Coriolanus (2011)
Average Rating: 7.4/10
Reviews Counted: 132
Fresh: 124 | Rotten: 8
Visceral and visually striking, Ralph Fiennes' Coriolanus proves Shakespeare can still be both electrifying and relevant in a modern context.
Average Rating: 7.6/10
Critic Reviews: 38
Fresh: 36 | Rotten: 2
Visceral and visually striking, Ralph Fiennes' Coriolanus proves Shakespeare can still be both electrifying and relevant in a modern context.
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Average Rating: 3.3/5
User Ratings: 10,973
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Movie Info
Caius Martius 'Coriolanus' (Ralph Fiennes), a revered and feared Roman General is at odds with the city of Rome and his fellow citizens. Pushed by his controlling and ambitious mother Volumnia (Vanessa Redgrave) to seek the exalted and powerful position of Consul, he is loath to ingratiate himself with the masses whose votes he needs in order to secure the office. When the public refuses to support him, Coriolanus's anger prompts a riot that culminates in his expulsion from Rome. The banished
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Cast
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Ralph Fiennes
Caius Martius, Caius Ma... -
Gerard Butler
Tullus Aufidius -
Brian Cox
Menenius -
Vanessa Redgrave
Volumnia -
Jessica Chastain
Virgilia -
John Kani
General Cominius -
James Nesbitt
Tribune Brutus, Tribune... -
Paul Jesson
Tribune Brutus, Tribune... -
Lubna Azabal
First Citizen (Tamora) -
Ashraf Barhom
Second Citizen (Cassius... -
Zoran Cica
Citizen -
Milos Dabic
Citizen -
Nicolas Isia
Citizen -
Zoran Miljkovic
Citizen -
Marija Mogbolu
Citizen -
Milan Perovic
Citizen -
Nenad Ristic
Citizen -
Lawrence Stevenson
Citizen -
Marko Stojanovic
Citizen -
Tamara Krcunovic
Citizen -
Zu Yu Hua
Citizen -
Olivera Viktorovic-Durask...
Citizen -
Danijela Vranjes
Citizen -
Slavko Stimac
Volsce Lieutenant -
Ivan Dordevic
Young Roman Soldier -
Radovan Vujovic
1st Soldier -
Jovan Belobrkovic
2nd Soldier -
Dan Tana
1st Senator -
Miodrag Milovanov
2nd Senator -
Dragan Micanovic
Titus Lartius -
Radoslav Milenkovic
Volsce Politician -
Radomir Nikolic
1st Volsce Soldier -
Zoran Pajic
2nd Volsce Soldier -
Harry Fenn
Young Martius -
Elizabeta Dorevska
Maid -
Dusan Janicijevic
Old Man in Corioles -
Jon Snow
TV Anchorman -
Nikki Amuka-Bird
TV Pundit -
David Yelland
TV Pundit -
Andrija Maricic
3rd Senator -
Svetislav Goncic
4th Senator -
Uros Zdjelar
Young Senator -
Bora Nenic
Cleaner in Corridor -
Slobodan Ninkovic
War Vet -
Mona Hammond
Jamaican Woman -
Slobodan Pavelkic
Young Man in Market -
Dragoljub Vojnov
Shopkeeper -
Keiron Jecchinis
TV War Correspondent -
Mirko Pantelic
Camp Barber
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Coriolanus Trailer & Photos
All Critics (132) | Top Critics (38) | Fresh (125) | Rotten (8) | DVD (4)
The other actors do their best to help Fiennes define this curious anti-hero. Incapable of playing the role of peacetime compromiser, his Coriolanus comes across as a warrior who simply can't function without a war.
Top CriticThe film has fifth-act problems, as did the play, but Fiennes' bleak overview should leave receptive viewers feeling daunted and haunted.
The play's inherent difficulties notwithstanding, Coriolanus, the movie, is a perfectly sound achievement.
Fiennes leads a cast that, at least in the major roles, is uniformly powerful.
