Customer Reviews

Titus

5 star:		(156)
4 star:		(49)
3 star:		(19)
2 star:		(12)
1 star:		(32)

 

 

Judging by the state of modern adaptations, it's not possible to take Shakespeare literally anymore. Either you bump him up a couple of centuries, a la Branagh's Hamlet, or you set him in some strange alternate universe (the most recent Romeo and Juliet). Director Julie Taymor (Broadway's Lion King) opts for the latter with Titus, and brings feverishly heightened visual acuity to the larger-than-life story.

The play Titus Andronicus is Shakespeare's first tragedy, and it shows. Though the dialog is top-notch, he hasn't got a handle on the mechanisms of tragedy yet. The action veers from bloody misfortune to misfortune without the internal logic of, say, King Lear. In modern terms, it's more "Nightmare on Elm Street" than "Fargo."

None of that matters, however. Taymor has chosen a fantastic cast, including Hopkins as the titular Roman general drivin to the brink of madness, Jessica Lange as his sultry nemesis, the Goth queen Tamora (proving how smolderingly sexy middle age can be), and Laura Fraser skillfully underplaying a potentially histrionic nightmare. The superb performances thoroughly mask the creaks in the plot.

More than anything, however, the production design is worth .... Taymor's absolutely insane in the best possible ways. Her Shakespearean Rome is an anachronistic stew -- jeeps and motorcycles share the roads with carts and horses, soldiers fight with arrows, knives, and guns. The costumes must be seen to be believed. Taymor keeps a firm reign on the disparate design elements, filling each frame with fever-dream colors and subtle symbolism. There are images in this film that will be permanently seared into your subconscious.

I recommend this to everyone (over 17) except the usual crowd -- Shakespearean purists won't like it, the squeamish will lose their lunch halfway through it, short attention spans will balk at the 2:30 running time. If you're none of those, snag this DVD and watch a fantastic flick. Then watch it again with the director's commentary. Then devour the added material on the 2nd disc.

Sometimes art must be endured rather than enjoyed. Titus is a harsh story, with little sympathies to be given to either hero or villain. This is the first movie I have seen for along time that made me flinch at the sheer brutality of its characters. Every conceivable crime manages to make it's way into this film. Rape, mutilation, murder, cannibalism, war, lies, and betrayal are all dished up in liberal portions.

And yet, Julie Taymor has taken this play and made something amazing. The characters exist in a blended world of Rome under Caesar and Mussolini. It is a visual masterpiece. Titus Andronicus (Anthony Hopkins) is a military man, who trusts in the divine right of the emperor. When that trust is betrayed in the harshest way possible, Titus begins a slow descent into madness and revenge. Tamora (Jessica Lange) is the conquered Queen of the Goths who finds a new seat of power as the wife of corrupt Emperor Saturninus. And most impressive is Aaron the Moor, who has no loyalties other than his own love of evil. A villain who can be said to be the only winner in this sad tale.

I bought this disc without having seen the movie because I figured, hey, Shakespeare, Anthony Hopkins, an inexpensive 2dvd set-it's worth taking a chance! Well I am most certainly glad I did. Julie Taymor's adaption of "Titus Andronicus" is a spectacle of theatrics, brilliant acting coupled with stunning photography and a deft amount of wit. A story of crime, punishment, and most importantly, revenge, the play is generally considered the least of Shakespeare's works (although I'd take it over one of his banal comedies any day) but it stands as one of the strongest film adaptions of the Bard's work I have seen. Hopkins plays the title role with all the elgance we've come to expect from one of our greatest living actors, but it's clearly an ensemble. Every actor here gets his or her moment to shine, including a surprisingly strong Jessica Lange and the scene-stealing Henry Lennix. His performance is brilliant as the embodiment of evil in that he doesn't sneer and brood and cackle with devilish laughter but rather delivers his lines with eloquence-he's charming,intelligent and TOTALLY unrepentant. Some contrivances in the plot do occasionally hinder the screenplay, as do some of the anachorisms; at times they're brilliantly symbolic and at other moments just distracting. But it all adds up to a very powerful film that is TRUE tragedy in the sense that there is no moral to the story. If you purchase the dvd, be sure and check out the feature loaded second disc, including a wonderful Q&A session with the director as well as a enjoyable hour long "making of" documentary.

