Coriolanus

2012 • 123 minutes
3.7
180 reviews
92%
Tomatometer
R
Rating
Eligible
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About this movie

Caius Martius 'Coriolanus' (Ralph Fiennes of HARRY POTTER FRANCHISE, THE ENGLISH PATIENT), 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 of HOWARDS END, MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE) 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' anger prompts a riot that culminates in his expulsion from Rome. The banished hero then allies himself with his sworn enemy Tullus Aufidius (Gerard Butler of 300, ROCKNROLLA) to take his revenge on the city.
Rating
R

Ratings and reviews

3.7
180 reviews
Christie Sledge
January 4, 2015
'Coriolanus' is a hard play to try and deal with on any level, whether it's performing it or doing scholarship with it. That's why it is so rarely dealt with. But this film adaptation is so great, with perhaps Tom Hiddleston's Donmar Warehouse run above it. It deals with a very dense piece with five or six storylines and one that likes to jump from scene to scene so well. This is always the one I recommend to people who have not read or have not read in a while 'Coriolanus'. (Yes, I am a literature major.)
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Clint Miller
October 23, 2014
An excellent use of the "alternative present" setting seen elsewhere in film adaptations of Shakespeare. I found it remarkably unassuming, considering the general bombast of the motif. This is an almost primal exploration of the warrior ethos, perhaps on par with the works of Yukio Mishima, but it is also somewhat of a critique of public sentiments.
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Rick Kilpatrick
May 9, 2019
Saw this in 2011 at a Film Festival before the movie was released & was blown away by this incredible interpretation of Shakespeare's political tragedy, originally set in ancient Rome, but in the film it's placed into a modern day setting with a war machine in place that includes tanks & machine guns & TVs that cover the gossip & rumor. The uniforms hint fascism; the swank parties & sharp-edged architecture emphasis the gap between the bourgeois rulingclass & peasant rebels in wartorn slums
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