Reviewed by Jeff McNeal
July 28, 2000
20TH CENTURY FOX
Drama
Widescreen 2.35:1,
Anamorphic - Enhanced for 16×9 viewing
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
Color
162 minutes
Rated R, 1999
COMMENTS I have the feeling that this film wasn’t seen by many moviegoers in 1999. I know that I don’t get out all that much these days, but I’d never even heard of TITUS until it showed up at our HQ recently. All I know, is that I was intrigued when I opened the package containing this two-disc set. Thank goodness that Anthony Hopkins recanted his decision to leave acting a couple of years ago. He’s made some terrific movies since then and TITUS is one of his best ever.
One of our alert readers informed me that this very production is what prompted Hopkins to throw in the towel, which is surprising since he contributes to this DVD by way of commentary during specific scenes. It seems Hopkins had a change of heart somewhere along the way and we’re the happier for it. Perhaps it was that thick blue paint he was plastered in and forced to endure for the promo shots. I mean, enough is enough, right Tony?
Directed by Julie Taymor (who had received acclaim for her stage adaptation of “The Lion King”) and adapted from one of William Shakespeare’s first successful and most enduring plays, Titus Andronicus, Taymor brings to the screen an abundance of sure-handed direction gleaned from her stage adaptation of TITUS.
Personally, I have never been a big Shakespeare fan. His dialogue typically involves too much work for my neanderthal brain to keep up with and interpret. I might as well admit that I did not care for SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE while I’m at it. Sure, Gwyneth Paltrow was cute, the costumes and set design were first-class, the supporting cast solid and the story mildly entertaining. But for me, it was a ponderous snore.
Given the fact that Sir Anthony Hopkins had the title role in TITUS, starring opposite another of my favorite underrated actors, Jessica Lange, I simply had to give this film a chance.
Is it too late for me to become a fan of Shakespeare now?
In experiencing TITUS, I discovered one of the most interesting films from 1999 that I have had the pleasure of reviewing. I came away from the screening both haunted and mesmerized. Not too many films have that kind of effect on me.
TITUS is a highly stylized adaptation of Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus that travels through time, not unlike Andrew Lloyd Webber’s JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR. Only this is not a musical. TITUS is a dark, shocking, absorbing examination of the human heart pushed to excruciating extremes; driven by revenge, betrayal, vengeance and love.
Though mildly distracting for the first few scenes, the melding of modern dress and various props with ancient Rome works just fine by me. From chariots to motorcycles… oil-burning torches to remote-controlled halogen spotlights… or togas to tailored suits… the imagery that comes from TITUS is fresh, inventive and brash in its’ contemporary stance. Once you have seen TITUS, you won’t soon forget the dramatic staging and haunting CGI effects which are incorporated into the tragic, yet compelling story line. One of the pitfalls of being a film or DVD reviewer, is that we often receive so much content to review, we simply don’t have the luxury of going back to enjoy our favorites again. I am making an exception to this reality for TITUS. My next review will simply have to wait.
The words which are spoken by the actors comes straight from Shakespeare with very little intervention by Taymor. This of course means that at least some of the dialogue is going to do in one ear and out the other — at least for admitted Shakespeare-o-phobes with average vocabulary skills such as myself. However — and this is a very big however — once you get into the rhythm of the dialogue and the flow of the script, understanding and/or interpretation is no longer an issue. The motivation and intent of the characters becomes crystal clear, except we’re really not certain what drives Aaron the Moor into doing some of the things he does. We certainly know what drives him towards the end of the film, however. Like Andronicus, his character makes a 180 degree swing out of phase into a different mindset altogether, once his circumstances change and he adapts to them.
The symbolism that Taymor uses to translate ideas from the stage onto the screen are magnificent. Note how Hopkin’s character begins wearing black and as the film progresses, dons various shades of grey until the final moments of the picture when he is adorned in bright white from head to toe. Externally, he appears innocent and benign to his enemies, yet internally, his tortured soul has become darkened and malignant with bitterness and rage.