A friend loaned me his copy of Titus. He didn't set it up anymore than to tell me it was a Shakespearean play. He knows I prefer it that way. He's a good friend and once again I thank him for another great tout.

I began to watch the movie about 3:00AM fully expecting to watch an hour or so, until I got too tired to watch anymore. The beginning was so engrossing I knew I had to turn it off after five or ten minutes because this fascinating and wholly unorthodox adaptation of the Bard's most violent play not only required but deserved my complete attention for which I would be richly rewarded.

I like Anthony Hopkins a lot but not for the roles that most the general public like him for, i.e. Silence of the Lambs and Magic. This enlivening portrayal I find far more satisfying than the those others. This is a character of deep motivations created by years of warring in the name of the Empire. These motivations cause Titus Andronicus to make a situtation calamitous to him and his family.

Though Titus' character is by many times the most richly drawn, the other principals are also very absorbing and perfectly played. Alan Cummings was surprisingly effective as the increasingly tyrannical Saturninus. Jessica Lange seemed, at first, to be a curious choice as Tamora, Queen of the Goths but she was splendid. I found all the performers to be exceptional.

This is a very violent story but it is shot in a non-exploitive way, though the revelations still manage to shock. Director Julie Taymor, in a most impressive feature film debut, adapts the screenplay from her own stage production. Her vision plays with the period setting incorporating many 20th century devices. I found her style reminiscent of Ken Russell but more mannered which, considering the subject matter, was an insightful decision. As Taymor states in the excellent extras section, she better captured the soul and moral meaning of the play by avoiding the excessive visuals that I think most interpretations would have not avoided.

All in all, this story of revenge is the most I have ever enjoyed Shakespeare and is definitely(incidentally, "definitely" seems to be the most misspelt word among Amazon reviews, there is no a in definitely)one of my favorite Hopkins' performances. Anyone looking for a literate, albeit catastrophic, entertainment should find this abundantly satisfying.

(I had an advanced view of this dvd) Let me start off by saying - I went into seeing this movie with a big head...I thought the movie was going to be one of the best Shakespearean adaptations from play to movie ever because I had read the play before and love it. It falls a little because of the length - but Anthony Hopkins and Jessica Lange make up for the 162 minutes of movie. Victorious general, Titus Andronicus, returns to Rome with hostages: Tamora queen of the Goths and her sons. He orders the eldest hewn to appease the Roman dead. He declines the proffered emperor's crown, nominating Saturninus, the last ruler's venal elder son. Saturninus, to spite his brother Bassianus, demands the hand of Lavinia, Titus's daughter. When Bassianus, Lavinia, and Titus's sons flee in protest, Titus stands against them and slays one of his own. Saturninus marries the honey-tongued Tamora, who vows vengeance against Titus. The ensuing maelstrom serves up tongues, hands, rape, adultery, racism, and Goth-meat pie. There's irony in which two sons survive. The dvd is packed with many features including two commentaries. They are both insightful and informative. Their is a nice making of documentary that goes some what indepth in the movie but it's no Fight Club. Round of is the theatrical trailer. In the end..the movie(to me) was great! I would rather have extras on the dvd than none at all - so that was a plus. Bloody and vulgar, -- See it with a clear head..you won't like it if you don't like to hear about racism, rape, etc. etc.

