The 2011 film adaptation of the play Coriolanus by William Shakespeare. It was directed by Ralph Fiennes, who also stars as Coriolanus himself. It transfers the story to a modern setting akin to that of The Yugoslav Wars.
Coriolanus achieves success in the military, but after he is banished from Rome, he falls in with his old enemies, the Volscians.
The supporting cast is comprised of Gerard Butler as Tullus Aufidius, Vanessa Redgrave as Volumnia, Brian Cox as Menenius, and Jessica Chastain as Virgilia.
Tropes:
- Always Someone Better: After Coriolanus is banished from Rome he arrives in the Volscian capital he sees Alfiduis being happily greeted by the citizens. In this moment he recognises that although they are equal in battle Alfiduis is also loved by the citizens, unlike himself.
- Awful Wedded Life: Played with. Coriolanus and his wife Virgilia seem to genuinely love each other, however she is clearly unhappy to spend long periods of time raising their son alone while worrying her husband is going to come home in a coffin because he continues to goes off to war at his power-hungry and domineering mother’s encouragement.
- Beard of Sorrow: Coriolanus does not shave his head nor his beard while walking the Earth after his shameful banishment. He tidies up once he allies with the Volscians.
- Death by Adaptation: Unlike in the play, Menenius kills himself shortly after Coriolanus rejects his offer of peace.
- Destination Defenestration: Aufidius and Martius go out the window together in their first confrontation.
- Foil: When Coriolanus arrives in Antium, the movie takes care to show that Aufidius has good public relations among the common Volscians, unlike Coriolanus himself among the Roman commons.
- Hidden Depths: After his banishment Martius is walking along a road across a bridge and a passing motorist offers him a ride, despite his contempt for the commoners and prideful nature, he has a small humbling moment when he accepts the ride (it also shows that not all the people disliked Martius).
- Humble Hero: Played with. Coriolanus is so uncomfortable about being praised for his military service that he has to leave the room, on the other hand he is still prideful and looks down on the common people or anyone who isn’t as willing to fight as him.
- Important Haircut: The Volscians start shaving their heads in imitation of Coriolanus, and the 'throne' he sits on is the barber's chair they use for this initiation. The bearded Aufidius is not happy.
- Jitter Cam: There is quite a lot of it to go around, even in relatively sedate scenes. Combined with the more modern setting and toned-down visuals, this makes the film aesthetically resemble a military/political documentary more than a traditional Shakespeare play.
- Knife Fight: In their first confrontation, Coriolanus and Aufidius put down their rifles to duel each other with knives. Things are less gentlemanly in the final scene, when a group of Aufidius’s men attack Coriolanus en masse.
- Large Ham: Coriolanus but also a great part of the cast such as his mother Volumnia. Being a Shakespeare play, it is mandatory to chew up the scenery with grandiloquent speeches.
- Not Even Bothering with the Accent: Gerard Butler speaks in a Scottish accent throughout his appearance. In a BBC Channel 4 segment on the film, a Shakespeare scholar speculates that this was — like the choice to echo the Yugoslav Wars — deliberate, to better bring out the ethnic conflict undertones present in the play. Nevertheless, Aufidius is the only Volscian character to have such an accent.
- Pietà Plagiarism: The end of the movie features Aufidius kneeling over Coriolanus's corpse in a pose reminiscent of this.
- Setting Update: The film shows an anachronistic Rome and its surrounding provinces as a modern city from the 2010s.
- Spiteful Spit: After Coriolanus gives the protestors "The Reason You Suck" Speech, a female protestor spits on the ground. His only response is a contemptuous Death Glare and to walk off while his riot troops advance on them.
- This Just In!: Much of the exposition on the setting is delivered in the form of television news reports. The Messenger in the play becomes a reporter for the Fidelis TV network.Reporter: (against footage of soldiers fighting) The citizens of Corioli have issued and given to Lartius and to Marcius battle. I saw our party to their trenches driven, and then I came away—(television switched off)
