Coriolanus Review (Spoilers)

I wrote this review back in November and thought I should post it as the movie opens today.

Coriolanus Review 11/8/11

While having dinner after watching Coriolanus at the AFI Film Fest last night, I started thinking about what I would write in a review of the movie.  I have to say that I enjoyed it.  It was a very intense, well acted debut for Ralph Fiennes directorial talents.  Of course the festival viewers, more serious movie goers than your average audience, was very appreciative and you could hear a pin drop during the presentation, so engrossed was the audience.  With Fiennes and several of the producers present, the movie got a great deal of applause at its conclusion.

As I sat over dinner, cradling my glass of wine, as it sometimes does, my mind was going in all different directions, but it kept coming back to one thought about this particular Shakespeare classic and that was that Coriolanus was a very dour, unlikeable fellow.  The message that political intrigue and the mob mentality, aided by questionable rhetoric, is still alive and well in the present day makes it very relevant, and although the Shakespearean did not detract from either the understanding or the ongoing narrative of the whole movie for me, I found the first half of the movie a little overcrowded with words.  I guess that is part and parcel of loving Shakespeare and the fact there was so much to get out there to tell the story.

First of all... I love words and language, particularly if it is literate and even when it is not, descriptive and addressing the point.  But even more than I love words, I am in love with the messages that flow from one human to the other, sometimes with little or no words.  I am in love with the language of the eyes, the words that are unspoken, but just as surely the delivery of the message from the soul, aided by the body language of the speaker and acknowledged by the recipient.  It is like an electrical current that flows between two points.   And there it is, the crux of the matter as to why I found the first part of the movie so full and tried to say so much with so many words.

Fiennes is in love with words, yet he conveys so much without them sometimes and the message is so much more eloquent in those instances.   While watching him in the beginning of the movie, I kept thinking his face would break from so much anger and disdain.  The curl of the lip (really a lifting of the left side) was almost enough to signal the contempt he felt for the people and how separate from them all he was, the only language that he understood was the language of the warrior...understanding his weapons, his almost blind, foolish courage to press on when lesser (or maybe wiser) men would not.  Such is the stuff that heroes are made, their glories there for us to see in history.  But this was a man who understood not subtlety nor compromise....not of principles, but of the necessities of governing or even consolidating power.  He had his mother to thank for it, yet she was allowed the weapon that he was not, that which men are taught to suppress...their tears, especially the ones that cleanse the soul of their burdens.  Volumnia was the master at being all things, yet every bit as proud as her son, her hubris softened by her femininity and her tears, but no less lethal in dealing with an enemy.

Lacking these subtleties that is where Coriolanus could really only understand his enemy Tullus Aufidius, another powerful warrior, no less fierce, but who represented a more temperate disposition and carried the love/admiration of his people and his men and perhaps understood some of the subtleties.

The second part of the movie, where Fiennes and his actors rely more on what appears on their faces and the words imparted by the silences of others, the movie "sang" for me.  With such a nice face and lovely eyes, Fiennes almost makes Coriolanus likeable here and in the end, if even more scary by his "lack" of emotion once he has decided to surrender to Aufidius.   Yet it is the very dedication into which he throws himself that he becomes the admiration of Aufidius' own men, some who seek to emmulate him and, he, them, an exchange that makes him appear even more the animal that he can be.

The homoerotic essence of the scene where the male (Coriolanus) who surrenders is, in essence, surrendered to... in an exchange of words and embraces that signal both of them understand the act and what it means...that each recognizes a strength that equals their own, is one I've always been fascinated by and explored in one of my writings.   I find it curious that Fiennes gave wings to the thoughts as Shakespeare probably intended them.  The recognition, by both, of what the symbolic act represented... was electrifying...and that current I spoke of was flowing here (as it was in the knife fight) between the two actors, the words aiding them in the scene.

The performances in the movie were excellent all around.  While I found Coriolanus character too verbose in the beginning, he was as Shakespeare created him, so I can't fault Fiennes for what I felt was an over the top delivery.  As he mellows down in the second part of the movie, I found him superb.

Vanessa Redgrave's Volumnia was every bit her son's equal in her ferociousness, except her delivery was softened by her gender.   Her performance was also superb, though I felt she was matched by the very excellent and oh so natural, Brian Cox.   If I had to pick a favorite performance here, it would be Cox's Menenius.  Funny that so many reviews don't even mention him.  I suppose I always find the most manly of men so poignant when they are vulnerable or find themselves defeated and for me Cox falls on his sword with great panache.

