All Things Ralph
Coriolanus!
Everything seems to be moving forward well for this project. It's exciting news!! : )
The following are articles from Screen Daily and Variety.
Ralph Fiennes revs up thrilling Corialanus with Icon
17 May, 2009 | By Mike Goodridge
Ralph Fiennes spoke exclusively to ScreenDaily yesterday (May 16) about his directorial debut Corialanus.
The project is set to start shooting early next year in Belgrade. And he is determined not to make a stale cinematic version of Shakespeare. “People who have read the script think it’s a page-turner,” he said. “I want it to be an edge-of-the-seat film.”
Fiennes will also star in the film playing Corialanus, Vanessa Redgrave has signed on to play his mother Volumnia and rising star Jessica Chastain (The Debt, Tree Of Life) his wife Virgilia. William Hurt will also star.
John Logan, the US writer of Gladiator, The Last Samurai and The Aviator, has written the script for Coriolanus which Fiennes first played on stage in London in 2000. “I became obsessed with the play and couldn’t lose the idea from my mind of it being a film. If you are rigorous in adapting it, it ends up like a political thriller.”
Logan, Fiennes said, has “aggressively edited” the original text and fortified the “high tension story” revolving around the family dynamic at its core and the subject of inter-state conflict. Fiennes and Logan have moved the setting from ancient Rome to “a power state today”. Belgrade, he adds, is perfect for his anywhere location with its blend of neo-classical and contemporary architecture. “Belgrade also has something bruised about it which is appropriate for this story,” he says.
Fiennes references Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet (1996) as setting the bar for making Shakespeare accessible to contemporary audiences. “I don’t want it to be in that Shakespeare voice that puts you off,” he says. “Audiences want to hear Shaksepeare and they understand more than they think they are going to. The second film I ever saw was Olivier’s Henry V when I was nine years old and I loved it.”
He also says that he is referencing Gillo Pontecorvo’s The Battle Of Algiers for its neo-realist portrait of a city in conflict.
Fiennes says he will work closely with his DP Barry Ackroyd, a Ken Loach regular who also shot United 93 and Fiennes-starrer The Hurt Locker. “He has a brilliant eye for composition but also a very simple style that works for Ken Loach,” he says.
As for directing, he says he is naturally nervous. “I’ve become more and more clear that it is what I want to do,” he says and cites the different styles of film-makers he has worked with including Anthony Minghella, Robert Redford, Steven Spielberg, Istvan Szabo, Stephen Daldry and David Cronenberg.
“I wouldn’t know how to be baroque with a camera,” he says. “I want honest camerawork to reflect the scene that is going on. I loved how Istvan Szabo shot which was very simply capturing the actors.”
Icon came on board when Bill Pohlad’s River Road Entertainment dropped out last year, but Fiennes says that River Road played a “huge part in the development process.” Pohlad also recommended that Fiennes meet with Chastain who starred in River Road’s Tree Of Life for director Terrence Malick.
Yesterday in Cannes, he presented a “mood reel” to buyers which included footage of sample scenes which he and Redgrave have shot to show how their mother-son relationship will play.
He says that he and Ackroyd have collected hundreds of images from current conflicts which will act as visual references for the film. “The story is about the eternal war that never stops,” he says. “It could be Israel and Palestine or Russia and Chechnya.”
Icon Entertainment International has take on sales for the film. Producers on the film are Julia Taylor-Stanley of Artemis Films and Gabrielle Tana of Magnolia Mae Films.
Here is the additional article from Variety....
Thesp trio joins Ralph Fiennes film
Hurt, Redgrave, Chastain board 'Coriolanus'
by Ali Jaafar
William Hurt, Vanessa Redgrave and Jessica Chastain have boarded Ralph Fiennes' directorial debut "Coriolanus."
Pic is an adaptation of William Shakespeare's study of the way power corrupts, set in the early years of the Roman Republic.
Fiennes will also play the title role.
Lensing will begin in Serbia in early 2010. John Logan ("The Aviator") is writing the script. Artemis Films' Julia Taylor-Stanley and Magnolia Mae Films' Gabrielle Tana are producing. Icon Entertainment Intl. is handling worldwide sales.
Here is the link for Icon Entertainment....
http://www.iconmovies.net/coriolanus/
The following are articles from Screen Daily and Variety.
Ralph Fiennes revs up thrilling Corialanus with Icon
17 May, 2009 | By Mike Goodridge
Ralph Fiennes spoke exclusively to ScreenDaily yesterday (May 16) about his directorial debut Corialanus.
The project is set to start shooting early next year in Belgrade. And he is determined not to make a stale cinematic version of Shakespeare. “People who have read the script think it’s a page-turner,” he said. “I want it to be an edge-of-the-seat film.”
Fiennes will also star in the film playing Corialanus, Vanessa Redgrave has signed on to play his mother Volumnia and rising star Jessica Chastain (The Debt, Tree Of Life) his wife Virgilia. William Hurt will also star.
John Logan, the US writer of Gladiator, The Last Samurai and The Aviator, has written the script for Coriolanus which Fiennes first played on stage in London in 2000. “I became obsessed with the play and couldn’t lose the idea from my mind of it being a film. If you are rigorous in adapting it, it ends up like a political thriller.”
Logan, Fiennes said, has “aggressively edited” the original text and fortified the “high tension story” revolving around the family dynamic at its core and the subject of inter-state conflict. Fiennes and Logan have moved the setting from ancient Rome to “a power state today”. Belgrade, he adds, is perfect for his anywhere location with its blend of neo-classical and contemporary architecture. “Belgrade also has something bruised about it which is appropriate for this story,” he says.