Having the intimate experience of conducting the stage play, Taymor knew exactly how she wanted to shoot this film and therefore no storyboards were used. Even some of the actors were surprised by this and felt as though she wasn’t shooting enough film to cover enough angles for later use. As it turns out, according to Taymor, only about 10 minutes was trimmed from the 162 minute film during editing.
I highly recommend watching the Q&A with Julie Taymor that was filmed at Columbia University just after a screening of the film there. In a format reminiscent of The Actors Studio, Taymor is accompanied by a professor onstage who serves as the moderator and accepts questions from the film students in the audience. Taymor’s intelligence and connection with the subject material becomes obvious very quickly and adds a new dimension of appreciation to the film. Her comments are really quite fascinating.
Though I normally don’t get too excited about liner notes, I heartily recommend that you read the included film review from a guy who knows a lot more about Shakespeare than I ever will — Jonathan Bate of the New York Times. Like Shakespeare himself, Bate likes using those big words — and wields them well, providing the rest of us with a better understanding of “the big picture”.
Another reason to experience this two-disk set besides the fascinating movie itself, are the running commentaries by Julie Taymor and composer Elliott Goldenthall (with an isolated score) and an additional commentary track with scene-specific commentary by Anthony Hopkins and Harry Lennix (Aaron). Lennix, while unknown to most viewers, is the only actor to make the transition from Taymor’s stage adaptation of Titus Andronicus. Hopkins’ comments don’t always seem to jibe with what’s happening on the screen, but they are of great interest nonetheless because they reveal certain insights into his method of acting and provides us a sneak preview of things to come including the reprise of his role as Hannibal Lechter in the forthcoming sequel to THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS. Hopkins also reveals his disregard for critics, including Charlton Heston whom he claims “hated the movie” because “he expected us to all walk around in togas, I guess”.
Although TITUS features Jessica Lange in a prominent role, the real story is between Andronicus and Aaron, a Moor who is exceptionally evil and manipulative simply for the sake of being so. Watching the transitions that these two characters go through while maintaining a sense of wit and fierce purpose throughout the film is the greatest joy of watching TITUS. If you’re as big a fan of Anthony Hopkins as I am, you owe it to yourself to race out and pick up a copy of this fascinating, shocking and deliciously disturbing film. Complex, riddled with black humor, sarcasm and symbolism, TITUS is truly a magnificent, contemporary masterpiece.
SYNOPSIS The movie begins in a very contemporary and somewhat confusing fashion that symbolizes how our culture derives entertainment from violence. We see a young boy at his kitchen table surrounded by toys as he watches violent content on television. Before we know it, the little boy is going berserk, toys are being mutilated, ketchup is flying everywhere and we’re thinking “huh”?
Hang in there, though. A moment later, the child is swept up by a soldier and transported back in time to ancient Rome, and it is there where we see the drama unfold through the young boys’ eyes. At first simply a sad witness to the carnage, the youngster eventually succumbs to it and becomes an eager participant in the ensuing drama.
Titus Andronicus is a loyal general to the Roman Empire. Returning triumphant from a battle with the Goths, he offers the eldest son of the Goth Queen, Tamora (Jessica Lange) as a live sacrifice to the gods, despite her tearful and desperate pleadings for her son to be spared. Titus, a warrior and fiercely loyal to tradition is unresponsive to Tamora’s maternal horror and misery.
Meanwhile, Saturninus (Alan Cumming) and his brother Bassianus (James Frain) are vying for power in the wake of the death of their father, Caesar. The Tribune, Marcus (Colm Feore), announces that his brother, Titus Andronicus has been elected by popular vote to succeed Caesar.
After leading Rome in battle for 40 years and having no interest in politics, Titus declines the honor and responsibility of becoming Emperor and announces that Saturninus, the eldest son of Caesar, shall rule all of Rome, instead. Ironically, this becomes a decision Titus will come to woefully regret, for Saturninus, the impetuous, tempermental and immature weasel that he is, is eager to misuse the power he now wields.