Slathered in blood, covered with scars and glowering with a predator's gaze, Ralph Fiennes makes a fierce and impressive Caius Martius Coriolanus.
It's all very unnerving, modern and yet veins-in-the-teeth visceral.
Fiennes' blend of action and homage is top-notch, as is direction.... Fiennes created his own modern world for which it's easy to suspend disbelief.
Coriolanus is Shakespeare done right; Ralph Fiennes takes a play about Roman war and hubris and turns it into a violently charismatic pic.
As good as all the men are, it's Vanessa Redgrave who steals the movie.
If this is how Fiennes rolls behind the camera, our next great director has raised his fist to the skies.
Should shut up the whining voices of Philistines who openly wonder why Shakespeare still matters.
Fiennes creates a pitiless world without refuge, where neither the soft nor the unbending can survive.
This Coriolanus is a savage action movie that somehow manages to preserve the heart of the Bard's work while reducing his words to devastating shards.
Coriolanus plays a bit flat at times, but it's a challenging, and even exciting, piece of cinema that's sure to inspire much love from Shakespeare enthusiasts.
The elite team of commandos charges through the bombed-out cityscape, pausing only to hurl grenades or pick off snipers leaning out of windows. Now this is what I call Shakespeare.
I wouldn't say there's something rotten in the state of Denmark, but this modernistic retelling of one of Shakespeare's lesser-known plays just isn't that good.
There something like poetry in this film,some truth that cannot be apprehended by staring hard at the screen, but drifts softly as a dandelion spore through the burned-out ruins of some sacked and dusty "Rome."
Ralph Fiennes plays Coriolanus in all his spitting, spouting, grandiose glory.
A casualty of sloppy, chaotic staging, poor editing, dead-ended plotting and way too many instances of overacting, Coriolanus is two hours full of what the bard on a better day might have called "sound and fury signifying nothing."
The great actors, from Welles onward, want the popular audience to see what they see in Shakespeare -- that he still matters, that he still moves, thrills and teaches. With "Coriolanus," Fiennes brilliantly takes his place in their ranks.
...a film that will please not only those who already love Shakespeare, but also fans of action movies...
"Coriolanus" is a triumph.
Audience Reviews for Coriolanus
Super Reviewer
It's been almost two decades since I've seen or read Shakespeare's Coriolanus, so it's difficult to remember how the film compares to the original material. What I can say is that I got more out of the film than I remember getting out of the play.
Ralph Fiennes's direction is flawless. In Coriolanus he creates a film first and a Shakespeare film second. With short scenes, long establishing shots, and pregnant pauses between conversations and monologues, Fiennes uses all the techniques germane to film and relies on the rich text when its most needed; his balance of film and Shakespeare's words is better than most other adaptations.
Fiennes's vision of Coriolanus fits our time and politics. Martius's open contempt of the proletariat contrasts with the successful patricians who, sharing his contempt, lie to the people to ingratiate themselves. Thus, Coriolanus becomes about how people in power manipulate the masses.
Fiennes gives a masterful performance, at times gritty and murderous and at other times vulnerable and weepy. Gerard Butler keeps up, and that's the best I can say while seasoned veteran Vanessa Redgrave hits her role out of the park as one of the most bad-ass Shakespearean mothers.
Overall, Coriolanus is a tour de force for Ralph Fiennes, a too-often underrated actor and director.
Super Reviewer
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- Tullus Aufidius: I think he'll be to Rome as is the osprey to the fish, who takes it by sovereignty of nature.
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- Tribune Brutus: Nature teaches beasts to know their friends.
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- Tribune Brutus: Anger's my meat; I sup upon myself, and so shall starve with feeding.
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- Caius Martius 'Coriolanus': O, a kiss long as my exile, sweet as my revenge!
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- Caius Martius 'Coriolanus': You common cry of curs! whose breath I hate As reek o'the rotten fens, whose loves I prize As the dead carcases of unburied men That do corrupt my air.
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