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Coriolanus

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Coriolanus (2012)

January. 19,2012
|
6.1
|
R
| Drama Thriller
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Caius Martius, aka Coriolanus, is an arrogant and fearsome general who has built a career on protecting Rome from its enemies. Pushed by his ambitious mother to seek the position of consul, Coriolanus is at odds with the masses and unpopular with certain colleagues. When a riot results in his expulsion from Rome, Coriolanus seeks out his sworn enemy, Tullus Aufidius. Together, the pair vow to destroy the great city.

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MoPoshy
2012/01/19

Absolutely brilliant

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FirstWitch
2012/01/20

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

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Lollivan
2012/01/21

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

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Allison Davies
2012/01/22

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

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Kirpianuscus
2012/01/23

at first sigh, translation of Shakespeare's play in contemporary formulas. in fact, high performances, fresh spirit of original, Rome in a credible and strange images who remands wars and crisis, politic errors and hypocrisy. a film who explores roots, solutions, emotions, fake options . a film about heroes and their failure. about contemporary politic life because the laws, tricks are the same. result - a kind of House of Cards. not very different essence. only forms who reminds art of theater, an ambiguous genius , actors who gives proofs of admirable manner to resurrect a text and its substance. a provocative film. because it is not exactly adaptation of a play on screen. but a provocative portrait of power, duty and force of fundamental decisions.

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vigilia-92345
2012/01/24

This movie is boring. Too much talk and old unused talk.I never really got why Shakespeare is so widely regarded. Seeing such a script put to modern times just really shows how pretentious it really is. This movie at no time seemed genuine or even normal. The movie took it self way too seriously.Shakespeare uses hundreds of words just to express something i could do in several. Im no expert but there is no beauty in the words or the way they form and half the time i wish the characters would just shut up.If you like poetry and Shakespeare then maybe you will like it, i do not know.Maybe someone one day will explain to me how to appreciate Shakespeare. Until then from the general exposure i have had, Shakespeare just sucks.

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douglas lally
2012/01/25

The fact that Shakespeare remains the most studied, influential, and produced playwright in the modern world is testament to the genius of his storytelling and it's transcendent, universal narratives. His plays remain timeless for this reason. Coriolanus, however, one of the last composed by Billy Shakes, is not one his more popular plays and consequently doesn't see the stage time of his other Histories. There are really four reasons for this. The title character is lacking the emotional range, depth, and just plain interestingness of say a Hamlet, Lear, or Macbeth. He is pretty much single minded and predictable. Reason two is there is no love interest to speak of, although he has a wife, she does not play a compelling influence on his life or events of the story. Reason three, the topicality emphasizes the political rather than humanistic. Reason four is it's an intense, humorless, dark play. In essence, Coriolanus is a heavily flawed man who doesn't know it and for many that makes him boring. There are no internal conflicts, only external. The play is really a commentary on the bearing of social class on the general welfare of any given nations citizenry and the toxicity of political privilege and hubris. Many theater goers, even in Shakespeare's time, were uneasy with the subject matter. Aristotle asserted that theater should serve two functions, entertain and instruct,but do so evenly. Coriolanus does more instruction where an escapist audience wanted to be entertained. Let's call Coriolanus, then, a Shakespearian political PSA. But...this re-imagining of Coriolanus is spectacular. Like many modern adaptations of Shakespeare it has been modernized to suit the times, making it more accessible to audiences unfamiliar with the Elizabethan English or even the story itself. There are no robes, tights, or rapiers. There are instead tanks, helmets, and helicopters. There are suits and ties and cars and televisions and a contemporary cultural backdrop that could be literally any one of thousands of locales in our present time. Ralph Fiennes direction really drives home that this could be you, which I thought worked exceptionally well. The use of modern media, such as television talk shows and news broadcasts to deliver dialogue originally intended for an ancillary character was both clever and useful in keeping the flow of the story as well as staying true to the spirit of the original work.Coriolanus is a general, a politically valued but socially inept political figurehead central to the corruption of the Roman government and the chief architect of that government's subversion of civil liberties and basic needs among it's population. For that reason he is despised by the people and feared by the politicians. Yet he is also a prized component of this society as a fearless, ruthless, and brilliant military commander. The built in irony for Coriolanus lay in his professional conduct as a soldier defending his nation, advancing it's interests through conquest, and all the while expressing utter disgust for that nation, the common man especially whom he regards as interloping rabble or a distraction to his ambitions. He is what we would call a megalomaniac. Serving only himself and those that can benefit him. Really, he functions as guardian of a status quo for himself, and no one but himself. As a side note, can't imagine that Coriolanus wasn't an influence for Aaron Sorkin when he crafted Colonel Nathan Jessup in A Few Good Men. One should familiarize themselves with the story before embarking on Coriolanus. It should be said more often that production value, costumes, and theme will never replace an audiences need to understand what is going on. Let's face it, there's a language barrier with Shakespeare and nothing will substitute for an audience member who doesn't know that musty superfluidity means weakness. And perhaps that's why Shakespeare on film doesn't have the reach it should. But I do love this effort and the attempt to advance a 400 year old tale of a dysfunctional system and make it real for anyone living it today. Nuts and bolts of the film. I loved the action sequences, the editing, and the brevity as much of the script was deleted to streamline the film. Gerald Butler was in his element as Aufidius, the foil to Coriolanus. Ralph Fiennes exploded as Coriolanus and gave him an unspoken internal dialogue; I hated this guy and then it occurred to me that I was supposed to, and when that happened I know they did it right. Some things I did not like. The overuse of shaky cam as if this were live footage was not all that convincing. Thought some of the combat scenes were pushing too hard. And at times, for reasons I can't really explain, felt the whole this is modern times and we are making a point of that fell flat. Maybe it was all the shots done in TV studios and board rooms. Overall an excellent film, and a very relevant story to modern times. Both entertaining and instructive. Evenly.

