Titus

Rating:
Summary: " OH, WOAD IS ME! " [aka Romin' masque].
Review: The Devine JESSICA LANGE as TAMORA, Queen of the Goths, provides us with a "Diva" peformance by portraying this amazing woman. Consider, this is an enormous acting challenge, Tamora IS a monster, [akin to Lady Macbeth, Goneril, Regan, even Cymbeline's vengeful and unnamed Queen]. She actually brings sympathy to this role - making us care about this woman, a true test of an artist of Miss Lange's calibre - and she passes with flying colors! She again proves that she is equally at home with the classics as well as the moderns [and this is a "from the heart" compliment - 'you've come a long way from 'King Kong' baby'; you have given us a unique performance that will certainly last]. On top of that, we so rarely see women like the doomed Tamora {a sister to the Stindberg ladies?} portrayed with sensitivity - BRAVO AGAIN! It WOULD be fabulous to see Miss Jessica in a modern [executive] version of "MacBeth", again helmed by Julie Taymor, possibly Alec Baldwin as the Scot?

Now, there is just a minute problem with Sir Anthony Hopkins' performance, yes it IS tortured, layered, filled with angst, but SO, SO close to 'Hannibal'. He is brave to accept this challenge but it does not quite work it's kind of a prequel to the "Hannibal" cycle, isn't it? Maybe an ancient relative? The similarities are close, the revenge cycle, the limb lopped off, the dinner ............ AND yes, he is a brilliant actor, but should select film roles [unlike theatre, the negatives remain] with great care.

Others in the cast : Angus McFadyen, Colm Feore, Alan Cumming [who never disappoints], Laura Fraser as Lavinia, and Jonathan Rhys-Meyers [now graduated to Gormanghast] impress. BUT it's Harry J. Lennix as Aaron the Moor who shines, bringing sympathy to this moody part, condered to be the genesis for Iago, but Aaron stands by himself in this show.

The production values are overall excellent, [big budget], but the look confuses - mixing traditional ancient themes with modern inventions. Not that the motorbikes, cod-pieces, toy soldiers, Brothers Quay absurdist touches do not work. Avant-garde interpretations of the classics can work, but watch out for excess - less can be better. There are powerful visual moments [the ceremonial male ballet at the start of the production.

Milena Canonero's costume designs are vivid - especially Tamora's Transformations - fortunate to have a Jessica Lange showcasing this! [Elegant use of maroon, silver-gray and black].

The double DVD is well worthy of any serious collector's collection, excellently transferred! [The production and productions notes, costume designs are there].

Honors go to Julie Taymor for attempting this rarely seen work.

It would be interesting though to see Richard Harris, Rod Steiger, Geoffrey Rush, even the Great Peter O'Toole as TITUS. Way back Oliver and Leigh paid homage also Janet Suzman. There are a few traditional productions available on VHS - not successful!

For pure fun:- just as a counterpoint? Vincent Price / Diana Rigg, Diana Dors, Harry Andrews, etc. in "Theatre of Blood" - bloody good fun!

Rating:
Summary: If Julie Taymor did this with Shakespeare's "worst" play,
Review: Then I'd love to see her tackle a play like _Hamlet_, _MacBeth_, or perhaps an adaptation of a work by another great writer, Poe's _The Mask of the Red Death_. I only wish that I could have given it 10 stars. This is a true masterpiece. Others have mentioned the inspired mixture of imagery from different eras, and the inspired acting by the entire cast, and I agree. Anthony Hopkins once again reminded us why he is held in such high esteem by his peers. Laura Fraser was truly heartbreaking as Lavinia. Jessica Lange was brilliant as the Goth Queen/Empress. And, while I don't recall the actor's name, the man who played the Moor did so perfectly. The rest of the cast performed in a similarly admirable manner. I hope that this film is shown to film school students for the next few decades as an example of what cinema can be. I consider this movie to be an instant classic, and I highly recommend this to anybody who is interested in great cinema.

In fairness, I must include this caveat: This film is not for those with sensitive natures. But if you have the stomach for a bit of gore and nastiness, then this film is probably for you.

Rating:
Summary: "Why there they are, baked in that pie."
Review: "Why there they are, baked in that pie! Whereof their mother daintily hath fed, The very flesh which she hath bred, Tis true, tis true, witness my knife's sharp point!"

I memorized these lines so I could shout them at people when I wanted to let them know revenge was at hand. The climax to this rendition of a great play is amazing with a extremely styled scene (that reflects the stylistic decisions made throughout the film) and some extremely appropriate industrial music. The mixing of time periods in the scenery of the entire film is cool, and I would not say confusing. I recommend, just as with all Shakespeare plays, that you watch with subtitles, so you don't miss anything, especially when Hopkins gets into a fury. You'll never look at pot pie the same way again.