Jessica Chastain and James Nesbitt in their respective roles, turn in very credible performances that add to the whole of this production.

As for the Gerard Butler, who many considered to be the weakest link going in, he turned in a damned good performance.   I have to say that he was a natural for Aufidius and I think he surprised many people by how easy he fit into this casting.  As a matter of fact, I think for many, his name and face on the poster will bring in an audience for this movie that may not have given it second look.   I also think that his scenes with Ralph Fiennes are among the most intriguing.  If Fiennes scenes with Volumnia were electric because of the dynamic between mother and son created by the playwright and performed with great skill by the actors,  his scenes with Aufidius provided the audience with a "meat and potatoes" kind of satisfaction needed to make this production interesting.   The testosterone that emanates from the two is so thick you could cut it with a knife, and yet it contrasts with the kind of "almost gentle" way in which they pay homage to one another and that is what makes the ending and the way Fiennes (and perhaps Shakespeare) intended it to be taken, all the more powerful.

Coriolanus is not the kind of movie you watch over and over again, but for those scenes that feature the tension and exchanges between Butler and Fiennes, I would watch it again.  The choreography and the direction by Fiennes worked magic and the audiences recognize it.

For the terrific cast of actors and for a fine directorial debut by Ralph Fiennes, I recommend this movie.


Songs out of tune, the words always a little wrong...Canzoni Stonate

Playing the Field doing reshoots?

Multiple "test showings" of Playing the Field must have shown the filmmakers that their film still needed some work and reshoots are currently being done in Shreveport.

Hopefully the finished product will be all the better for it.

The Muse is getting good reviews for his work in Coriolanus and he doesn't want to follow that and his good performance in Machine Gun Preacher with a dud.  It looks like Mavericks will be released before Playing the Field. Wonder if this is due to an "underwhelming response" for the movie during the screenings or because they feel, with some reshoots, that it is strong enough to go head to head with the strong competition being released during the holidays 2012?

Optimist that I am, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it is the latter and not the former.  If Christmas 2011's sluggish box office is any  indication, the move is not a good one.

Perhaps they feel Mavericks is strong enough to garner more interest for a Butler movie by releasing it first?

Songs out of tune, the words always a little wrong...Canzoni Stonate

The Golden Globes

Well, caught a few glimpses of the Muse on the Golden Globes last night.   He looked very handsome in his three piece Ferragamo tux.   He was accompanied last night by  his right arm and left brain, Alan Siegel.

G. got there early for a change and seemed to linger at the starting point to catch a glimpse of and greet some of the other actors coming in.

Watching Access Hollywood tonight as I cleaned up my desk, there he was pantomiming struggling to swim to the surface to illustrate his recent encounter with the waves at Maverick and had the ladies oooohing and ahhhing to his satisfaction.

I also noticed his salute to fans on the Red Carpet by doing the Dear Frankie pose.   I think this has become a habit.   The little kid in the grown up tux does like to clown around and perform for the crowd.  He just can't seem to help himself.   This is the perfect example of the man that can appear so handsome and urbane one moment  and then the irrepressible kid who lives within HAS to come out to play.

Besides his stint as a presenter,  the Muse was caught on camera rubbing an itchy nose and almost jumped (but caught himself) when he realized he WAS on camera.  These are the Gerry type moments that make me grin.  Some things never change.

Some of the photographs posted today show him holding up his name plate. All I could think when I saw them was that maybe Alan put him up to it and he looked like he was posing for a mug shot or maybe one of those "lost kitten" posters people put up saying  "Have you see this cat?"   

Mug Shot or Lost Kitten?

We know who you are, dear.

Sent D a photo of the Muse conversing with Rob Lowe.   Lowe has been a favorite of hers since he was very young and on her recent visit over the holidays she was reading his book "Stories I Only Tell My Friends."   Her comment on the photo of the two was that the Muse had a lot of hair and Rob Lowe still looked great.

The photo is not the best of Lowe but that's only because G's size almost dwarfs the 5'11" Lowe. 

As for the show,  I thought there were some great dresses this year and the men looked very handsome too.

