16 July 2012

Coriolanus

Shakespeare, that usually reminds us of our time sitting at school going over King Lear or Hamlet... and usually, the adjective that comes to mind is... "boring", right? Hold on, not so fast. Ralph Fiennes (the actor playing Voldemort in some Harry Potter movies for you fans out there) did a great job in adapting Shakespeare's Coriolanus to a modern-looking Rome, while also playing the lead role, Caius Martius.

I really appreciated the film, although I have to admit I did have to turn the subtitles on so I could really enjoy Shakespeare's text (or its shortened version rather). It's slightly too theatrical and not so subtle at times (especially with the role of the possessive mother, Volumnia), but once you're into the movie, you get really seized by the commanding stature of the main character – his determination and his stubborn leadership (interestingly a military one and not one that leads the "common people", which will be his Achilles' heel throughout the movie) but also his outbursts of rage, as reflected by his physical height, his shaven head, his scars all over his body and face, and his piercing green eyes.

For further reading:

• IMDB link
• Wikipedia page on the movie
• Shakespeare's entire play