Coriolanus

After the enormous success of The Deathly Hallows, Ralph Fiennes made the leap from the oeuvre of one beloved British author to that of another. Taking on the lesser known Shakespearean tragedy Coriolanus, Fiennes' ambitious directorial debut takes the form of a modern-day adaptation not at all reminiscent of Baz Luhrmann.

Penned by John Logan (Gladiator, The Aviator), Fiennes himself stars opposite Gerard Butler, Brian Cox, and the ubiquitous Jessica Chastain to realise Shakespeare's tale of vengeful soldiers and back-stabbing enemies in 'a place that calls itself Rome.'

Its measured language brings a sense of stability and pace to visuals that are otherwise similar to Middle Eastern war footage of the present day. Fiennes uses TV news-style inserts that are at once surprisingly prescient and strangely familiar to draw out contemporary parallels. It's a solid if somewhat inaccessible work bringing the Bard to screen in all its austerity and none of its grandeur. A darkly refreshing early summer DVD. [Nicola Balkind]