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Post by kneum on Feb 27, 2012 8:04:23 GMT -5
Fifi!!! Thanks so much for posting this video of the interview with the composer of the score for Coriolanus!! I am actually going to get to see the movie on March 16th in Little Rock!! This video will remind me to pay special attention to the music in the film!! I can hardly wait to see it!!! Kneum
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rarity
Gerard Butler watcher
[ss:Gorgeous Gerry]
Posts: 151
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Post by rarity on Feb 27, 2012 9:04:41 GMT -5
I was hoping this would have a wide release. Will try getting the DVD.
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Post by Leppardlady on Feb 28, 2012 11:35:27 GMT -5
I didn't get to see this in theaters, either. Will also have to wait for the DVD. Hope I have better luck with "Playing the Field".
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Post by terezoulini on Mar 4, 2012 8:08:23 GMT -5
www.slackerwood.com/node/2751 "I think reversing Butler and Fiennes' parts could have resulted in a truly great film." WOW! Here is the whole review: Review: Coriolanus By Mike Saulters on March 3, 2012 - 9:30am in New Releases Reviews In 1996, Baz Luhrmann updated Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet with modern imagery and a menagerie of hot young talent. In doing so, he produced a magnificent movie that, love it or hate it, everyone must admit was a grand spectacle. It made Shakespeare's most famous and beloved work accessible to Generation Y with rich visuals, Luhrmann's unique direction, and a cast with many soon-to-be household names. Now, in his first feature-film directing effort, Ralph Fiennes stars as the titular character in a similar though less successful effort to update Coriolanus, Shakespeare's least-produced and probably worst-known play. While this movie is by no means unworthy, Coriolanus is not a work that really captures the imagination or emotion. Several factors contribute to this, both in the source material and in Fiennes' production. There are barely two scenes in the entire film that don't include Coriolanus, one of the most unrelatable and unsympathetic heroes in English literature. The production design is best described as 1960s Soviet Afghanistan, more bleak and less colorful than most concentration camp scenes ever set to film. If ever a modern take cried out for a classical reimagining, it is this one. Rome, at the height of its power, is depicted with all the pomp and flair of North Korea five minutes after the death of Kim Jong-Il. The melange of accents is distracting and includes Scottish, English, vaguely Italian, and American, and I even noted one character credited as "Jamaican Woman." The largest mistake Fiennes made with Coriolanus was in casting himself in the title role. Not only did I feel an immediate antipathy watching him, as he appeared completely uncomfortable and out of place in his uniform, but as a first-time director, the demands of the job are in conflict with portraying a role that is in front of the camera for 99 percent of the movie. At times, Fiennes seemed to be acting more the part of Voldemort than a Roman general, and I quickly found I did not care what the character did nor what would happen to him. The saving graces of Coriolanus were the score and the performances of Vanessa Redgrave and Brian Cox. Redgrave, as Coriolanus' mother Volumnia, gives one of the most expressive and decisive roles of her career, with more steel than Meryl Streep's Iron Lady. Cox, as Roman Senator Menenius, delivers Shakespeare's dialogue with an ease to be expected of a native 17th-century Englishman. He has a grace and charisma in stark contrast to Fiennes' role. Unfortunately, the talents of Gerard Butler (Aufidius) and Jessica Chastain (Virgilia) are wasted in these roles (and I think reversing Butler and Fiennes' parts could have resulted in a truly great film). The score from composer Ilan Eshkeri (Kick-Ass, Ninja Assassin, Stardust) is the best work in Coriolanus. Minimalist, warlike, rhythmic percussion dominates and sets the tone in scenes where the visuals are so bleak. The end-title song, a surprising a capella performance by Lisa Zane, is reason enough to purchase the soundtrack. For a film about a Roman general, Coriolanus has very little action. I wish I could say it takes a cue from The Phantom Menace, but of course the dialogue-heavy source predates that by a few centuries. I sincerely hope Fiennes realizes he was in over his head with this and chooses not to star in the next movie he directs.