Fiennes references Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet (1996) as setting the bar for making Shakespeare accessible to contemporary audiences. “I don’t want it to be in that Shakespeare voice that puts you off,” he says. “Audiences want to hear Shaksepeare and they understand more than they think they are going to. The second film I ever saw was Olivier’s Henry V when I was nine years old and I loved it.”
He also says that he is referencing Gillo Pontecorvo’s The Battle Of Algiers for its neo-realist portrait of a city in conflict.
Fiennes says he will work closely with his DP Barry Ackroyd, a Ken Loach regular who also shot United 93 and Fiennes-starrer The Hurt Locker. “He has a brilliant eye for composition but also a very simple style that works for Ken Loach,” he says.
As for directing, he says he is naturally nervous. “I’ve become more and more clear that it is what I want to do,” he says and cites the different styles of film-makers he has worked with including Anthony Minghella, Robert Redford, Steven Spielberg, Istvan Szabo, Stephen Daldry and David Cronenberg.
“I wouldn’t know how to be baroque with a camera,” he says. “I want honest camerawork to reflect the scene that is going on. I loved how Istvan Szabo shot which was very simply capturing the actors.”
Icon came on board when Bill Pohlad’s River Road Entertainment dropped out last year, but Fiennes says that River Road played a “huge part in the development process.” Pohlad also recommended that Fiennes meet with Chastain who starred in River Road’s Tree Of Life for director Terrence Malick.
Yesterday in Cannes, he presented a “mood reel” to buyers which included footage of sample scenes which he and Redgrave have shot to show how their mother-son relationship will play.
He says that he and Ackroyd have collected hundreds of images from current conflicts which will act as visual references for the film. “The story is about the eternal war that never stops,” he says. “It could be Israel and Palestine or Russia and Chechnya.”
Icon Entertainment International has take on sales for the film. Producers on the film are Julia Taylor-Stanley of Artemis Films and Gabrielle Tana of Magnolia Mae Films.
Here is the additional article from Variety....
Thesp trio joins Ralph Fiennes film
Hurt, Redgrave, Chastain board 'Coriolanus'
by Ali Jaafar
William Hurt, Vanessa Redgrave and Jessica Chastain have boarded Ralph Fiennes' directorial debut "Coriolanus."
Pic is an adaptation of William Shakespeare's study of the way power corrupts, set in the early years of the Roman Republic.
Fiennes will also play the title role.
Lensing will begin in Serbia in early 2010. John Logan ("The Aviator") is writing the script. Artemis Films' Julia Taylor-Stanley and Magnolia Mae Films' Gabrielle Tana are producing. Icon Entertainment Intl. is handling worldwide sales.
Here is the link for Icon Entertainment....
http://www.iconmovies.net/coriolanus/
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Liza on -
Here's an article from BBC.
Fiennes sets cast for Coriolanus
Fiennes first played Shakespeare's Coriolanus in the West End in 2000
Actor Ralph Fiennes has signed A-list stars Vanessa Redgrave and William Hurt for his directorial debut, Coriolanus.
The film is an adaptation of William Shakespeare's study of how power corrupts, with Fiennes as the lead.
The movie is due to start shooting in Belgrade next year, with a script by Gladiator and The Last Samurai writer John Logan.
"People who have read [it] think it's a page-turner," said Fiennes. "I want it to be an edge-of-the-seat film."
The actor, who was Oscar-nominated for his roles in The English Patient and Schindler's List, said he wanted to make Shakespeare accessible, citing Baz Luhrmann's Romeo and Juliet as an influence.
"I don't want it to be in that Shakespeare voice that puts you off," he told trade paper Screen International at the Cannes Films Festival.
"Audiences want to hear Shakespeare and they understand more than they think they are going to. The second film I ever saw was Olivier's Henry V when I was nine years old and I loved it."
Redgrave will take the role of Coriolanus' mother Volumnia, while newcomer plays his wife Virgilia.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/8054329.stm
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Permalink Reply by Bernadette on -
Yeah,Ralph,please make Shakespeare accessible,especially for me.:)
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Permalink Reply by Dana on -
Thank you, Liza, for the article!! I'm happy to see it's coming together for him. It will be difficult waiting until it's ready to be seen.
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Permalink Reply by trugannini on -
Thanks Liza. Hope this generates some interest. :)
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Permalink Reply by Julia Patricia on -
Gladiator is one of my favourite movies I lose count how many times i see this movie, because I like some much, and ^The Aviator^ also is a great movie, with a excellent direction, and I am very glad that the same writer of this two great movies write "Coriolanus" , always I have preference for the epic movies. I wish "Coriolanus" be one of they, be one of my favourites movies. ¡God Luck Baby Pitufo Ralph with Coriolanus!
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Permalink Reply by trugannini on
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Hi Alice, we know this. The mags. don't bother with the important details. I looked Logan up and he seems to be a Talent. :)
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Permalink Reply by Marcella Heer on -
Funny. I remember, watching his Coriolanus on stage. He remembered me of my cousin, which I didn´t like. After the show I spoke to Him at the stage door, and said that his Coriolanus was a real bastard. He was really furious and snapped: "a bastard with a mother." And getting furious myself (and forgetting who he was, which I spoke to) I snapped back: "still a bastard. And is mother is much more intelligent than that Coriolanus." And I think the argument would have gone on and on but for the autograph seekers.
funny memory.
cheers
Marcella
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