Saturday Movie Review: Coriolanus

Hi everyone!

Ralph Fiennes' critically-acclaimed modern-dress film version of Shakespeare's play "Coriolanus" finally opened in Chicago yesterday. From all the reviews I've been reading over the past few months, I was eagerly anticipating the opportunity to see it. This is one of Shakespeare's least familiar plays. I think I'd read it in college years ago but it's not one that I'd gone back to since. So I was going in to see this film without much in the way of expectations beyond great performances, great visuals, and the chance to hear Shakespeare spoken by a couple of the greatest British actors alive today--Ralph Fiennes (who also directed) as General Coriolanus and Vanessa Redgrave as his mother.

I'll start with the good. There's an immediacy to the battle scenes--of which there are several--that gives the film a quick-cut, grainy documentary quality and grounds the film very vividly in the present. Although the setting is Rome and its environs, the film looks as though it takes place somewhere in the Balkans, Belgrade perhaps during the reign of Milosevic in the '90s. The performances, of course, are outstanding, though not uniformly so. While Vanessa Redgrave and Ralph Fiennes act the hell out of their roles--both share a steely determination that's utterly convincing as mother and son--I was most impressed by Gerard Butler as Coriolanus's arch-enemy Tullis Aufidius. I've always sensed there's a fine actor somewhere in Mr. Butler but it's never had a chance to shine through. This film is his moment and he steals every scene he's in, including those that pair him off against Mr. Fiennes. As much as they loath each other and are driven to one another's destruction, I sense in Mr. Butler's Aufidius a respect--even a love--for Coriolanus despite the actions taken by both against each other. Because of Mr. Butler, I found the final scene quite moving. Seeing Coriolanus from Aufidius's eyes, made me feel for the first time a bit of sympathy for Coriolanus that I hadn't felt through any of the preceding two hours. This is one of the problems I had with the film.

I don't think it's Mr. Fiennes fault as actor or director that I found Coriolanus himself a bit of a cipher. There's a reason this isn't considered among Shakespeare's great plays. The problem is, Coriolanus is totally unknowable. We don't really understand him nor do we as an audience know all that much about him. He's a famous Roman general that saved Rome from destruction at the hands of Aufidius, leader of the Volsces. He prefers fighting to politicking, would rather be out on the battlefield commanding troops than actively courting the support of the people. He has a power-hungry and rather quietly frightening mother who seems to control him physically and psychologically. When he's nominated to become Rome's leader he's arrogant in his dismissal of the established political process and in so doing alienates himself from the populace.

That much is clear. What isn't clear though is why Coriolanus is like this. You don't have to like a character to care about him as long as you are given something that causes you to either admire or despise or have some sort emotional reaction to that character. In this case, I didn't feel anything except, after a while, annoyance because I didn't understand why Coriolanus makes the choices that he does. Consequently, I felt indifferent to him as a character. He annoyed me.

Much has been made of the way in which the film uses pseudo-cable TV newsflashes etc to convey background and context. The great BBC presenter Dan Snow is even shown at one point conducting an on-air interview with another character. (Mr. Snow speaks Shakespeare quite eloquently, in fact.)  I got what Mr. Fiennes was trying to do here, but it struck me as somehow artificial and forced. It was effective at first but then the technique was used so often I found it all a bit gimmicky. I also didn't feel that Shakespeare's language, particularly in the crowd scenes and even more so in the television studio when the audience finally turns against Coriolanus, always worked within this particular contemporary milieu. I felt the themes and parallels Mr. Fiennes was trying to make as a director were a bit forced and heavy-handed. There's not a lot of subtlety to be had here which is a shame because Shakespeare as a writer is quite nuanced. Nothing needs to be hammered home.

I also found that Jessica Chastain was woefully miscast. As I've said, the performances across the entire cast are quite strong but whenever Ms. Chastain--playing Coriolanus's long-suffering wife--I felt like I was suddenly watching an amateur production. It was jarring and I wanted her to go away. Her character isn't particularly developed which may have been part of the problem, but I don't understand why a stronger actress couldn't have been cast in the role.

