A Hero Gone Wrong

CAST: Ralph Fiennes,Gerard Butler,Vanessa Redgrave,Jessica Chastain,Brian Cox

Rating: **1/2

A modern-day remake of a Shakespeare play is a familiar animal. Depending on the maker,it changes fur and hue,but the really well-done remakes usually sharpen and renew context. We see debutante director Ralph Fiennes’ vision of ancient Rome in Coriolanus,but it could be set anywhere: the soot-blackened buildings,the rubble-ridden streets,the gun-toting soldiers,the war-weary civilians could be in the Balkans. Or Iran. Or Palestine. Or Afghanistan.

The questions that this relatively not-so-known play raises are as relevant today as they were back in the day. How does extreme power deal with extreme emotions? Political compulsions usually overwhelm all else: how does an unlikeable general get past his weaknesses? Is a man who believes in himself completely allowed any flaws? Fiennes reprises his role as Coriolanus (which he played on stage in 2000) and makes of him a figure that arouses grudging respect and little or no affection.

There’s smart use of TV news which gives us,in pithy headlines,a filter through which we watch the characters and events unfold on screen. It is a brutal world,and brutal times. Soldiers are shot,and lie bleeding. The people are starving. The state coffers are full. All around is conflict. Coriolanus finds himself banished from Rome not because he is unable to set things right,but because he and the people of Rome,fickle and despairing,have nothing in common,making him a great tragic hero: he could have been the right man in the right place,but something about him did not let him assume his rightful place in history.

It is Fiennes’ (last seen as the fearsome Voldemort in the Harry Potter films) uncompromisingly fierce performance which anchors the film. As Coriolanus’s worldly-wise mother,Redgrave has an unflinching presence: there are scenes in which you just drink in her act. And Chastain as the wife shows us yet another facet of this versatile actor. The only shaky element is Gerard Butler as Aufidius,Coriolanus’ arch-enemy: his quasi-Irish accent dips here and there,and he looks out of place in this sea of experienced stage hands.

Coriolanus is a determinedly grim but smart,resonant film,faithful to the tone of the original,done with some skill and conviction. Do you know how hard it is to speak in iambic and not sound archaic? If only it had been a little shorter,and a little crisper.

shubhra.gupta@expressindia.com