Coriolanus
This movie was well made, & had excellent performances by Fiennes, Butler, Redgrave, & Brian Cox, & the cinematography was gorgeous. All that said, did I love the movie? No, but I did like it a lot. Unless you are a Shakespeare aficionado, the original dialog set to modern day does not work. Brian & Vanessa were the only ones that sounded natural speaking like that. Ralph and Gerry sounded OK for the most part, however Jessica sounded unnatural & like she was reading lines. She did put in a good performance in her scenes, otherwise. I thought the battle scenes were extremely realistic & were very much like real footage of war that I have seen over the years. I did not like the super extreme close-ups of the characters' faces in every scene while speaking. I love being able to see their expressions, but they needed to pull back just a little bit with the camera. Also, they used a hand held camera for about 70% of the movie & apparently the reason for that was it was supposed to represent the way people in the streets today use smart phones to video tape current events. It was too shaky though, so I would have preferred they hadn't done that. I understand using that technique for the battle & fight scenes, but not for the dramatic non action scenes. So, if you love Shakespeare & don't mind the original dialog being used in a modern day setting as well as hand held cameras being used, I highly recommend it.
One more thing I would like to say about the story itself is that it is perfect set in modern day as things have definitely not changed much over time when it comes to social unrest, political sabotage, intrigue, propaganda, and war.
Here is an excellent HD trailer on youtube:
FYI, this is not a film for fan-boys, (or fan-girls either), as the dialog would be lost on them, & they will be bored with the non action scenes which are abundant. But, I do think it would be an excellent film to be viewed for Literature classes at school & will be appreciated by intelligent movie buffs. I give it 3 out of 5 stars, (but only because of the handheld camera filming).
2 comments:
I appreciate your honest comments, Vanessa. They are original and fair. I am looking forward to seeing the movie and found out it hits my area mid-January. One of the benefits I've found in being a Gerry fan is that I have stretched my choices in film watching. If it hadn't been for him I'd missed 300 and probably this movie as well.
I'll let you know my thoughts after I see it.
Thanks, Marlene! I have really come to detest most reviews by the critics over time & I always wish that we could have reviews by real people that have similar interests as the rest of us & aren't full of themselves. I was very surprised by the critics regarding Machine Gun Preacher as a good example. Most of them really bashed it & I thought it was just a shame, as it was excellent & has a much needed story that needs world wide attention. I need to post that review soon since I did get to see it here about a month ago.
Can't wait to hear what you think about both after you get to see them too!
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