Having thoroughly enjoyed and been impressed by Ian Rickson's " Hamlet" at the Young Vic last week I was in the mood for more up-dated Shakespeare. Right on cue, enter stage left ( 2 theatrical puns intended) was Ralph Fiennes film version of Coriolanus.
Shakespeare's longevity is mainly due to the fact that his plots are so generic they fit most times. Fiennes cleverly took this tale of Roman intrigue and up-dated it to the recent Kosove conflict.
He has never particularly been a macho actor but he convincingly portrayed the war hero who functions more in war than peacetime. It is odd hearing Elizabethan words counter-balanced against the modern violence of ethnic cleansing but it works.
Soon, though we are back in the poltical world of Brutus & Cassius (ably played by James Nesbitt and Paul Jesson) attempting to undo his wartime heroics to the public (any modern references to the power of the Murdoch family are, I am sure quite coincidental). When banished Coriolanus joins his mortal enemy Tullus Aufidius (a rare proper acting role role for Gerard Butler) and threatens to destroy Rome the British theatrical big guns are sent to try and change his mind.
Brian Cox again shows what a classy film actor he can be if given a good role but it is Vanessa Redgrave who steals the film with her barn-storming Volumnia. The ending is no surprise but the fact this play works in its first cinematic outing is. Let's hope fledgling director Ralph Fiennes finds other projects to entice him back behind (and hopefully) in front of the camera.
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