Angelina Jolie and Brazilian Morina Baccarin from Homeland were stunning.  Other favorites were Jessica Alba, Charlize Theron,  Kate Beckinsale and Sofia Vergara.

Favorite moments:  The lovely Mr. Sidney Poitier.  Still a class act and handsome as ever, the moments with Poitier,  grand "broad" Helen Mirren and Morgan Freemen were golden.

Loved George Clooney mentioning Michael Fassbender's talents (all of them).   Little did I know when I wrote Dating Gorgo that I was quite accurate in writing about "Stelios always bragging about the size of his sword."  Nice to see Mr. Clooney agreed with my assessment of his gifts as mention when I reviewed "Shame" on the other blog.

Hard pressed to choose between Streep and Viola Davis for the best actress award.  Love them both.

Glad to see both Octavia Spencer and Jessica Chastain nominated.  I also mentioned them as the best (along with Davis) in The Help.

Was also glad to see so many good roles for women this year.

Still have a lot of movies to catch up with and will hopefully be hitting the theaters this week to catch The Artist and  a few others.  

Now on to the Academy Awards.

Songs out of tune, the words always a little wrong...Canzoni Stonate

The Muse on Leno and looking fine.

The Swan makes me forget he acts for a living.

I had written a whole other post about Gerry's recent London photos and wondering how he would talk about his recent "near death" experience on Leno.  For some reason I was reluctant to post it and now am glad I didn't. 

Gerry  looked wonderful on Leno tonight.  As a matter of fact, to me,  his looks are improving with age.  There is something softer about him...but softer in a good way.  He is growing up and becoming more of a real person and less of a character...although there is still plenty of that to satisfy.   He is still wicked but I see more introspection and some restraint.  

I liked the way he talked about his experience with the waves at Mavericks.  He wasn't flippant and you could tell, if you watched closely enough, that he was affected by it in a lingering way...and who knows what will be born out of that experience....but I sense something will.   Something good, I hope.

I spent too much time commenting on those other photos though...and then he transforms into "the swan" and I am left remembering that the man is a chameleon and he acts for a living.  

I don't know what else to say anymore, except my desire to know more just makes me intrusive into his life and what  the hell gives me the right to do that?  A paparazzi took those other pictures, catching him at a vulnerable time and I am walking in and speculating on them...trying to be clairvoyant about what he was thinking or feeling.  Perhaps he was just tired.  Perhaps I am too.

Perhaps silence is golden in this case.

He does look lovely here though...and I am left feeling a little wistful...and thinking that my signature fits both of us very well tonight.


Songs out of tune, the words always a little wrong...Canzoni Stonate

I wonder if...

...Gerry is as sad as I am about the closing of the Bohdi Tree bookstore?   Walking into the store one last time on December 29th I felt such a sense of loss, almost as if I was taking final leave of an old and treasured friend.

My daughter was home for the Holidays and she and I joined the other mourners (for that's what they were) saying one last goodbye to this warm, fragrant with incense, space where you could escape from the nagging troubles of the world, the traffic on Melrose, or even a quiet, temporary haven from the heat of summer or the chill of winter.

Once through its doors The Bohdi Tree welcomed you to browse its wooden bookcases for treasures on health, diet, mysticism, religion and other spiritual morsels or to quench a thirst for further wisdom that might send you on a quest through its many rooms to sate your curiosity.

I heard the Bohdi Tree was closing almost 9 months ago.  I didn't really believe it though.  Surely someone would reconsider and save it!  The store, which has been in business for 40 years, was a "mecca for seekers of all persuasions" (to quote the L.A. Times) and saw the likes of governors, rock stars, tons of celebrities and normal, everyday armchair philosophers searching for some comfort, better health, a healthier mental approach to their problems, wisdom from the old sages, religious or spiritual guidance or even just to feel the wonderful vibes coming off its walls and share the energy flowing from its patrons, some comfortably ensconced in a corner, sipping herbal tea and engrossed in some meditative passage.

What really got to me in my farewell visit, was seeing all the bare shelves, as people wanted some lasting souvenirs from the hollowed space, lovinglyy touching the books that were left....and reaching for bargains that made you eager to buy, yet sad that this is what it had come to.