Blood, sex, gore, rape, mutilation, wild orgies. Shakespeare? You realize this isn't going to be a standard Shakespeare adaptation when only 15 minutes into the film, you see a modern boy messing up his whole dinner table and action figures with ketchup, male full frontal nuditity, and someone's guts sizzling in a sacrificial flame. Surprisingly, Julie Taymore's adaptation doesn't stray too far from the original Shakespeare tragedy, 'Titus Andronicus' although it may seem like that because it's so damn entertaining. What brings Titus truly alive and makes it comprehendable from a modern standpoint is that each scene contains elements from separate time periods- architecture, cars, and guns from Fascist Europe; pool tables, arcade games, and heavy metal from the MTV age, swing music and Chaplin-ey dark makeup from the roaring 20's, and old, clanky military costumes from ancient Rome, the time period in which the original play was set. Titus follows an ensemble cast, Anthony Hopkins, Jessica Lange, Laura Fraser, Angus McFayden, Colm Feore, Alan Cumming, Jonathon Rhys-Meyers, and the standout Harry Lennix through a cold and bloody revenge spree started when Roman general, Titus (Hopkins) returns from war and sacrifices Gothic Queen Tamora's (Lange) eldest son for religious purposes. Soon after, Tamora vows revenge and marries the bufoonish emperor Saturnius (Cumming), sends her two obnoxious sons off to brutally rape and mutilate Titus's virginal daughter Lavinia (Fraser- in what's sure to be one of the most harrowing scenes in film history) and has Titus cut off his own right hand in vain. Everything about this is horrible. But it's directed with such a furious zeal for the material that each scene plays like Scream- in poetry. Indeed Titus is much closer to a modern horror movie than any Shakespeare adaptation in sight. And believe it or not there is a message behind Titus. A message that speaks volumes about violence, and directly reflects back on our culture. The way violence can either be passed on generation through generation. The way cruelty backfires. And the constant reprucussions because of one violent, maybe even righteous act. If Taymore supplies the entertainment, Shakespeare supplies the meaning.

The other reviewers are right: this is a very very bold masterpiece. Julie Taymor pulls off the trickiest moments by taking the greatest risks -- and using brilliant actors working at the height of their powers with a REAL script. (Even Angus MacFayden, so awful in "Cradle Will Rock", is dead-on here.) You will hear and understand every syllable of Shakespeare's dialogue. Everyone and everything hits its target -- even a *baby* nails its moment. This is amazing for a film that doesn't play it safe. No tricks, no gimmicks, no flashiness, despite the impression given by accounts of mixing historical eras and the extravagant brutality. It's easy to describe the risks Taymor takes, but hard to do justice to her success. You'll have to take my word for it that despite the iambic pentameter, the armor alongside the punk leather, the Roman orgy set to swing music, the clowns who deliver Titus his severed hand and his son's heads in a circus wagon, the visions of humans as predatory animals and the cannibalism at the dinner party ambush, this film feels far more real and convincing than the usual streetwise smartass "gritty" b.s. Hollywood action picture. The film is so alive, so brave, so total and has such range that my sweet, gentle wife and I came out of the theatre feeling elated, not depressed, and saw it again.

And if you're as tired as we by so many movies with nothing but 20-something beautiful (usually white) actors living 20-something fantasies, then feast your eyes on surprises like Jessica Lange: maternal, sexy and dangerous in middle-age, and not intimidated by Shakespeare -- 20+ years ago people thought her a shallow ingenue -- or the electrifying Harry Lennix in what may be the greatest part given to a black actor in decades, an actor of such fearsome command, intelligence, and vitality he balances the towering, magisterial and heartbreaking Anthony Hopkins. And praise Taymor herself for showing what a chick can do with the most violent and hated play in the Men's Department, i.e., theatre's greatest male writer. This is a smart, muscular, dynamic show of humans at their worst. The only "woman's touch" is her use of young Lucius, playing with war toys then witnessing unspeakable crimes, finally carrying Aaron's baby out of the Colosseum into ... what? It probably wouldn't have occurred to a male director to wonder what this horrible world could do to a small son of soldiers who must take his place in it.

The era-mixing works. Mussolini wanted to revive the Roman Empire, so Taymor blends the fascist decadence of each; what registers with you is their *moral* consonance. It seems perfectly natural for Tamora's sons, Gothic boys of the forests bred to war in animal skins but now running free in decadent Rome, to degenerate into Eurotrash punks with their first-person-shooter video games, speed metal and predatory violence; it works psychologically.

Must quibble with a few other reviewers: Cummings is superb, but plays it nowhere near mad; his Saturninus is a canny politician seizing his moment. Hopkins won't bring Hannibal Lecter to mind; his Titus is an old warrior more interested in honor and a peaceful rest for his many fallen sons than in blood or power -- yet believes so in authority he kills his own son for defying him. His two fatal errors in judgment bring such horror he nearly goes mad from grief, but makes you feel what he feels, as if you might say and do what he does. The film is in no way "wacky": this humor is very very grim, laughter in the graveyard by characters staring into Hell. And if this is Shakespeare's "worst", it's relative: the play is full of indelible lines.