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sifu_annie
2012/01/26

Great performances by the cast, well directed, plenty of drama on Shakespeare's part -- what more can you ask for in a great movie? I love Shakespearean tragedies; they always hit so close home to me, every time, so I wonder why the movie has scored such a low number on IMDb so far?Tell me, is it the old tongue that daunts you so? I think the movie made the language extremely accessible to us without straying too far from source material; that, in its own right, is truly meritorious. I myself have never been a fan of Shakespeare before. I always thought his plays to be dull, unmoving and a fanciful dullard's play. Perhaps it was the numerous times in secondary school where we'd have cold readings of the script in my classroom and the very rare allowances of real, live, professional performances in actual theatre houses that made me feel this way. I blame this on the incompetence of most of my English teachers since, at times, I didn't get what it was they were trying to teach us -- and they were speaking plain English to us in the classroom, mind you!Shakespeare wrote his plays to be performed and what a fine job Ralph Fiennes did at delivering the story to us! I actually was able to follow most of what was going on without referring to any footnotes since Coriolanus was originally a play I've never heard of -- I blame this majorally on the fact that popular culture hasn't brought the story up nearly as often as like, say, Othello or Macbeth. (Remember, I was never a fan of Shakespeare.)The movie integrated a modern setting into the production -- and yes, I can already hear everyone's groans -- but Fiennes was able to pull it off like Luhrmann before him. There were done stunning visuals and all the blood and gore and violence made this two hour long viewing seem very brisk and fast-paced.Yet, addressing all previous complaints about the characters speaking in a relatively tongue, if you can't understand what's going on then perhaps you should go away and learn a bit more of the English language. Or, you can perhaps be a little more sympathetic towards such movies like these so you don't sound like a unintelligible bitch moaning about how unfair the movie is to us common people. I must admit, this movie does have an appeal to a certain group of the audience but never forget that your 'we' should never be used as a poor substitute for 'I' because that's a little unfair to the movie, don't you think?Alas, I've spent much of my time venting my frustration with other reviewers so let's get back to the gritty basics.Coriolanus explores themes such as pride, patriotism, fascism, politics, war. It tells the tale of a man who's both contemptuous and admirable, asking us whether it is right to lay down your beliefs of what is fair and moral to the demands of the mob, for the sake of peace. Like many of Shakespearean adaptations, this movie is intelligent, insightful and perceptive of human nature and behaviour. If this seems like a movie for you then grab a bag of popcorn because you'll enjoy this.

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