Apart from the infinite varieties of the human face, there are no sights in "Coriolanus" I'm not familiar with. Fiennes, an actor who can remake himself, is here lean and muscular, his head shaven, his neck a muscular trunk displaying a dragon tattoo. He carries an AK-47. Is this Shakespeare's hero? Did Shakespeare envision Coriolanus in Greco-Roman draperies? I imagine him alone in a room, writing by candlelight, intoxicated by language. For him, Coriolanus was the name of the speaker of his words.
One of the pleasures of Fiennes' film is that the screenplay by John Logan ("Hugo," "Gladiator") makes room for as much of Shakespeare's language as possible. I would have enjoyed more, because such actors as Fiennes, Vanessa Redgrave and Brian Cox let the words roll trippingly off the tongue.
I realize I savor Shakespeare in a different way than the typical Friday night action fan — who, lured by the violence and ferocity of the hard-boiled trailer and TV ads, will perhaps wonder why everyone is talking so strangely. There is a reason most of the sentences in action dialogue are not more than a few words long. More than half of the film's box-office revenue will come from overseas, where the film will be dubbed, and longer speeches are trickier to dub. "Coriolanus" will ideally be seen in English.
Shakespeare's story involves a Roman who cares more about battle than about politics. This is Caius Martius (Fiennes), a general who has led Rome against its nearby Volscian enemies. Warfare has cut off Rome's food supplies, there's rioting in the streets, and he leaves to join the siege of the enemy city Corioles.
When he prevails, he's given the honorary title "Coriolanus," returns home and at the urging of his strong-willed mother, Volumnia (Vanessa Redgrave), runs for Consul. He is, alas, not a diplomatic politician (it's unwise to hold the people in contempt). Banished from Rome, he joins forces with his former Volscian enemy, Tullus Aufidius (Gerard Butler), and they attack it. Only his mother can persuade him to lay down his arms.
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