So all in all, I didn't like "Coriolanus" as much as I was hoping to. If you're looking for some great Shakespearean acting, like I've said, the entire cast (minus Ms. Chastain) does a good job. It's a nice opportunity to watch one of Shakespeare's more rarely performed plays, though here I think that Juliet Taymor's bloody and wonderful 2000 film of "Titus Andronicus" starring Anthony Hopkins and Jessica Lange remains a stronger cinematic adaptation.

In a nutshell, "Coriolanus" is worth seeing but don't expect an emotionally fulfilling experience.

Ciao.

Thoughts on Shakespeare, teaching, Julian Barnes, and Venezuelans talking about infidelity and beer

I thought I'd take a few minutes to write while I wait to meet with my professor about my final research paper. After this last assignment, I'll have completed all the course work for my Master's in Secondary Education! Yay!

At the Starbucks on Michigan Avenue and Madison, sitting next to a table of guys--two from Venezuela, one from Chicago--talking about cheating on their girlfriends--"I do it all the time, man! It's an important part of being a man! What happens in Chicago stays in Chicago!"-- and how people in Germany like to drink cold beer. And that different beer has a different taste. (Really??? Huh.) Scintillating conversation, I know--actually quite animated--but I can't help but listen. These guys seem to be quite the Casanovas. Not.

I've been thinking more about that Shakespeare series I blogged about yesterday, which we're tentatively titling "What Would Shakespeare Do?" It's going to require me to bone up on my Shakespeare, which is always a good thing. I think I've selected a strong initial list of ten plays to cover in the first book--the typical "classroom standards": Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Macbeth, Twelfth Night, etc. But I want to change it up a bit with some of the lesser known plays like, for example, Coriolanus which has just been made into a movie directed by the great Ralph Fiennes who also stars in it alongside Vanessa Redgrave. Of course, the purpose here is to demonstrate how each of these plays has social significance in today's society, thus making them more accessible to high school students. At any rate, I'm looking forward to the opportunity of combining three of my passions: writing, teaching, and literature in an effort to positively effect young peoples' lives. I really love working with high school kids, especially those who for one reason or another were born into an environment without the stability and advantages so many of us take for granted. As any teacher will tell you--hopefully--there's nothing quite like seeing that light bulb go off in a student's eyes when you see that they "get" what you've been teaching them. And then, months later, when you see one of your students and they tell you how much they miss you teaching them...there's really nothing quite like it.

A couple weeks ago when I went to see "J. Edgar," the girl at the theatre who was taking tickets happened to be one of my favorite students from Al Raby. Keniece was in my 7th period Honors Class and was one of many I looked forward to having in class each day. Keniece saw me and had a big smile on her face as she exclaimed "Mr. M! It's so good to see  you!" We chatted for a bit. She told me she hadn't been able to go to DePaul as she'd hoped because her financial aid hadn't gone through but was doing well at Truman College with another friend of hers, Amanda, who was also in that Honors class. She told me she and Amanda had just been talking about me the other day, wondering how teaching was going for me, etc etc. It's not an exaggeration to say that seeing Keniece that Sunday afternoon made not only my day, but my week. I think of those 80 or so kids often and am always on the look-out for them as I go about my day. It's kids like Keniece and Amanda and countless others like them that make me glad to have gone into education. I wish them all the very best.

On a completely different note...I finished "The Sense of an Ending," that Julian Barnes novel I mentioned a few days back. A great book, a thought-provoking book, especially for those of us who are all-too-rapidly approaching middle-age or older. It's the kind of novel that lingers long after you've turned the final page. It's got me thinking about time and my perception of time, aging, and memory. I'm not sure I like thinking about those things as it makes me think of death and how all of us only have a limited amount of time in which to accomplish our dreams...or not accomplish them as is all too often the case. I am in awe of Mr. Barnes's facility with prose. Not sure how I feel about the last five pages though. There's a twist I didn't expect and didn't quite "get" until I went back and reread it and still I'm not sure I've "got" it. No matter...I recommend the novel to anyone who cares about great fiction.

Wrapping this up. My professor awaits.

Shout-outs to my seniors of Al Raby's Class of 2011! I wish you all the best and thanks again for the experience!

QUESTION OF THE DAY: (or rather Word of the Day) Eviscerate. It came up in my acting class last night. A definition, anyone? I know what it means, just checking to see if you do.