Coriolanus

Nature teaches beasts to know their friends.

As food riots shake Rome, the fiercely independent Caius Martius (Ralph Fiennes) squares off with the Volscian army and its leader (Gerard Butler); after being hailed as a hero, Martius is soon betrayed. The first feature film adaptation of Shakespeare’s tragedy is also Fiennes’s directing debut. His passion as an actor (and filmmaker) shines through this project, which is set in the present but maintains most of the original dialogue. Intense and bloody, the movie sometimes struggles with its own ponderousness, but has a great Vanessa Redgrave performance and effectively plants a third world conflict in a Western society.

2012-Britain. 122 min. Color. Widescreen. Produced by Ralph Fiennes, John Logan, Gabrielle Tana, Julia Taylor-Stanley, Colin Vaines. Directed by Ralph Fiennes. Screenplay: John Logan. Play: William Shakespeare. Cast: Ralph Fiennes (Caius Martius), Gerard Butler (Tullus Aufidius), Vanessa Redgrave (Volumnia), Brian Cox, Jessica Chastain, John Kani… James Nesbitt.