COVER STORY
WINTER 2011
celebratedliving.com
26
RalphFiennes
wasa just ayoungboywhenhefirst
heardSirLaurenceOlivierperform
Shakespeare’s
Hamlet
on the radioat
hishome inEngland. Themoment
proved tobeapivotal one forFiennes,
as theBardhasbeena constant
throughout hisprolificacting career.
Perhaps it’s safe to say that Shake-
speare is inhisDNA.
FromFiennes’ classicShakespear-
eanperformances on the theater
stage asHamlet
,
Richard II, Romeo,
andCoriolanus, to,most recently,
Prospero in
TheTempest,
it’snot sur-
prising that the two-timeAcademy
Awardnominee choseCoriolanus for
hisnext role on thebig screen. And
not onlydoeshe star in the title role,
hedons thehats of producer andfirst-
timedirector aswell.
For thosewhohavenotbrushedup
on theirShakespeare, aquickprimer is
inorder.
Coriolanus
isa tragedyabout
a fearedandyet reveredmilitarycom-
manderwhomeetshis fatewhenhe
enters thepolitical arena. Filledwith
high-octaneactionandbloodystreet-
fightingscenes, it’sastoryofhonor,
power, politics, ego, and familyas the
proudCoriolanusstands frontand
centerwithhisstage-doorpolitical
mother (VanessaRedgrave)byhisside.
Proving thesaying“pridegoethbefore
a fall,”he isamanof courageand integ-
ritywhohates thepolitical system
whichultimately leads tohisdownfall.
ThefilmalsostarsGerardButler (
300
and
ThePhantomof theOpera
)and
JessicaChastain (
TheHelp
).
UnderFiennes’ exactingdirection,
theElizabethandramagetsanew
twist—amodern-dayadaptation com-
pletewith theoriginal languageof the
Englishplaywright. Updating the sto-
rywithguerilla insurgencies, 24-hour
newsnetworks, political pundits, and
riotsover foodwasnoeasy feat. “I
wanted to set thefilm inmodern
times, as it toucheson somany themes
goingon inourworld,” says the coura-
geousactor. Thedramahasall the
things thatmodernaudiencesexpect:
excitement, action, edge-of-your-seat
fighting scenes, political games, and
familydysfunction.
Makingacontemporaryfilmwith
Shakespeareandialoguewasalsoa
challenge. “Ihold thedialogue tomy
earand it’sa thrillwhathe isdoing
with the language,”Fiennesnotes. “I
realize it’sa risk. People todayarenot
used to thatmodeof expression.But I
believe thataudiencescanbedelighted
and thrilledbywhatShakespeare is
doingwithdialogue. Iguess I amof the
belief thatmanypeople like tobe
challenged. Iknow Ido.”
Belgrade, Serbia, servedas thecity
called“Rome” (which inShakespeare
termscanbeanyglobal capital)with
theperfectmixtureofold-worldgran-
deur, urbanblight, andcommunist-era
industrial sites for thestory’ssetting.
Fiennes teamedwithBarryAckroyd,
his formercinematographeron the
AcademyAward-winningBestPicture
TheHurtLocker
, foragritty, realistic,
andunmistakabledocumentarystyle.
SinceCoriolanus isasortofmodern-
dayRambo, Fiennesstudied techniques
withmembers of the Serbian anti-
terroristunit (SAJ) two to three timesa
weekduring thepre-production’seight-
weekschedule. “Ihad toconvincingly
handleaweaponand theSAJwasvery
helpful.Thesoldiersare leanandfit.
They’vegot tohavecompactefficiency
in theway theymoveandoperate. For
me it’sabout trying toget close tosome-
one’smentalprocesswhile they’re in
theheatofbattle, inrealdanger.”
No stranger to the roleof thegreat
hero, Fiennesplayed the complexgen-
eral inaLondon stageproductiondi-
rectedbyJonathanKent in 2000.With
keen foresight, theversatileactor felt
theplay couldbecomea “contempo-
rary, urgent, political thrillerwitha
Greek tragedyat its center, involving
themotherand the son.And there’s
something in the spirit ofCoriolanus,
in theessenceof his character,which
spoke tomevery stronglyand
wouldn’t leaveme. I foundhim con-
frontational ineveryway; hehasan
isolatedqualityand isuncompromis-
ingwhichmademeveryattracted to
[theproject]. I becameobsessedwith
theplayand the roleand felt it could
bevery cinematic. The thought stayed
—anddeveloped— inmymind.”
Fiennesalso identifiedwith the
character’s“intensesenseofdesola-
tion,”his“loyalty toone’sown family,
andhisdistinctiveviewof theworld.”
Thefilmhasparamilitarygroupson
oneendof thespectrumandpoliticians
on theotherwithmodern-dayparallels.
Thepassionproject of
Coriolanus
tookalmost twoyears tobring to the
screen, anddirectingafilmhasbeen
on thebusyactor’s radar for some
time.HewasurgedbySimonChan-
ningWilliams (producerof 2005’s
The
ConstantGardener
),who “wanted to
produce thefilm (but died in thepro-
cess), and felt that I shoulddirect.We
hadworkedon it for twoyears, and I’d
begun toput on thedirector’shat of
scouting locationsand soon. That
gaveme the confidence topickup
Cori-
olanus
,”Fiennesexplains. Thefilm is
dedicated to thememoryof the late
producer “because I know thatwithout
