The first Official Awesome Field Trip (OAFT) to see Coriolanus at West End Cinema was on Wednesday. It seemed to the Secrtarius Ordinarius that everyone thought it was a strong film, well made and fun.
The film is abridged (entire play here), and while set officially still in Rome, was shot in Serbia and updated to contemporary times (lots of guns, no swords). At the center of the drama is Caius Martius (R. Fiennes), a patrician general in the Roman Army. He is the very model of an Ancient Major-General. His mother, Volumnia, is perhaps the second most important character in the film. She is no 'irony of the community'; she likes him bloody and scarred, and would rather he die than lose honor. Long story short: the Volsces, a coalition of Italian tribes, attack Rome. The leader of the Volsces is Tullus Aufidius (G. Butler); he and Martius are Frenemies. This is during a time of popular tumult, and as the play opens, the people have just been granted five more tribunes to increase their voice in the city's government. Two of these, Sicinius and Brutus, will cause trouble for Martius. Martius wins an important battle at Corioles (hence the honorarium, Coriolanus) almost single handedly. When he returns to Rome he is persuaded, albeit reluctantly, to run for Consul. This requires a traditional jaunt out into the people to solicit votes, which our hero detests. This is the central and defining tension in Coriolanus' life: he lives for the honor of Rome, but the honor of Rome can only be conferred by those who do not deserve to give it (Bernard Williams' 'Coriolanus Paradox'). Sicinius and Brutus collude, Martius is not only denied the Consulship but ultimately, banished. His honor defamed, he seeks vengeance and teams up with Aufidius to get pay back against Rome. Right before final victory, a last-ditch delegation of his wife, son and Mother arrive to make a final plea for peace. Moved by his mother's speech, Martius relents and Rome is spared vanquish. Aufidius is not so happy about this; in the final scene, he and a group of Volsces kill Martius. Fin.
1) Ralph Fiennes looks dopey in a beard:
2) This is Shakespeare's most political play. Everyone seemed to agree that drama and importance of the play center on two episodes, both starring Volumnia. The first is when she persuades him to run for Consul and to explain himself to the populares, despite the idea's repugnance (Act III, Scene 2). Here's a snippet:
"You are too absolute;
Though therein you can never be too noble,
But when extremities speak. I have heard you say,
Honour and policy, like unsever'd friends,
I' the war do grow together: grant that, and tell me,
In peace what each of them by the other lose,
That they combine not there."
(I am reminded of the speech Odysseus makes to Neoptolemus that similarly asks a man of honor to go against his honor for the sake of honor. In Philoctetes this sort of reasoning is given by Odysseus, but it is probably not incidental that in Shakespeare it is voiced by a woman and mother.)
The second is the final speech during which his mother convinces him to accept their suit for peace (Act V, Scene 3):
"Nay, go not from us thus.
If it were so that our request did tend
To save the Romans, thereby to destroy
The Volsces whom you serve, you might condemn us,
As poisonous of your honour: no; our suit
Is that you reconcile them: while the Volsces
May say 'This mercy we have show'd;' the Romans,
'This we received;' and each in either side
Give the all-hail to thee and cry 'Be blest
For making up this peace!' Thou know'st, great son,
The end of war's uncertain, but this certain,
That, if thou conquer Rome, the benefit
Which thou shalt thereby reap is such a name,
Whose repetition will be dogg'd with curses;
Whose chronicle thus writ: 'The man was noble,
But with his last attempt he wiped it out;
Destroy'd his country, and his name remains
To the ensuing age abhorr'd.' Speak to me, son:
Thou hast affected the fine strains of honour,
To imitate the graces of the gods;
To tear with thunder the wide cheeks o' the air,
And yet to charge thy sulphur with a bolt
That should but rive an oak. Why dost not speak?