If one wanted to look for reasons for the demise of this lovely place, there are many.   In  a conversation with one of the nearby merchants many months ago, I was told that a lot of the land on that particular block had either been bought out by some wealthy investors or was being developed by them and that the leases were either not being renewed or renewed at much higher rents.  One could see establishments closing.   It started back with the loss of Mr. Teas (the former Elixir), that great space with the lighted garden and the tables among the gravel with the fountain in the middle, where you could have a healthy lunch or simply sip tea and have some quiet conversations.   It was a good place for stars and agents to meet and I observed many such meetings on my visits there.  It was the favorite haunt of a screenwriter I met at nearby Urth Caffe and when he would want to meet,  he'd always suggest meeting there.

Funnily enough, back then all the places were having trouble with the parking, thanks to the opening of the club, Villa, one the Muse used to frequent in the past.  Their valet service competed for the few parking spaces in the area and I think that started to take it's toll on some of the merchants.

As for the Bohdi Tree, I think that, as well as the changing nature of the purchasing public and the online outlets such as Amazon, caused their traffic to drop considerably, as a lot of tourists from out of the area who had previously seen this as an attraction they needed to visit, started finding a lot of the same wares online from multiple sources.

A third consideration was the fact that the owners were getting on in years and I think they got tired of fighting the inevitable.   They cited the  the bad economy and need to change the nature of the business by perhaps  adding  some non-book items such as yoga clothing or to set up "live streaming" capacity to feature guest speakers.   But they said they weren't interested in "evolving" and I feel they were right not do so.  If they had succumbed to the lure of modernizing to become more commercially competitive they would have ruined the feel of the space and it might have lost its uniqueness, that feeling that the walls were alive with the energy of all those spiritual seekers from the passing decades that had walked through its door.  We could go somewhere else if we wanted "live streaming" or yoga clothing.   To quote the L.A. Times article, "the Bodhi Tree was like a church for many," but to me its feel was more in keeping with an old world Cathedral rather than a modern, perhaps more austere, house of worship.

So it was that the closing of the Bohdi Tree added a little more to the bittersweet feeling the approaching New Year was giving me.   It was almost as if I was witnessing the passing of an era to make way for something new....and not quite sure if the "new" was going to be better or just "more" of something else there is already too much of.

There are times when less is more beautiful then more.  To me the Bohdi Tree was a little oasis of civilization and, like a lovely old building with its history etched on its walls,  it had a soul.  Yes, buildings, like humans, have souls that speak to us of past grandeurs.  Perhaps that is the reason some cities are more appealing than others and we must seek them out as visitors...because they have proudly preserved their history and made it part of its present charm. Unlike San Francisco,  Los Angeles has been very bad about preservation.  As the wild west and the last frontier, we seem to always grab for the shiny new bauble and discard the jewels with worth.  It's really a pity.

Now if they start messing with *City Lights in North Beach, San Francisco...then I will really cry a bucket of tears.


Songs out of tune, the words always a little wrong...Canzoni Stonate

*http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/jacketcopy/2009/03/happy-90th-birt.html

City Lights original owner, poet Lawrence Furlinghetti is 92 and still very much alive, as the link above will show.   He celebrated the 50th Anniversary of the store by reading poetry...he was in his late 80's then.

Happy Holidays

Christmas wishes and blessings to the Muse and all who celebrate the season. To our Jewish friends,  a lovely and peaceful Hannukah.   And to everyone else, no matter your faith or belief, I wish you a lovely, healthy, happy and prosperous New Year.

Songs out of tune, the words always a little wrong...Canzoni Stonate

Nine Lives and Rough Waters for the Muse

Dear Muse,

What a way to get some advance publicity and a little material for future talk shows!   I mean, I know you have nine lives, but I think you've already used up a few of them haven't you?

All kidding aside, it must have been one hell of a scary day for you and to think that you made it almost all the way through the whole movie without something like this.   I was very happy about the fact but when I heard this, I thought...yes...it had to happen to Gerry.  You know it don't you?   No matter how much we push past the barriers, they sometimes push back and this was one of those times.

I have great respect and not a little terror of the water.  I almost drowned once and that little incident set off a chain of dreams later in life that would plague me constantly.  I was on a motor boat and the life test in those particular dreams was always the same.  Two people I loved fell in the water in the ocean and I had to save them and I could only save one and I couldn't swim.  It was terror every time that dream came.   I would make the plunge and I didn't know what the result would be.

