Review of Titus (1999) by Matthew B — 24 Aug 2007

With its partially antiquated and partially modern setting, Julie Taymor's Titus is refreshingly new and experimental. Unlike Baz Luhrmann's cheesy Romeo + Juliet, Taymor's shape-shifting adaptation of the Bard's bloodiest tragedy manages to be elegantly absurd, immensely beautiful, and visually captivating.

Sir Anthony Hopkins is in perfect form as the decaying, mentally evaporating Titus Andronicus; his decimated scene in the street before the senators is numbing, and his "culinary" scene with Chiron and Demetrius is terrifying.

Jessica Lange ably matches him as the venomous Tamora, a seductive harpy of a woman determined to fashion her heinous revenge. Alan Cumming (appropriately foppish and effeminate as Saturninus), James Frain, Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, Matthew Rhys, Colm Feore, and Harry Lennix (slyly bringing the insensate evil of the corrupt Moor Aaron to hissing life).

Elliot Goldenthal's score is mesmerizing (from the regal choral introduction to the richly atmospheric finale of Carlo Buti's "Vivere"). Taymor deserves praise merely for attempting to bring such a startlingly new and refreshingly innovative vision to the screen; the masterful results are secondary to her pure ingenuity and artistic courage.