Coriolanus Review

forceful and brutally c o n t e m p o r a r y new telling of one of Shakespeare’s bloodiest plays sees Ralph Fiennes not only star as the lead character, but for the first time, step behind the camera and become director. As with Sir Ian McKellen’s 1995... More

forceful and brutally c o n t e m p o r a r y new telling of one of Shakespeare’s bloodiest plays sees Ralph Fiennes not only star as the lead character, but for the first time, step behind the camera and become director. As with Sir Ian McKellen’s 1995 adaptation of “Richard III”, he has updated the military setting and, sadly, found a world filled with modern-day parallels to the Bard’s tragedy. Just as McKellen, Branagh and Olivier; Fiennes wants the modern day audience to witness what they see in Shakespeare, that he still matters, that he is relevant, still moves and thrills.With “Coriolanus”, Ralph brilliantly gets this point across. The use of the hand held camera, conjures a convincing feel of a CNN or BBC news report. As this is the way that most of us view war coverage it only adds to the realistic imagery, drawing the audience in and placing us well and truly in the midst of the action. During the war scenes we are, quite literally, in a very grey world. In reflection of the Less