Review: Ralph Fiennes' Shakespeare adaptation "Coriolanus" is an interesting failure
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Film Rating: C This review was originally published on November 10th, 2011 as part of my Starz Denver Film Festival coverage, and is reprinted here to mark the film's Denver release at the Landmark Chez Artiste theatre on Colorado Blvd. My film professor asserts that the English are too reverential towards William Shakespeare to make effectively cinematic adaptations of his work. I tend to agree. Shakespeare’s writing is masterful, but it’s clearly intended for the stage, not for the screen, and filmmakers’ hesitation to make changes often results in stagey, uncomfortable movies. Ralph Fiennes’ adaptation of “Coriolanus” definitively proves my professor’s theory. As Shakespearean adaptations go, it has a lot to offer; it effectively brings the material into the present day, gives thought to how the work relates to our modern political landscape, and never once feels stagey, playing like an honest-to-God
Review: Ralph Fiennes' Shakespeare adaptation "Coriolanus" is an interesting failure
Review: Ralph Fiennes' Shakespeare adaptation…
Review: Ralph Fiennes' Shakespeare adaptation "Coriolanus" is an interesting failure
Film Rating: C This review was originally published on November 10th, 2011 as part of my Starz Denver Film Festival coverage, and is reprinted here to mark the film's Denver release at the Landmark Chez Artiste theatre on Colorado Blvd. My film professor asserts that the English are too reverential towards William Shakespeare to make effectively cinematic adaptations of his work. I tend to agree. Shakespeare’s writing is masterful, but it’s clearly intended for the stage, not for the screen, and filmmakers’ hesitation to make changes often results in stagey, uncomfortable movies. Ralph Fiennes’ adaptation of “Coriolanus” definitively proves my professor’s theory. As Shakespearean adaptations go, it has a lot to offer; it effectively brings the material into the present day, gives thought to how the work relates to our modern political landscape, and never once feels stagey, playing like an honest-to-God