Rating:
Summary: Twisted Play = Twisted Movie
Review: Titus Andronicus is probably my favorit play by the Bard. Its simplistic, its action packed, it has numerous plot twists...a perfect play for entertaining a crowd of unruly, drunkard peasants. I first saw the preview for Titus on the Fight Club VHS I rented a bazillion times. I rented Titus the day it came out on video and loved it from start to finish. There are only a few small complaints. One, the very beginning, and the very end are VERY confusing. Taymor should've given up on the whole WW2/child's nightmare schtick. The only other complaint is that the technology mixing is very distracting. On to the good parts. Hopkins does a terrific Titus, though the final scenes of the movie make me think silence of the lambs. Lange plays a cunning and evil Tamora. Alan Cummings does Saturnine as a flashy, decadent emperor. The Rhys brothers performed well in their roles as Chiron and Demetrius. The shining star of the movie (or shall we say diamond in the rough) is Harry Lennix as Aaron the Moor. Aaron is considered to be the prototype for The Bard's later villian, Iago. Lennix gives Kenneth Branagh a run for his money in the villian department. Lennix plays the twisted Moor to the hilt. I wholeheartedly reccomend this movie.

Rating:
Summary: Shock value
Review: This is a great example of how to modernize a (at the time, viewed as his most juvinile and gory) Shakespearian tragedy...make it violent and shocking enough to shock even television watching American audiences. Taking great liberties with large sections of acting with no dialogue (taking creative license with lack of stage direction), it was possible to put in horrifying, disturbing images for the fall of the tragic hero. After the fall of the tragic hero, the same creative license was not taken with the 10 minutes of his revenge. All in all, I am usually immune to the shock value modern directors attempt to put in their "art." This one was successful in shocking and appalling me. The payoff? Very little. Not only would I not recomend this film, I am honestly quite impressed that it has an overall rating of 4 stars. This shows reviewing audiences are showing their wit and intellect by offering high ratings to a Shakespearian Tragedy.

Rating:
Summary: May Be the Best Shakesperean Movie of All Time
Review: Julie Taymor has hit the ground running with this her first ambitious effort as a film director. In spite of some minor flaws, this ecclectic film based on the most popular play of Shakespeare's lifetime is a modern masterpiece. Taymor has found the thread that connects the grand guignol, blood and guts revenge tragedy of Titus Andronicus with our modern global decadence. Freely mixing images of modern Europe with Ancient Rome, Taymor reminds us that we may have far too much in common with the corrupt and amoral society presented in Shakespeare's first revenge tragedy.

Added to the visual beauty and intense imagery of Ms. Taymor's eye are a number of outstanding and outlandish performances. Anthony Hopkins is riveting in the title role. His quick descent into villany shows the true mark of most revenge tragedy heroes (Hamlet excepted). Jessica Lange rises nobly to the occasion in a role that is both exciting and challenging. If in an isolated moment or two she seems overwhelmed, the moment is short-lived as she both attracts and repels us as the evil antagonist, Tamora, Queen of the Amazons.

This most fascinating adaptation of early Shakespeare to film may very well be the best Shakespearean movie ever made.

Rating:
Summary: Arrestingly beautful!
Review: Taymor is a hero of mines in her work she always takes the complex works of her own or others and turns them into dramatic scenes of shocking beauty. For her first film she chose Titus Andronicus, Shakespeare's most violent and under valued play. Shakespare's dialogue in this film is the least complex of all his works and that makes this film a hell of alot more cohesive and fun to watch. The visuals are amazing from Lange in her corn rowed hair with touches of gold to Cumming's blood red cloak. Taymor mixes modern images and technology such as tv's and motor cycles with the setting in ancient Rome and for some unexplainable reason it works never once do you question it. Sheh gives cultural nods to such film classics as Westside Story to Gone With The Wind. But the film isn't all about looks the story has substance since it's based on revenge for ones family and respect for ones power we all can relate and the acting by all invloved is breathtaking most noteably Laura Fraser as Lavinia. What is done to her in this film will stand out from all the other acts and it will leave ice on your heart-the act is that cold and callous! Brilliant film and direction from Taymor I can't wait to see what she does next to top herself. She truly is one of a kind. This maybe way off topic but I think she would do wonders for the Batman series of films!

