MovieChat Forums > Coriolanus (2012) Discussion > Haven't heard of the play, could an aver...

Haven't heard of the play, could an average movie goer enjoy this?

posted 12 years ago by SerArthurDayne
8 replies | jump to latest

Is this a movie targeted at people who are familiar with the play?
Or can this be watched by everyone?

Also, is the Shakespearean hard to understand? I've not been around anything Shakespeare since sophomore year at high school, but I remember that back then, it took a lot of seconds for a Shakespearean dialogue to register in my head. If the whole movie is that way, I would assume that I'd have some trouble keeping up. Would my assumption be correct?

___
How can you tell if someone's a compulsive liar? I mean, assuming their pants aren't on fire?

[–] gwen_christie 12 years ago

I used English subtitles to help me, but understood and enjoyed the film. It is the first time I have seen a performance of this play. Worth a try.

[–] oxblood 12 years ago

I hadn't heard of the play either and I too used the english subtitles (I pretty much use them for a lot of films with lengthy dialogue these days) and the film is very good. Vanessa Redgrave especially is amazing (no surprise).

[–] poc-1 12 years ago

As Shakespeare goes, this is one of the more difficult, less-popular ones. You will be able to follow the story, but probably a lot of the dialogue will be difficult to understand. Certainly I had the problem that it would take a few seconds to understand what was said, like translating a foreign language in your head. On the other hand there are some great lines and superb visuals. I think the director does a very good job of keeping the audience informed what is going on. Even if you don't speak english you should get the gist. I think if you saw it twice you would appreciate the language better. Then again it is two hours long!

[–] HLB1 12 years ago

I am not a Shakespeare fan but I thought this movie was terrific.

Go ahead, make my day....

[–] derirre357 12 years ago

Like the last poster I dont care for Shakespear at all... But the movie is very very good. Fiennes (as a director and an actor) and the rest of the cast, plus the modern setting, made it work.
With the subtitles on even the poetic dialogue is quite easy to follow.

-------------------------------------
June 29th. I gotta get i shape now...

[–] m-serpellone 12 years ago

English is not my native language.
I watch English-spoken movies without subtitles, but this one was too much. The ~thou~ language is too unfamiliar for me to understand, so I had to put subtitles on (in my language). I felt like I was on high school, reading the old, difficult books all over again haha.

But overall I enjoyed the movie. Even though I expected something else for an ending =/

[–] hawesg6 12 years ago

Eh, the only hard part was Gerard Butler's thick Scottish burr.

[–] tremas-1 12 years ago

Not to mention James Nesbitt's Northern Ireland accent. But the various accents did add to the "color" of the movie, I thought.