Weep with Anthony Hopkins as Titus Andronicus, hope you never have to look into your own heart for evils greater than those inflicted on you, just so you can find rest.

Tonight, I saw Titus a second time. Although I rated it 5 stars after my first viewing, I'd rate it 10 stars after seeing it a second time. I remarked after seeing it the first time that its acting was "very competent." This second time, not paying so much attention to plot, I could see that the acting of ALL the actors and actresses was superb, worthy of all sorts of Oscars--perhaps even a sweep, maybe for music, too. This movie is heads and shoulders above almost all other movies.

During the first viewing, my impressions were of on-the-fly reactions to plot, anticipation and surprise. With attention to plot out of the way, what I continuously noticed the second time was the extraordinary quality of everything in the movie.

Concerns about violence in the movie are overblown and overstated. The violence was mild compared to most action movies. Instead of violence, emphasis was instead on murderous intent, upon the shocking passions of the men and women for revenge, and not upon the blood, itself.

I believed I understood the movie after my first viewing, which was that it was a morality play taught to a 21st century young boy dragged back into time to witness up close real violence contained in a Shakespearean play. Now, after a second viewing, I'm not so sure I understand the ending (that the boy, really the only "adult" in the movie, learned his lesson and walked away from violence to a new dawn of caring). I'll probably have to see it a third time and listen more closely to the ending dialog.

This is a highest-quality movie. You won't be bored, ever. It deserves multiple viewings. It's visually rich--and that's an understatement--in the best Felini style. The acting performances will always entrance the audience. I had much higher opinions of all the other actors besides the two or three most important ones, this second time around.

This is more than a good movie. It's a masterpiece on a par with only a handful of legendary movies. If you want a high-quality video (when it finally comes out), this is one that will entertain everyone on many different levels. But if you can, see it in the theater!

I'd now agree that the director of this movie is a genius, just like the hype says. This is a director to watch for in the future, like Felini.

Again, don't worry about the violence. Violence is low key compared with modern action movies. What makes the violence much more riveting are the passionate performances of the actors and their focus on unrepentant revenge and viewing some purely evil-minded people. I personally would highly recommend this movie for young-teen audiences, too, as a morality play with a message. This is high-school-class material that teachers should think about showing to kids and talking about it later.

Don't miss the first minute of the movie, or you won't have a chance of understanding this movie adaption!

As a non-fan of Shakespeare I approached this film with some trepidation, and came away from it feeling as though I had undervalued the worth of his works. As other's have said, Julie Taymor's interpretation of this play is visually stunning and inventive to say the least; however the sense I was left with in the end was not so much of an impression of her work alone as that I had just for the first time been truly moved and disturbed by violence in a film ... that Shakespeare and Taymor together had presented a story which wholly lacked the cartoon quality to violence often found in films and therefore made it impossible to remain distant from the work. In my opinion, that alone is worth far more than five stars. As for Anthony Hopkins acting in the role of Titus himself, twice I literally gaped and whispered "wow." Shakespearian purists are likely to be put off by the sometimes abstract quality Taymor brings to scenes, and to follow the language does demand one's full attention sometimes, however the film is beautiful, emotionally involving, and entirely worth it.

William Shakespeare's tragedy "Titus Andronicus" gets something of a Baz Luhrmann "Romeo & Juliet" style treatment from director Julie Taymor, in her visionary film adaptation of the play, "Titus," starring Anthony Hopkins and Jessica Lange. It's one of the more brutal and disturbing offerings from the bard, who seeks to expose the myriad chambers of darkness that can be found within the human psyche, which Taymor (who also wrote the screenplay) ferrets out and presents to optimum-- if often disconcerting-- effect. It's a tale of revenge and madness; of revenge born of grief, and madness born of sorrows layered upon sorrows that are simply beyond the endurance of mortal man, the attendant emotions of which Taymor captures in a tapestry of images plaited throughout this blood stirring drama, making it-- for better or worse (as this is one that's definitely going to "stay" with you awhile)-- an altogether unforgettable motion picture experience.

