Shaking up Shakespeare

MANILA, Philippines - Film review: Coriolanus

Taking a William Shakespeare play as source material and coming up with a film that is contemporary and relevant has always been a challenge for today’s film directors and producers. There is no argument about the fact that the emotions, sentiments and stories that make up the Bard’s plays still make an impact, but how to keep it from being mere costume drama or a period piece is the trick they have to ponder and solve. Kurosawa turned Macbeth into a samurai classic, while Baz Luhrman’s Romeo and Juliet was sheer “magic in Miami.” As adapted by John Logan and directed by Ralph Fiennes, Coriolanus retains most of the original verse of Shakespeare’s military/political tragedy, but transplants it to modern Europe, with striking results.

Set in a modern Rome besieged by civil unrest and threatened by neighboring country, Volscia, Ralph plays celebrated Roman general Martius. Imperious, arrogant to a fault, returning war hero Martius is bestowed the title Coriolanus and asked to stand as consul, much to the consternation of a number of politicians in the Roman Senate. His former friend, and a military presence Coriolanus respects, heads the Volscian forces — and this is Aufidius, as played by Gerard Butler. Vanessa Redgrave plays the mother of Coriolanus, and she’s still an impressive film presence. Said politicians manage to banish Martius, and in disgust with how he has been treated, he aligns himself with the man who formerly stood as his mortal enemy, Aufidius.

Government, the military, how we build up and tear down heroes and villains, the bonds of personal pride, family and country — these are just some of the grand themes tackled by Coriolanus. Admittedly, as the dialogue is delivered in verse to stay truthful to the original text, the film may not be for everyone. It’s not as accessible as say Romeo and Juliet; and the grim, bloody nature of war, and the notions of duty and betrayal which lie at the core of the story, are not sunny or romantically tragic subject matter.

Having said all that, there still is much to admire here for the serious filmgoer. And what is driven home, is just how so much of what Shakespeare created in Elizabethan times, deeply understood the human condition and the vanity/frailty of man. It may no longer be the Globe Theater in London, but a movie house; but thanks to the efforts and belief of today’s artists like Fiennes, Shakespeare lives on!