Ralph Fiennes makes war in 'Coriolanus'

Ralph Fiennes makes war in Coriolanus Image In person, Ralph Fiennes does not appear anywhere near as ferocious as he does in his new film, "Coriolanus," which opens Friday.

In this updated version of the Shakespeare tragedy , Fiennes plays a powerful Roman army hero dressed mostly in modern military fatigues. At an interview, the actor is in a green T-shirt and jeans. The impression you get is quiet, thoughtful, but there is an intensity there, too, behind his blue eyes.

"Coriolanus," which opened briefly last year to qualify for the awards season, is Fiennes' first attempt at directing, either film or onstage, where the actor often makes his home. He had recently finished playing Prospero in a London production of Shakespeare's "The Tempest."

"I'm on the young side for it," admits Fiennes, who recently turned 49 and says he is not yet ready for the other great old man role of the Bard, King Lear. "But I would love to revisit Prospero again. I think it's great if you can revisit some of these parts. I loved it. It's such an extraordinary play with the theme of forgiveness at the end and a man preparing himself for death."

In "Coriolanus," Fiennes didn't make an easy choice for his directing debut. It is a "dense" piece of work by Shakespeare and the title character is not the most likable of men. But critics and those who have seen it have for the most part liked the movie – describing it with words such as thrilling and intense.

Fiennes also has penetrated the play's denseness, giving the story and dialogue a more contemporary and familiar slant. Set in a fictional, turbulent Rome of modern times, Coriolanus is in a power struggle for control of the country as the mobs shift allegiances, while his archenemy, Aufidius (Gerard Butler), and his Volscian army are still poised for war.

"Some people don't like him, but I think he is an ambivalent figure. He's a soldier with a very extreme set of principles," says Fiennes about Coriolanus, adding with a smile, "I kind of like him, but I don't like his politics. I think I feel sorry for him."

Fiennes points out that many of the great characters in literature aren't likable.

"Some of Dostoyevsky's protagonists are murderers or child molesters, but he's able to go in there with this compassionate overview of the tragedy and of what it is to be human. Oedipus isn't likable necessarily. Achilles isn't. It's the pain and rage of people that's interesting to me."

For the film, Fiennes, who has played the role onstage, surrounded himself with a stellar cast, beginning with Vanessa Redgrave, as the mother who has trained him to be a stoic warrior but eventually must break through to him to get to his humanity.

"He's been held back by her as a human being, being defined only as a soldier, like an overtrained racehorse," observes Fiennes. "When she breaks him, his humanity and compassion come out."

As a stage play, "Coriolanus" is a talky affair, but the director of photography, Barry Ackroyd ("The Hurt Locker"), gives the film a visceral, immediate feeling, especially in the battle scenes and moments with the uneasy crowds. Fiennes worked with scriptwriter John Logan ("The Aviator," "Hugo" and Steven Spielberg's upcoming "Lincoln") to cut the text, their rule of thumb being that the language should be accessible.

"I think Shakespeare should sound natural," says Fiennes, who was nominated for Oscars for his roles in "The English Patient" and "Schindler's List." "It is human beings speaking to each other conversationally. Peter Brook has said there are infinite ways to say Shakespeare. There isn't the right way. There are other directors out there who have a particular view of how you mark the end of a line. I don't accept that. I think it should sound as much like conversation as possible."

Fiennes says the biggest challenge in directing was negotiating with time pressures. While he wanted the actors to be comfortable, especially with the dialogue, he couldn't forget the ticking clock, not even with his own performance.

"I sometimes felt I shouldn't be doing another take, but I also knew there were crucial things I had to get right," he says.

The editing process also was a big learning curve for the actor, who had been asked a couple of times by directors to give his opinion but had never been faced with all that footage before.

"Even after an editor puts it together," he says, "you know that it's only the beginning and that you have to unravel it and sit through it over and over and identify the moments in a piece that have power."

Again, judging himself wasn't easy, and sometimes he would depend on others' opinions, but he says many times he would end up going with his own judgments.

"But then you never really know if you are right," Fiennes shrugs.

That uncertainty is unlike Coriolanus, who is uncompromising in his refusal to curry favor with the masses despite the pleas of his allies and formidable mother, Volumnia (Redgrave), in a quest to win his appointment as high consul, a reward for winning a war against the Volscians.

The soldier simply cannot bring himself to show the necessary humility. His intransigence puts him at odds with the people/the mob and he soon finds himself chased from Rome. He then sets off to exact a brutal revenge.

That begs the question: What kind of tragedy is "Coriolanus"?

"A tragedy should be a searing fall of the blade," offers Fiennes. "I think Shakespeare takes a risk with the overt pride of Coriolanus. It's meant to be alienating. That's a risky proposition because with Hamlet we have his humanity. And Macbeth has a humanity, too, because we're allowed into his doubts and existential dilemma. With Coriolanus we're not allowed in, and that's what makes it a tough cookie."

Fiennes, whom the younger generation knows as the villain Lord Voldemort in the Harry Potter series, would like to do more directing and is considering a story about Charles Dickens. (Incidentally, he recently filmed "Great Expectations.") That may depend on the success of "Coriolanus," but he believes the film is relevant for modern audiences, particularly in regard to the ever-shifting landscape of politics, with leaders changing positions to stay in power.

"There is this constant turnaround of power," notes Fiennes. "I think that Shakespeare doesn't have an answer and doesn't have a nice message for us. He's showing us this really is how people just go on."

Ralph Fiennes makes war in 'Coriolanus'

Ralph Fiennes makes war in 'Coriolanus'

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