A soldier for forty years, General Titus Andronicus (Hopkins) has commanded the Roman legions to countless victories on the field of battle, and along with his army is just returned home from their latest conquest. Once in Rome, Titus will oversee the ceremonial salute to the fallen and the burial of those who died in battle; then he will attend to his prisoners, the Queen of the Goths, Tamora (Lange) and her three sons. For Titus, life is in order and all is well; but though he doesn't realize it yet, all of that is about to change.

Titus has four sons, but it is his only daughter, the beautiful Lavinia (Laura Fraser), who will play a leading role in the drama that is about to unfold, which begins with the untimely death of Caesar. Though it is but an opinion, when Titus is asked which of Caesar's son's he favors for succession, Saturninus (Alan Cumming) or Bassianus (James Frain), his choice holds sway, and subsequently triggers an irreversible chain of events which ultimately beget the final tragedy of the story. Before the end, however, Titus Andronicus will suffer the agonies of hell; but into that dark night, he will not go quietly.

Within the first few minutes of a film, a good director will let you know what you're in for, and Taymor succeeds in doing so here. The riveting opening sequence, in which Titus and his soldiers march in hypnotic cadence into Rome, sets the style and tone for all that follows. Taymor's staging and choreography are brilliant; orchestrated to draw in the audience and hold them, and she does, in absolutely mesmerizing fashion. Set in ancient Rome, Taymor nevertheless refuses to be bound by the parameters of "era," going "out of the box" to draw upon and blend time periods in an effort to realize her personal vision and bring her imaginative presentation of the play to fruition. There are microphones, for example, in front of the Capitol; and in procession through the streets of Rome, chariots are preceded and/or followed by automobiles and motorcycles. All of which is played out against a rhythm of excitement that effectively impacts the drama, bringing it all so vibrantly to life. To find the true pulse of the story, Taymor evokes a sense of Olivier/Welles/Branagh and fuses it with a combination of Luhrmann and "West Side Story," which makes her film not only emotionally involving and compelling, but visually stunning as well. And though she draws upon the best of the best to make her film all that it can be, what you see on the screen it pure Taymor; the expression of a unique and inimitable artistic genius.

As Titus, Anthony Hopkins gives a solid, if not his best, performance. His portrayal is thoroughly convincing (which goes without saying, of course, with Hopkins), but the usual pure and resonant timbre of his voice occasionally and quite noticeably falters, though his elocution remains a study in perfection. An actor who can play any role, Hopkins may always be remembered as Hannibal in "Silence of the Lambs," but without question, he was born to play Shakespeare. One would think, in fact, that his resume would be filled with cinematic adaptations of such; curiously, however, it is not. And while his Titus may be comparatively sub-standard "Hopkins," in the end, he manages to make the role his own with yet another memorable performance.

Initially, casting Jessica Lange as Tamora seems an odd choice, inasmuch as this is her first foray into the Shakespearian arena. In the final analysis, however, it is very much in keeping with the less than conventional approach Taymor employs here, and Lange comports herself well with her portrayal of the malevolent Queen of the Goths. She lends a definitive physical countenance to the role, and in her eyes you can discern the shadows that plague her soul and the fire that sparks her quest for revenge. It's a performance that goes far in demonstrating that Lange is, indeed, a consummate actor, with a range that substantiates her stature as an Oscar winner.

Also turning in performances of note are Cumming, who is deliciously loathsome as Saturninus; Fraser, whose Lavinia is endearingly fragile and vulnerable; and Harry J. Lennix as the manipulative, despicable Moor, Aaron.

The supporting cast includes Colm Feore (Marcus Andronicus), Angus MacFadyen (Lucius), Osheen Jones (Young Lucius), Jonathan Rhys-Meyers (Chiron), Matthew Rhys (Demetrius), Kenny Doughty (Quintus), Blake Ritson (Mutius), Colin Wells (Martius), Raz Degan (Alarbus), Ettore Geri (Priest) and Constantine Gregory (Aemelius). There's no escaping the fact that the story of "Titus" is gruesome, to say the least. Many will find it offensive, even insufferable, especially the ending, which is a sordid business no matter how you slice it. But the vigor and vision of Taymor's production makes it engrossing, stimulating entertainment that is entirely accessible and will appeal to an audience that transcends hard core Shakespeare aficionados. If not madness, there is definitely magic in her method, which is more than evident on the screen. And that's the magic of the movies.