there are more adaptations of shakespeare committed to film than i would have time to list here. such adaptations take many, many approaches in telling the story of a modern audience. some, like franco zeffirelli's hamlet starring mel gibson or romeo & juliet with olivia hussey, keep to a traditional context and stay faithful in both script and setting. others completely modernize setting and language until they are more loose adaptations, such as ten things i hate about you or o. the ones i often find the most interesting are those which retain the original language, yet set the film within a modern context. ian mckellan's turn as richard iii on film, even romeo + juliet do some very interesting things that i appreciate and enjoy. this is the context in which ralph fiennes decided to tell one of shakespeare's lesser-known tragedies in coriolanus, his directorial debut. and the results are incredibly good. for his first time behind the camera, fiennes transports the story of caius marcius coriolanus and his rise and fall to a modern war-torn setting of indeterminate origin (it says "rome," but that is the state of rome and not the city so it could be anywhere). fiennes takes on the lead role as well, imbuing the haughty but honorable general with his usual deft touch and establishing great chemistry with gerard butler, who plays his mortal enemy-turned-comrade tullus aufidius. also glowing in their performances are vanessa redgrave as coriolanus' mother volumnia, jessica chastain as his wife virgilia and brian cox as the senator menenius. this is an actor's story and an actor's film, and fiennes lets his cast shine. the production values are impressive, with the almost third-world production design giving an oppressive feeling that provides the proper context for the character's motivations. you can understand why everyone is acting as they are even if they're being villainous, and it absolutely enriches the story. there has been a lack of really great shakespeare adaptations for the last few years, making this stand especially tall as a great adaptation and a great film in general.