Considered by many to be Shakespeare's worst play, Titus Andronicus is a bloodthirsty tragedy full of villainous heroes and bottomless revenge--hardly the stuff of big-screen directorial debuts, it would seem. Yet Julie Taymor dives headfirst into moviemaking with Titus, a spectacular adaptation that manages to find beauty and humor in the piles of carnage.
The story begins simply enough by Shakespearean standards: celebrated Roman warrior Titus Andronicus (Anthony Hopkins) returns from a hard-won victory to bury his slain sons and avenge their deaths by killing the eldest son of his enemy, Tamora, queen of the Goths (Jessica Lange). Tamora responds by seducing the impressionable new emperor and setting all of Rome into a downward spiral of revenge, madness, and death.
Taymor, who won a Tony for her Broadway production of The Lion King, throws all her theatrical sensibilities at the story--armies are exquisitely choreographed, blood is shed so beautifully that it hardly seems real, and characters are costumed in symbolic combinations of ancient Roman and 20th-century garb. She plays up the dark comedy at every opportunity, lending a carnival flavor to the story's most gruesome moments. Excellent performances from Hopkins (whose deranged Titus is more than a little reminiscent of Hannibal Lecter), Lange, and the supporting cast help make the endless treachery credible. --Claire Campbell
DVD features In a lively Q&A, director Julie Taymor elaborates on her goals in adapting Titus Andronicus; her full-length commentary goes into greater detail, with rich analysis and pertinent anecdotes. Commentaries by Anthony Hopkins, Harry Lennix, and composer Elliott Goldenthal are equally insightful, and a costume gallery reveals the remarkable transformation of conceptual sketches into fully realized wardrobes. The "Making of Titus" documentary is one of the best of its kind, allowing an intimate glimpse of Taymor and her superb cast in rehearsal and production, molding Shakespeare's violent and oft-maligned play into a dazzling work of art. --Jeff Shannon
2.
Based on Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus (one of the Bard's lesser-known and most gruesome works), director Taymor (Broadway's The Lion King) brings this adaptation to life with dazzling imagery and haunting immediacy.
Titus (Hopkins) is a victorious Roman general who makes two mistakes: supporting the wily Saturninus (Cumming) as the new Emperor, and wronging Tamora, Queen of the Goths (Lange), by killing her eldest son. Murder follows murder as the tides of fate change, as Tamora is aided by her two reckless sons and her Moor lover, Aaron (Lennix). The body count is raised higher and higher until Titus finally holds a very special dinner banquet.
Taymor's bold visual sense verges on absurdity, but her sense of morality, as well as powerful acting by Hopkins and company, combine to tell a powerful, violent tale.
3.
Academy Award winners Anthony Hopkins and Jessica Lange ignite the screen in a strikingly original “coup de cinema” (New York Times). Titus is a “wild ride” (Chicago Tribune) – a shocking journey into the depths of the human heart – a place where vengeance and passion reign supreme. A film by Julie Taymor, acclaimed creator and director of Broadway's The Lion King.
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