Review of Titus (1999) by Matthew K — 16 Apr 2008

Over the years there have been some strange Shakespeare adaptations, Olivia of Twelfth night has played soccer (Sheâ??s the Man), Macbeth has run a fast food joint (Scotland, Pa) and Midsummer Nights Dream has been presented by a high school drama club as a musical (Get Over It) however Julie Taymorâ??s directorial debut Titus might be one of the most bizarre takes on the bardâ??s work of all time.

Itâ??s important to point out that in this case bizarre works. Ms. Taymor has taken what many consider one of Shakespeareâ??s lesser plays and instead transformed it into one of the most visually pleasing films of the 90â??s. As her first film Taymor has proven herself to be a true artist who uses cellophane opposed to a canvas to paint a visual picture of obscure imagery that could make Tim Burton feel like an average cinematographer. Julie Taymor also has a strong focus of turning a scene from actors walking around reciting lines to positioning them into distinct symmetric lines creating an image of a paint literally coming to life. Furthermore she has given herself the challenge of attempting to blur the time period by creating her own universe of modern technology in an ancient time. What is normally a feat that few directors can pull off successfully, she masters in doing this without it being distracting but instead makes you even more interested in the story. She uses this fictional universe in order to use imagery that we should be familiar with to help us further understand the characters such as Saturninus and Bassianus campaigning in the same cars JFK and Hitler drove or making Chiron and Demetrus into Industrial rock Goths. She uses music as a very strong driving point of the movie really focusing on Jazzy Saxophones to set the mood causing her Rome to remind us of New York City.

As for the acting, Anthony Hopkins proves that he is more than just Hannibal Lector in possibly the most compelling and aggressive performance of his career. Taymor uses colors as a way to show the darkness of the time and to also highlight Titusâ?? descent into insanity. Taking a trick Spielberg used in Schindlerâ??s List; she makes select colors stand out in the scenes to draw the eye in. An example of these is when Titus decides to amputate his own hand in the kitchen the orange of the carrots and greens of lettuce are the only things to filter out the blackness and shadows of Titus, Aaron and the castle.