trying to randomly bring everything to a modern and American setting makes no sense, and keeping the dialog in it's untouched original form means the film is only going to be enjoyable by self-proclaimed Shakespeare fans.
   
   This won't be the film that makes Shakespeare interesting or identifiable to you.… Expand

   • Helpful? 0 of 0 users said Yes.

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