Coriolanus rules, ok?
At last, my red carpet moment! Last night I attended the premiere of Ralph Fiennes’ remarkable film of Shakespeare’s Coriolanus. Fiennes directs and acts the central role.
Actually it was a very short carpet, constrained by the narrow streets of Mayfair outside the Curzon cinema. And I was an hour late anyway, owing to the “day job”.
But the film is a startling commentary on our very present times – the Arab Spring, the Tottenham riots – even the parlous state of global leadership are all there. So too is a mother’s love. Indeed it is the mother who, with all due respect to Fiennes, steals the show. Vanessa Redgrave is the triumphant, awe-inspiring and passionate climax to it all.
The scene in which she leaves Rome unarmed, striding with the wife and boy child of Coriolanus along the road out of Rome through rank upon rank of armed men, to plead with him not to attack Rome, is an exceptional moment even by her own high standards. It is in the end what makes this such a supremely special film.
It is shot in the present, deploying the Bard’s text to enormous effect. For Rome read Belgrade, for the Roman ranks of centurions, read what appears to be the entire Serbian army together with tanks and heavy artillery. This is a bloody film, the more so for the brilliant photography of Barry Ackroyd of Hurt Locker fame. But above all it is a film about “the people” and in that regard it really does speak to the current uprisings from Moscow to Bahrain.
But I must declare my red carpet interest – for I am in the film (and the picture shows Jon arriving at the after party). The 24-hour news cycle plays a role in the pace of it all. Key turning points are established through the TV news. So there is me, Shakespearean pentameter and all, popping up from time to time doing my “day job” but with a bit of added “pump”.
Let’s be candid, it was a thrill being directed by Fiennes – an intense intellectual man – and an even bigger thrill to rub shoulders with the cast at the post-picture party after.
Tonight I am back in my box, back in the day job, back in the real world that Shakespeare, writing 400 years ago, so vividly captures for us even for these complex days.
Follow Jon Snow on Twitter: @jonsnowC4
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- The film’s the thing…
- Poppies and remembrance
- The Commons: a club where members set the rules
- We’ve changed – the single party is over
- DSK: the view from inside Rikers Island jail
There are 6 comments on this post
Looking forward to watching it when it is on the telly.Must admit though to adoring Ralph Feinnes even though he is only 49 without many experience lines. The English Patient was almost too difficult to bear , never mind war, blood and suffering.What we need are more ‘Notting Hill’ type films to counteract the reality of daily wars and bloodshed.
Oh sorry! and we bloggers will be all interested to see you. Ah well, hopefully back to gardens, good manners , gentility and belief in the romantic , beautiful and sublime.
Do you people not know that shakespere was a plagiarist of the highest order ? Think about John Dowland{ ah sher wasn’t he a son of Dalkey ?} Think about Philip Marlowe !! $$$444 get about your legacy of Rape& pillage I am fairly surprised that most recent Irish literature was not hoovered up by GCHQ & re-published by a Tory MP or a member of the Batterburger Mafiosi ??
Jon,
What, mention of decaying Rome without mentioning Washington and the Pentagon?
Shurely shome mishtake?
Bet anyone writing stuff for teleprompt is nervous, following in the footsteps of the Bard
Looking forward to seeing it soon – missed it when shown last year at BFI.
Can well believe Vanessa Redgrave is star of show. Worried though about ‘a mother’s love’. It isn’t always so, as so many men know but prefer to deny. To paraphrase Hitchcock, ‘A man’s best friend is[n't always] his mother. In the case of Coriolanus, though, it certainly sounds as if it is.
Best to fellow Snowbloggers for what already feels like a tumultuous 12 months ahead.
Philip – let’s not just MENTION Washington DC. Let’s touch wood and hope that the next production of ‘Julius Caesar’ is IN DC. Why? Because of a widely held (and controversial) theory that many Americans are the true heirs of the Elizabethan English. While English rubbed shoulders with people from all over the world, pockets of settlers in America remained isolated and maintained the older form of the language. Bill Bryce makes an excellent case for this. Of course, it is a theory because it cannot be proved (or, as I would say here in America, “proven” – older form of the word). There is little hard evidence and we can’t exactly go back in time and interview the Bard. I, as a linguist, do support the theory. Bill Bryce wrote a good book supporting this theory if anyone is interested. Anyway, I just found the linguistic connection to your statement hilarious. So let’s have the true heirs of the Bard’s lingo do the play: Edward James Olmos (Caesar), James Earl Jones (Antony), Johnny Depp (Brutus), Donald Sutherland (Cassius)…:) Will other bloggers find my blog appropriate? Interesting? Amusing? Dunno. As most Americans, I just HAD to say it whether others want to see it or not