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Post by Dianne on Mar 7, 2012 21:56:48 GMT -5
HELLO SEXY!
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Post by Dianne on Mar 7, 2012 22:38:33 GMT -5
Thanks Fifi, good review... Coriolanus Review by Margaret Pomeranz All is not well in Rome in Ralph Fiennes' adaptation of William Shakespeare's CORIOLANUS. The citizens are unhappy, hungry, disenfranchised. Caius Martius, RALPH FIENNES, is contemptuous. This fine soldier, a general, has fought many wars for Rome. He wages yet another bitter-fought campaign against the Volscian army in the city of Corioles where he comes face to face with his enemy Aufidius, GERARD BUTLER. Returning to Rome he is dubbed Coriolanus and is encouraged to run for consul in the senate. But Martius' pride is a mighty thing and he is unable to engage with the general populace. Exiled from Rome by machinations within the Senate, Coriolanus joins with Aufidius to plan a bloody revenge on Rome. Ralph Fiennes, who has a terrific reputation in theatre in Britain, has embraced a contemporary world in this his debut film as director, with mobile phones, skype, television news reports and discussions, integrated into the action. To very good effect. I must admit I've never seen a production of Coriolanus or even read it. It is a play full of wonderful language, full of bloody deeds, and, in this case, full of wonderful performances. VANESSA REDGRAVE is stunning as Martius' mother, JESSICA CHASTAIN delicate and heartwrenching as his wife. GERARD BUTLER is a revelation as Aufidius and BRIAN COX wonderfully solid as Martius' supporter in the Senate. Barry Ackroyd's cinematography adds to the chaotic tension of the piece. This is dynamic Shakespeare, with a spectacularly flawed hero, played so well by the film's director. www.abc.net.au/atthemovies/txt/s3430710.htm
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Post by fifiserafino on Mar 8, 2012 2:47:05 GMT -5
More about Coriolanus on its Australian release: Radio review mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/2012/03/mme_20120308_1745.mp3Part of transcript www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/movietime/coriolanus/3877676We seem to be somewhere in the modern day Balkans. It could be Serbia, it could be Bosnia. There are demonstrators on the streets, in the city of Corioles, demanding bread and liberty; and one of their leaders, a shaven, tattooed man is sharpening a knife while watching news footage. A Roman senator, Menenius, played by the gravelly Brian Cox, whom we are currently sending in the ABC series The Straits, appears onscreen, in a news grab, trying to calm the rioters and deflect them from blaming Rome. Caius Martius, (Fiennes) from one of Rome’s great military families, is sent in to help quell the rebellion. He clashes with the rebel leader Tullus Aufius, played by Gerard Butler. Their close-quarters fight with knife and sword is gripping combat, but Caius Martius wins, becomes a military hero and is given the surname Coriolanus, after the town he crushed. A group of wily senators try to draft him to serve as consul, capitalising on his status as military hero. But consuls must also have the votes of the common people: and Coriolanus's arrogance and contempt for the plebeians are his downfall. Exiled from Rome, he begins to plot his revenge. There are so many great insights and observations in Shakespeare’s Coriolanus, that anyone watching the wars and uprising on television today will recognise what’s going on. Desperate, and crazy brave people, organising and taking to the streets demanding not just food and work, but freedom. Brutal repression of dissenters. The arrogance of a class, and central party which believes it is born to rule. New, conflicting nationalisms. Ruling families, proud of their military traditions and prepared to do the most brutal things to serve their state. And behind all this, the politicians, the deal makers. Sniffing the wind, plotting their own survival, and that of their party. Ralph Fiennes has set this Coriolanus, his first film as a director by the way, somewhere unidentified but clearly in the contemporary Balkans. But it could be Egypt. It could be Libya. It could be Syria. It could be Iraq. It could be East Timor, or West Papua. It’s a passionate, and extremely intelligent adaptation, trimmed but never bowdlerised, nor sensationalised. It would be easy to go for onscreen guts and gore...the viciousness of urban combat, the