Review of Titus (1999) by Atteli09 * — 01 Jan 2010

Being unfamiliar with the actual Shakespeare story of Titus may hinder your enjoyment of this film. While I studied some Shakespeare in high school and am able to figure out the language, I can't say the same for everyone.

The story goes like this. Titus Andronicus (Anthony Hopkins) returns after a conquest for Rome with some hostages. He has the Queen of the Goths, Tamora (Jessica Lange), and a few of her sons. He slays one of the sons as a tribute to Rome.

In a ceremony for a new emperor, Titus is offered the crown and rejects it, instead giving tribute to Saturninus (Alan Cumming). Saturninus has a feud against his brother, Bassianus (James Frain), and elects to take his bride, Lavinia (Laura Fraser), for his empress.

When Bassianus flees from the emperor to keep his wife, Saturninus orders Titus to bring her back. In a fit of royal obligation, Titus slays one of his own sons while trying to return Lavinia. Saturninus then options to take Tamora for his empress.

Tamora, now in a bit of power, decides to hatch a plot to exact revenge on Titus for the murder of her son, which plays out over the course of the movie with double crossings, rapes and murders. To say it's not interesting would be a lie, but there is something off in the direction of this movie.

For starts, I have no clue what time period this is supposed to be. The play takes place around the time of Cesar's assassination, but the movie has a mix of ancient, present and future. It is incredibly awkward to see a roman solider standing next to a guy holding a shotgun and some general with clothing like M. Bison.

A lot of the acting is also very straight faced and without emotion. Anthony Hopkins seems to be channeling Hannibal in his performance, which works in the very vicious times, but makes no sense in the calm moments where he talks to his sons.

Jessica Lange is spot on for the war ravaged Queen of the Goths. When she looks Lavinia in the eyes and condemns her to be deflowered by her sons, it definitely looks brutal.

Harry J. Lennix is the only other actor worth mentioning in his film. His portrayal of Aaron is very good. While he always has the same kind of tone (angry), at least most of his dialog is about some kind of revenge or vengeance that he must fulfill.

The direction of the movie is very off, however. I'm not sure if any scenes get shifted, but it sounds like the dialog is being read verbatim. When Aaron reveals he has slept with the Queen, why do we need to have the same line uttered five times (that's right, I'm questioning Shakespeare)?

A lot of scenes also have some horrible CGI, which takes away from the impact of their words. Titus staring down Tamora is just hilarious for all the wrong reasons.

The very beginning of the movie also makes no sense. We are shown a small child playing with war dolls and then he just sits around for an hour and a half before saying a single line. Why not introduce him properly or just exclude him until he is needed? I thought I was watching some time warping movie.

I honestly think the modern setting, mixed with the old, is the reason to blame for all of this. If Julie Taymor had left the play alone, this could have been something easy to grasp. Instead, putting in things like automobiles along with horse and buggies and modern guns with Roman Gladius' just lends itself to confusion.

The one thing done right with this approach is the monologues. Characters stare at the screen, as if addressing the viewer, and that is exactly how a monologue should work. Shakespeare wrote them as asides into a person's mind, so why not break the fourth wall?

The last thing I'll mention is the music. Some of it is very well done. It never crops up enough (granted this movie is close to three hours long), but there are a few scenes that left me breathless.

As it stands, Titus is a strange film. The representation of the play, at least in dialog form, is flawless. The fact that everything else is updated just makes no sense. It's hard to enjoy the film when you honestly have no clue what is going on.