Rating:
Summary: Passions made real in a movie for the discerning.
Review: TITUS. VHS. ASIN: 6305963126

In the endless torrent of mindless trash which floods out of Hollywood, a welter which seems to have been deliberately designed to thrust already degenerate moderns into an even deeper degeneracy, and to portray human love as mere animality and lust, rarely, very rarely, and seemingly as a result of some strange oversight or accident, a movie comes along which - wonder of wonders! - is actually worth seeing. Such a movie is TITUS, Julie Taymor's brilliant adaptation of Shakespeare's early tragedy, 'Titus Andronicus.'

I must admit that I found the opening scene puzzling, and at first was not too happy about the movie's mixing of ancient and modern elements, but the symbolic significance of the ketchup soon became apparent, and one quickly adjusts to the semi-contemporary costumes, automobiles, loudspeakers, automatic weapons, and motorbykes.

The semi-modernization of the settings, which may seem gimmicky at first, does, in other words, work, if you give it a chance. I guess its most important effect is to make the characters more real and believable, and thereby able to generate much more powerful emotional effects, than if they had all been running around dressed in togas. And since music can make or break a movie, a word should be added here about Elliot Goldenthal's impressive score.

The real pleasure of this movie, however, derives not so much from its settings, effective as they are, as from the superb performances given by all of the main actors, certainly by Harry Lennix as Aaron the Moor, and most especially by Anthony Hopkins as Titus, who gave a performance, particularly in the closing scenes, that was pure genius and could scarcely have been bettered even by an Olivier.

Hopkins' richly sonorous voice, and his pacing and shading of Shakespeare's marvelous lines - for example, in the kitchen scene - his finding of precisely the right rhythms and emphases and intonations, preparatory to his calm gutting of the degenerate and worthless offspring of Tamura, is a joy to behold : "Come, come, Lavinia ; look, thy foes are bound. . . . O villains, Chiron and Demetrius, / Here stands the spring whom you have stained with mud, / This goodly summer with your winter mixed. . . " (5.2.166-71). Hopkins here gives us acting at its very finest, and since everything in the modern world daily seems to become more and more shoddy and unreal, I begin to wonder if Hopkins may not be the last true actor we will ever see.

It is Anthony Hopkins great distinction as an actor that he is able to feel his way into the lives of tormented creatures such as the much-abused Roman General Titus Andronicus, or the psychopath of genius, Hannibal Lecter, and make their passions real to us. Hopkins' stunning performances draw us in, and make us actually feel the extreme passions that consume his characters, make us, in the words of the British poet Ted Hughes, feel "what a passion feels like to the one possessed of it" ('Tales from Ovid,' page ix).

What TITUS has to offer, then, is not Hollywood's usual fare - the lives of unreal dummies being acted out by equally unreal dummies - but men and women made seemingly real by Shakespeare's artistry, and whose reality, captured and projected by superior acting talent, becomes, for a time, our own felt reality. Don't miss this superb movie!

Rating:
Summary: Post-modernistic style visualized
Review: Some minor spoilers ahead!

I have to say that I used to hate this film. However, after being introduced to some studies on post-modernism, this film suddenly came back to my mind because it brings onto screen a fairly important aspect of post-modernistic style: the "retro-fashion" (thanks to my prof), that is, the deviation from historical accuracy and confounding mixture of various periods of the past (and the present as well, I think)... The "stages" of history are broken and everything gets mixed up into this incoherent concoction of noise and gore and vibrant colors.

"Titus" is innovative and reflects a daring director's hard work. The film appears to bear many of the popular attributes of modern cinema, namely scenes with people getting whacked and hearts with burning desire of vengence. To fully appreciate the experience one probably has to read the play first, because the first time I watched it I only knew that Titus was a violent literary experiment by the early and inexperienced bard. Consequently,as I have said earlier, I developed this abhorrence of this heap of nonsense. Now I still have not read the play but I have the feeling (through my customary assumption) that the film is quite faithful (in the sense of actors reciting the text) to the play, if one can pardon the noise.

If you are looking for demonstrations of violence and audacity, you would probably find only a few satisfying segments in this film. (I was disappointed) "Titus" is worth checking out for once, just to see how the filmmakers can accomplish with such a low budget, and above all, get a visualization of the result of eliminating the boundaries of culture and historical periods.

Rating:
Summary: TITUS is a masterpiece!
Review: i can't say enough good things about this movie. julie taymor truly deserved an oscar for the directing. the sets and costumes were just breathtaking. the acting was second to none. and of course it's shakespeare so you can't go wrong with a twisted, engrossing plot and a shocking end. it IS a tradgety tho: there is a lot of violence and death, so this may not be one for kids. the movie plays out in a mix of eras- ancient rome, 16th century england, the romance of the 1940s, with modern and futuristic fashions. this is a feast for the eyes, ears, and emotions. don't pass this movie up!!