I've always thought that the thing that scares you the most is sometimes the thing that gets you and if this was it...it would be the ocean....and I've grown up on it's doorstep.    When I got married, the water ski trips to the lake with a big group of people were always a test for me and the terror just pushed me to get up on the damn skis almost from the first because I dreaded going into the water.

I always pushed back a little and tried to forget fear in favor of exhilaration when I went parasailing or even going up on an "ultralite," (two seats strapped to a lawnmower motor with a propeller).  It's good to work through you fears...  I see you doing it constantly....That's what we humans do all the time.

One very frightening experience years earlier came when my daughter was small and my husband was diving with some friends off the beach in Puerto Rico.   She and  I were on the rocks, watching out not to step on the sea urchins, when she slipped and went into the water.  "This is it," I thought!   The test!   I was able to stay afloat and push her out before getting myself back out and not stepping on the dreaded urchins, but it was scary...and I hadn't drowned.
 
Later in life there were other dreams (or nightmares).  I would be smashing up against a wall and go up in flames.  It was a constant one.   I would sit up suddenly and scare the hell out of my husband with my scream.  It was always the same one.   Eeerilly enough much later in life I went to see "Fuerza Bruta" (brute force) in NY and had the epiphany that I could just have walked through those walls and they would burst like the paper walls did in the show. I would never smash up against a wall again because I knew I could walk right on through them.   It was very freeing...in a sense.... and of course I realize the nightmares were frustration and fears working themselves out in my dreams.....but when I was having them  they were terrifying for me (for my poor husband too).

I've written this because it's my nature to be philosophical, but also because I sincerely wonder what went through your mind, besides terror, being held under those waves.  Did you say "damn, this is it!" or did you struggle against it?   Could you even struggle against that kind of force or do you just try to hold your breath and hope the bouyancy pops you up before the next wave strikes and all the while being strapped to a board that could conk you in the head?   Was getting the strap off your ankle a thought going through your mind?   Of course the current was going to drag you though through the rocks, so that had to be another fear.   I can almost feel it now thinking about it.  Brrrr!

See, I have a thirst to know how these things affect others...the imprint they leave, if any.  I have a feeling they'll leave one with you.  I could be wrong, but no, I don't think so.

My daughter is going surfing in Costa Rica with her new guy in January.  He's a surfer, diver, etc...and I'm a little nervous for her.  She says she's at home in the water, but I don't believe it.  She grew up around the surfers, but it's not until recently that she's taken lessons.  But then I have to remember that she was the only female on a father-son trip to do some "individual rubber canoe" white water rafting and her dad was so proud of his skinny little daughter  holding her own with all the gung ho guys, most of them six footers.  When she came home she just said her arms and shoulders ached, but she just kept paddling, going with the flow....and....how on this trip, sitting around the camp fires at night, as the guides cooked dinner, she realized how brilliant her father and his friends were...as she listened to their conversations about science, the earth, physics and everything else.

It was a wonderful experience for them.  For him, it was having that pride in her... and for her...well, none of us could foresee then that he wouldn't be around in another two years.

I'll try not to worry about her now because, hopefully, she has good common sense along with the fact her boyfriend is very experienced and will be looking out for her.   And, if she gets in over her head, like the rest of us sometimes do, she will gather her wits,  push past the fear and do what she has to, like she did with the white water rafting.

As for you, I'm so glad you're okay, dear Muse!  On this blog, I've kidded about the sharks and the whales, but I was glad the waves hadn't tested you.  Well now they have and you will have a healthier respect for them and perhaps some residual fear. That's okay.  It's human.

It will be interesting to hear your comments later on.   I know you will have them and give them some humor.  However, for now the incident may push you to examine a little more about life and how precious and how fleeting and how quickly it turns on a dime.  I've seen it.  You've seen it.

Be safe!   And even if you've used up another of your lives, you still have a few more to go. I think you have a guardian angel looking out for you, you know?  But don't push it too far.  Even guardian angels are out to lunch some times!

Does life feel a little sweeter today?  If it does,  enjoy it!  You don't have to go all the way out to the edge for the thrill.  It will come to you when you least expect it!  I expect you know that by now....

Fondly,

Z


Songs out of tune, the words always a little wrong...Canzoni Stonate