One film set to premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival that looks like it could be a massive hit or a disastrous miss is Ralph Fiennes’s feature film directing debut, Coriolanus, a modern day adaptation of Shakespere’s play in which Fiennes stars as the Roman general Coriolanus with a script from John Logan (Gladiator). Along with Fiennes the film co-stars Gerard Butler, Brian Cox and Vanessa Redgrave.
The synopsis reads as follows:
Caius Martius ‘Coriolanus’ (Ralph Fiennes), a revered and feared Roman General is at odds with the city of Rome and his fellow citizens. Pushed by his controlling and ambitious mother Volumnia (Vanessa Redgrave) to seek the exalted and powerful position of Consul, he is loath to ingratiate himself with the masses whose votes he needs in order to secure the office. When the public refuses to support him, Coriolanus’s anger prompts a riot that culminates in his expulsion from Rome. The banished hero then allies himself with his sworn enemy Tullus Aufidius (Gerard Butler) to take his revenge on the city.
On top of the attention this film could earn Fiennes, I’m already curious to see Vanessa Redgrave as she is also said to have a great performance in Roland Emmerich’s Anonymous, which will also be debuting at TIFF.
The Weinstein Co. will be distributing Coriolanus on December 2 and you can check out an additional image below and two more in our gallery here, one featuring Gerard Butler as Tullus Aufidius and another is a behind-the-scenes shot.
The 2011 Toronto International Film Festival plays from September 8-18. For my complete coverage click here.
