Coriolanus (2011)

A banished hero of Rome allies with a sworn enemy to take his revenge on the city.

Director:

Ralph Fiennes

Writers:

John Logan (screenplay), William Shakespeare (play)

Stars:

Gerard Butler, Ralph Fiennes, Lubna Azabal

Nominated for 1 BAFTA Film Award. Another 10 wins & 7 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Gerard Butler	...	Tullus Aufidius
Ralph Fiennes	...	Caius Martius Coriolanus
Lubna Azabal	...	First Citizen (Tamora)
Ashraf Barhom	...	Second Citizen (Cassius)
Zoran Cica	...	Citizen
Milos Dabic	...	Citizen
Nicolas Isia	...	Citizen
Zoran Miljkovic	...	Citizen
Marija Mogbolu	...	Citizen
Milan Perovic	...	Citizen
Nenad Ristic	...	Citizen
Lawrence Stevenson	...	Citizen
Marko Stojanovic	...	Citizen
Tamara Krcunovic	...	Citizen
Olivera Viktorovic	...	Citizen

Storyline

The citizens of Rome are hungry. Coriolanus, the hero of Rome, a great soldier and a man of inflexible self-belief despises the people. His extreme views ignite a mass riot. Rome is bloody. Manipulated and out-maneuvered by politicians and even his own mother Volumnia, Coriolanus is banished from Rome. He offers his life or his services to his sworn enemy Tullus Aufidius.

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Plot Keywords:

shakespeare in modern dress | fight | senate | bandage | scar | 

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Taglines:

Nature Teaches Beasts to Know Their Friends

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Genres:

Drama | Thriller | War

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for some bloody violence

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [jp] Official site [uk]

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 January 2012 (UK)

Also Known As:

Koriolan

Filming Locations:

UK

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$61,136 (USA) (20 January 2012)

Gross:

$756,452 (USA) (25 May 2012)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hermetof Pictures, Magna Films, Icon Entertainment International

Technical Specs

Runtime:

123 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Two of the cast have appeared in Hanibal Lecter movies. Brian Cox played Lecter in Manhunter while Ralph Fiennes appeared in its remake Red Dragon.

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Goofs

When the angry Roman mob marches to the grain depot, a camera crew are seen walking in front of them during a wide shot. This crew are part of the story, filming the protest for the Roman news, which the Volscians watch later on.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Second Citizen: Before we proceed any further, hear me speak. You are all resolved rather to die than to famish?
Gathered Citizens: [in unison] Resolved.
Second Citizen: First, you know Caius Martius is chief enemy to the people.
Gathered Citizens: We know it.
First Citizen: Let us kill him. And we'll have corn at our own price.
Second Citizen: We are accounted poor citizens, the patricians of good. The leanness that afflicts us, the object of our misery, our suffering, is a gain to them.
Gathered Citizens: Aye.
Second Citizen: Let us revenge this with our sticks, ere we become rakes.
First Citizen: No more talking on it. Come!

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Connections

Featured in Breakfast: Episode dated 19 August 2011 (2011)

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Soundtracks

"Fiction"
(Stephanie Ekwalla/Vincent Guilbert/Florent Gouriou/Sebastien Herve/Guillaume Rolland)
Performed by Sheer K
Courtesy of Last Exit Records
By Arrangement with Riptide Music, Inc.

User Reviews

The Modern Shakespeare

Coriolanus is not quite one of William Shakespeare's famous plays but this adaptation is pretty great. It starts with a bang. Slow burn of loud noises. It's a decent opening. And it gets better when Caius Martius was introduced. Even though the setting is modern, the language stays to the film. But in some parts, the language doesn't fit to the scene. Ralph Fiennes' performance was fantastic. All the performances were fantastic. Well directed. Beautiful cinematography. Slick music score. Coriolanus is a solid Shakespeare adaptation.

The film introduces with loud noises and explosions. These elements usually overwhelm us in movies. Never forget, this is a Shakespeare film. The dialogue beats the loud noises from its greatness. Everything in this film is modern. The only thing remains here is the language. Of course, it's not Shakespeare without the language.The scenes in television are probably the ones that doesn't fit to the language but somewhat it doesn't matter. It still makes a great Shakespearean scenario.

These dialogues were amazingly delivered by the actors. Ralph Fiennes is fantastic. Even from the very start of the film, he already made the show fascinating. He's born to play these kinds of roles. His rage is the core of his talent. Vanessa Redgrave also compels to the picture. Gives a powerful delivery to her dialogue. In other filmmaking, the cinematography is beautiful but the shaky camera might messes some of the shot. The music score is simply slick with drums. Giving extra thrills to the scenes. Lastly is the action scenes, these scenes doesn't quite matter if it's good or bad but it feels like The Hurt Locker.

It's satisfying enough to see this by the actors and the language. Its context is more mind blowing than the explosions. The filmmaking is very decent. It's a clever modernization and great familiarization to this not so famous play of William Shakespeare. Ralph Fiennes keeps the interest and shines throughout the show. Coriolanus never disappoints. It's a truly Shakespeare picture even if everything but the language is modern. It's just fascinating.