terror and desperation of it, along with the courage is there but never overplayed. Shakespearian English has rarely in recent years spoken to us with such urgency. Fiennes himself, as Coriolanus is impressive...authoritative as the proud man raised by his mother for one purpose; even more so, cast out, as the wanted man, hiding and seeking revenge, even by allying himself with his enemies. It’s impossible to look at some of these scenes without thinking, for example, of Radovan Karadzic in hiding..or Milosevic, or Gaddafi, or Hussein, dirty, bearded and unkempt, pulled from his earthen hole. The wiliness, the self justification. The humiliation. Fiennes, in this splendid adaptation by John Logan, keeps the pace. But he has also surrounded himself with equally fine actors. Two performances stand out: Vanessa Redgrave, in what may be one of the last great performances of her career, as Caius Martius's mother Volumnia, prouder, and more ruthless even than her son. And Brian Cox is perfect as the wily Menenius. Finally, it is the deal makers: the politicians, the bureaucrats who send both the best, and the worst in to die...which is why, finally this is such a thrilling, sad, and very satisfying film. Audio interview with screenwriter John Logan mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/2012/03/mme_20120308_1750.mp3
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Post by Dianne on Apr 6, 2012 13:33:52 GMT -5
Thanks Deni butlerscinemascene.com/2012/01/20/coriolanus-the-bard-in-bosnia/Make sure you click on the link because there's a video. CORIOLANUS”: Bard in the Balkans January 20, 2012 by butlerscinemascene Gerard Butler, Ralph Fiennes in "Coriolanus" “CORIOLANUS” My rating: B- (Opening Jan. 20) 122 minutes | MPAA rating: R The rarely-performed plays of Shakespeare pose a problem for film adaptations. Lacking the familiar plots and Bartlett’s-heavy dialogue of a “Macbeth” or “Hamlet,” these minor works force filmmakers to come up with a creative presentational style if they’re to hook a modern audience. With that in mind, director/star Ralph Fiennes makes of Shakespeare’s Roman play “Coriolanus” a modern-dress political fable about patriotism, loyalty and class warfare. It’s quite well acted and if the text itself isn’t terribly compelling, the movie’s semi-documentary visual style and the political parallels Fiennes draws between ancient Rome and our own time engage both the eye and the intellect. The plot centers on the Roman general Caius Martius (Fiennes), who has defeated the rebel forces of Aufidius (Gerard Butler). For his great victory the Senate renames him Coriolanus and names him Consul of Rome. But before getting the job the newly-named Coriolanus must gain the approval of the citizenry. And that’s no small task, since he’s an aloof patrician who views everyday Romans as worthless rabble. Early in the film we see him turning back starving rioters who have attacked a government warehouse demanding to be fed. Before he can take office Coriolanus’ political fortunes turn sour. He is exiled from Rome and in disguise travels to the camp of Aufidius, where he offers to fight alongside his former foe against the Romans who have betrayed him. Filmed in Serbia and Montenegro, this Coriolanus takes a torn-from-the-headlines approach. Major plot developments which in a stage production would be announced through dialogue are here seen live on a cable television news channel. That “breaking news” approach applies to the rest of the film as well; Fiennes employs handheld cameras to give a “breaking news” feel to the proceedings. The costuming is utterly familiar: army surplus rumpled khaki for the rebel forces, sleekly tailored uniforms and business suits for the Roman bigwigs. The performances are uniformly solid. Jessica Chastain (this is her fifth film in a year) doesn’t have much to do as Coriolanus’ missus, but Vanessa Redgrave is very fine as his manipulative mum (there’s just a hint of incest here). Various politicos are nicely played by the likes of James Nesbitt and Brian Cox. Butler, whose acting chops were in danger of being blunted by one too many lame romantic comedies, brings a fierce intensity to his role as the rebel leader. And Fiennes, with bald head and various scars, is a highly watchable if not exactly sympathetic protagonist. Bottom line: A smartly-handled version of a little-seen Shakespeare tragedy. But unlike, say, Branagh’s “Henry V,” it’s more for Bard completists than rank-and-file moviegoers.
