Ralph Fiennes has pulled Shakespeare tragedy “Coriolanus” into a present-day world of 24-hour news television and modern warfare for his debut as a director.
Fiennes takes the lead role as a great but flawed Roman general in the movie, which has its premiere Monday at the Berlin film festival.
He stars alongside Vanessa Redgrave, who plays his hard-nosed and iron-willed mother, Volumnia, and Gerard Butler, cast as Coriolanus’ sworn enemy, Tullus Aufidius.
Fiennes says he has thought about making a film since playing it on stage a decade ago.
He says he thought about setting the movie in ancient Rome or in the 19th century, but “I kept on seeing images in the newspaper or television which seemed to come from this story.”