Think'st thou it honourable for a noble man
Still to remember wrongs? Daughter, speak you:
He cares not for your weeping. Speak thou, boy:
Perhaps thy childishness will move him more
Than can our reasons. There's no man in the world
More bound to 's mother; yet here he lets me prate
Like one i' the stocks. Thou hast never in thy life
Show'd thy dear mother any courtesy,
When she, poor hen, fond of no second brood,
Has cluck'd thee to the wars and safely home,
Loaden with honour. Say my request's unjust,
And spurn me back: but if it be not so,
Thou art not honest; and the gods will plague thee,
That thou restrain'st from me the duty which
To a mother's part belongs. He turns away:
Down, ladies; let us shame him with our knees.
To his surname Coriolanus 'longs more pride
Than pity to our prayers. Down: an end;
This is the last: so we will home to Rome,
And die among our neighbours. Nay, behold 's:
This boy, that cannot tell what he would have
But kneels and holds up bands for fellowship,
Does reason our petition with more strength
Than thou hast to deny 't. Come, let us go:
This fellow had a Volscian to his mother;
His wife is in Corioli and his child
Like him by chance. Yet give us our dispatch:
I am hush'd until our city be a-fire,
And then I'll speak a little.
The second is the final speech during which his mother convinces him to accept their suit for peace (Act V, Scene 3):
"Nay, go not from us thus.
If it were so that our request did tend
To save the Romans, thereby to destroy
The Volsces whom you serve, you might condemn us,
As poisonous of your honour: no; our suit
Is that you reconcile them: while the Volsces
May say 'This mercy we have show'd;' the Romans,
'This we received;' and each in either side
Give the all-hail to thee and cry 'Be blest
For making up this peace!' Thou know'st, great son,
The end of war's uncertain, but this certain,
That, if thou conquer Rome, the benefit
Which thou shalt thereby reap is such a name,
Whose repetition will be dogg'd with curses;
Whose chronicle thus writ: 'The man was noble,
But with his last attempt he wiped it out;
Destroy'd his country, and his name remains
To the ensuing age abhorr'd.' Speak to me, son:
Thou hast affected the fine strains of honour,
To imitate the graces of the gods;
To tear with thunder the wide cheeks o' the air,
And yet to charge thy sulphur with a bolt
That should but rive an oak. Why dost not speak?
Think'st thou it honourable for a noble man
Still to remember wrongs? Daughter, speak you:
He cares not for your weeping. Speak thou, boy:
Perhaps thy childishness will move him more
Than can our reasons. There's no man in the world
More bound to 's mother; yet here he lets me prate
Like one i' the stocks. Thou hast never in thy life
Show'd thy dear mother any courtesy,
When she, poor hen, fond of no second brood,
Has cluck'd thee to the wars and safely home,
Loaden with honour. Say my request's unjust,
And spurn me back: but if it be not so,
Thou art not honest; and the gods will plague thee,
That thou restrain'st from me the duty which
To a mother's part belongs. He turns away:
Down, ladies; let us shame him with our knees.
To his surname Coriolanus 'longs more pride
Than pity to our prayers. Down: an end;
This is the last: so we will home to Rome,
And die among our neighbours. Nay, behold 's:
This boy, that cannot tell what he would have
But kneels and holds up bands for fellowship,
Does reason our petition with more strength
Than thou hast to deny 't. Come, let us go:
This fellow had a Volscian to his mother;
His wife is in Corioli and his child
Like him by chance. Yet give us our dispatch:
I am hush'd until our city be a-fire,
And then I'll speak a little.
He holds her by the hand, silent
3) It's probably important that the film is set in Serbia. I have nothing interesting to make of that, but this guy does.
4) Overall, I give the film a 3 1/2. A fi(en)ne adaptation (couldn't resist!). Fiennes is great, Butler is buff, Vanessa Redgrave earns it, and Jessica Chastain does a fantastic job playing Jessica Chastain. It's a little difficult to follow at some points, so I take some off for the screen adaptation.