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Post by gersarchitect on Apr 8, 2012 23:24:21 GMT -5
It is playing in Cincinnat this week! What a surprise! I had long given up on it and hadn't checked in weeks. So when I read about the box office in the cbox I thought I humor myself and check our local art house.... And there it was.... So if you are within driving distance to Cincinnati.... www.esquiretheatre.com/Check your local art houses.... You never know!
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Post by dawne27 on Apr 9, 2012 13:29:10 GMT -5
thanks deni! interesting article - news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/AB/20120406/ENT02/304060028/"Coriolanus has a PR problem. A Roman war hero, he proves ill-equipped for politics, far too proud to flatter the fickle masses. In a series of what today would be termed public relations disasters, Coriolanus rapidly plummets from Rome’s most decorated defender to its banished son. Of the many politicians we have seen undone by scandal and mismanaged crises, we have not yet seen one dare try to fight a media storm by calling the common people “measles.” Leaders with deaf ears and publics that sway capriciously are eternal themes that certainly reverberate today. It is no wonder Ralph Fiennes saw fit to transport Shakespeare’s tragedy (not one of his highest regarded) from its fifth century BC setting to a contemporary world. Any production of “Coriolanus” ultimately comes down to the handling of the relationship between Coriolanus and the crowds. Shakespeare, who detested nothing so much as a mob, made it a tricky drama, with a largely unsympathetic protagonist. George Bernard Shaw considered “Coriolanus” Shakespeare’s greatest comedy. T.S. Eliot called it, along with “Antony and Cleopatra,” his “most assured artistic success.” Bertolt Brecht considered Coriolanus a kind of fascist and interpreted the play as a class struggle. In Fiennes’ hands, it is a thoroughly intense and vivid drama without an easy political reading. The film opens in what it labels “a place called Rome” where a food crisis is causing protesters to march on a grain mill. The general Coriolanus (Fiennes) has suspended civil liberties and brought out the riot police to quell the protesters, for whom he has no sympathy. Coriolanus, a proud soldier, saves the same townspeople from the rival Volsces. (In Shakespeare, this is a war between city-states, which transfers awkwardly in a modern telling.) In a fierce street battle, he single-handedly turns them back, killing in video-game style. Coriolanus, never exactly a cheerful chap, turns into a downright monster on the battlefield, where he exhorts his soldiers to “make you a sword of me.” The sight of Fiennes, his head blood-covered and eyes murderously steely, is one of the film’s most remarkable, and a sure rival in fright to Fiennes’ “Harry Potter” villain Voldemort. A hero after the battle, Coriolanus is spurred to be made the powerful Consul. His mother Volumnia (a startlingly graceful and poised Vanessa Redgrave) urges him on. But Coriolanus does not have a political bone in his body, which spurs conspirators Brutus (James Nesbitt) and Sicinius (Paul Jesson) to rouse the public against him. The wise operator Menenius (played excellently by Brian Cox as a kind of campaign manager) tries to keep Coriolanus “on message,” but the situation spirals out of control, eventually leading to the unthinkable: Coriolanus, branded a traitor to the people, is banished. He takes up arms with his mortal enemy, the Volscian leader Tullus Aufidius (a fine Gerard Butler, who incidentally would make an interesting Coriolanus, himself). The gritty first half of the film is largely shot handheld, which, while surely a fitting style for a film about war and political tumult, grows tiresome and overused. There is a feeling of rushing and of some clunky contemporizing. Fiennes plays Coriolanus with all-consuming rage, which overshadows the character’s other qualities. While he does seem, like Hamlet, displaced from his natural role, Coriolanus’ humility does not quite come through. The pace of the camera and the storytelling improves considerably in the second half, or the play’s fourth and fifth acts. The whole production finds its balance and Fiennes’ performance grows fuller, finally bursting forth in a late rush of sympathy at the end. It is moments like these (and there are many others, too, thanks to the excellent ensemble) that make Fiennes’ “Coriolanus” linger in the mind. The play has been significantly but artfully trimmed by John Logan’s screenplay, which preserves Shakespeare’s language. And the name calling. Oh, the name calling! “Coriolanus” is stuffed to the gills with some of the best trash-talking you’re likely to hear. Much of it is Coriolanus spewing scorn at the crowds: “You fragments!” he calls them. Surely, Fiennes has given us one of the most exhilarating moments at the movies this year, too, in his late showdown with Aufidius. Fiennes stalks him with unrepentant, electrifying indignation, sneering “Boy!” repeatedly. Somewhere, Harry Potter is shaking. "
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Post by gersarchitect on Apr 17, 2012 22:44:36 GMT -5
It must be doing well in Cincinnati, it has been playing at the art house for two weeks and will still be there next week for a third week. I have to shamefully admit I haven't seen it yet here (saw it in Toronto though). I am trying to coordinate with a friend and work and hope maybe next week we can make it.... MGP only played one week there....
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Post by kneum on Apr 24, 2012 12:28:07 GMT -5
Had a DELIGHTFUL weekend in Little Rock celebrating our older son's birthday by going to see "Coriolanus" then having dinner at Bonefish and spending the rest of the weekend with son and daughter-in-law! It was soooo good seeing Gerry on the big screen playing one of his finest roles!! All the actors were very well-cast and Ralph did a great job directing, as well!! It is playing in an "artsy" theater there, but the seats were very comfortable with lots of leg room! There were about 25 or so at the movie counting our 6......much more than MGP had in each of the 3 theaters we were in for that movie. Kneum
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Post by Dianne on Apr 24, 2012 13:40:24 GMT -5
www.pastemagazine.com/blogs/lists/2012/04/the-7-best-shakespeare-film-adaptations.htmlThanks OBND 7. Coriolanus —2012 This film, which I saw last week, is the inspiration behind the article. In his directorial debut, Ralph Fiennes plays the title character from the obscure Shakespeare play—a warlike Roman general whose pride keeps him from winning the favor of the people and earning high civilian office. When a group of senators conspire to have him exiled, he vows vengeance and joins his former enemy as they advance toward Rome. Fiennes is the star of the film, his anger alternating between a taut, below-the-surface well of tension and a boiling, spewing rage. The locations mostly look like impoverished Eastern bloc wastelands, and the film is modernized to make use of modern martial raiment and current technology. That aspect is often seamless, but it can also be grating and forced. But Brian Cox and Gerard Butler are excellent in supporting roles, and Vanessa Redgrave steals the scene over and over again as Coriolanus’ mother Volumnia. The gritty sets and the violent drama keep the pace brisk, and the film mostly earns its overwhelmingly positive reviews. Click the link and check out the other six.
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Post by Dianne on Apr 24, 2012 13:41:03 GMT -5
Had a DELIGHTFUL weekend in Little Rock celebrating our older son's birthday by going to see "Coriolanus" then having dinner at Bonefish and spending the rest of the weekend with son and daughter-in-law! It was soooo good seeing Gerry on the big screen playing one of his finest roles!! All the actors were very well-cast and Ralph did a great job directing, as well!! It is playing in an "artsy" theater there, but the seats were very comfortable with lots of leg room! There were about 25 or so at the movie counting our 6......much more than MGP had in each of the 3 theaters we were in for that movie. Kneum Glad you had a nice time Kuem!
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wiclowgb
Gerard Butler watcher
Posts: 133
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Post by wiclowgb on Apr 24, 2012 14:37:06 GMT -5
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