As his first decree, Saturninus announces his intention to marry Titus Andronicus’ daughter, the lovely and gentle Lavinia (Laura Fraser), who is betrothed to Saturninus’ one-time rival for power, Bassianus.
Although Titus is clearly not pleased with Saturninus claiming his daughter as his bride, Titus is a loyal subject of Rome and slays one of his own sons when the lad tries to block the path of his father, in pursuit of a fleeing Lavinia and Bassianus.
Titus is furious that his sons have dishonored him by conspiring to deny Saturninus the prize of Lavinia, and Titus’ sense of loyalty for Rome clearly outweighs his sense of loyalty to his own flesh and blood.
Saturninus, himself furious of the dishonor and treachery of Titus and his clan, impetuously decides that Tamora shall be his bride instead, thus freeing her two remaining sons, a wild and aggressive pair named Dimitrius and Chiron, placing her in a dangerous position of power and influence which she shall use in vengeance against Titus for murdering her first born son.
Another who is captured with Tamora and her sons is a Moor named Aaron (Harry J. Lennix) who seems to have some sort of a relationship with Tamora which becomes more clear as the film progresses. Aaron delights in treachery and goes in league with Tamora in order to help her exact her revenge against Andronicus. Aaron prevents Dimitrius and Chiron from destroying each other with their jealosies and raging hormones and instead manipulates them into eventually channeling their destructive focus upon Bassianus and Lavinia. But that will come later.
Disarming her enemies by insisting that Emperor Saturninus pardon Andronicus and his sons — and Lavinia — for their act of treachery, Tamora and Aaron begin to lay the groundwork of an elaborate scheme that will destroy Andronicus by decimating his family, reducing the once-great warrior to madness, tearfully pleading for mercy upon a deserted crossroad of stones for the lives of his sons.
The two were framed of the murder of Bassianus, who was actually slain by Dimitrius and Chiron, who further devastated Andronicus by ravaging Lavinia and ensured that she could never identify her attackers — or so they thought.
Andronicus, feigning insanity to Tamora, is in fact plotting his own revenge in a most inspired way that truly takes the cake — and came close to converting me to vegetarianism. Considering some of the other “meaty” roles that Anthony Hopkins has played in the past (and shall play again, hint,hint), the shocking conclusion of TITUS seems strangely appropriate. By the end of the story, Dimitrius and Chiron, along with Tamora, Aaron and Saturninus all receive their just “desserts”, but at an extremely heavy cost to TITUS.
IMAGE 
Fox has done it again. At one time the bane of the true DVD enthusiast, Fox seems intent on making up for lost time in a big way, with some of the finest transfers we’ve seen lately. The color palette that director Taymor has chosen is limited to help bridge the gap of time that is used throughout the production. Look for heavy emphasis on white, black, grays, blues and reds — though occasionally other colors are used. The lighting is powerful and dramatic throughout the film with wonderful texture and shadows which are created by careful placement. The effect is surreal and stage-like and works wonderfully. Black level is deep and solid, shadow detail is excellent and clarity is outstanding at all times. The print is completely devoid of nicks, dirt or scratches and appears pristine in every detail on our 119 in. reference screen.
To see how few five globe ratings we issue to DVD’s is to check our “Premium Picks” page at TheBIG PictureDVD.com. See how fewer still that we issue five globes for picture and sound. TITUS is in very select company around here. It will look superb on any size display — but from our perspective naturally, the bigger the better. If it wasn’t for the unlimited refills and real butter on the popcorn, I would have sworn that I was in a commercial theater while watching this DVD.
SOUND Julie Taymor had known composer Elliott Goldenthal for at least 15 years prior to the making of this film. They say familiarity breeds contempt, but in this case the familiarity turned into an enormous challenge for Goldenthal after Taymor had gleaned portions of previous scores that Goldenthal had recorded over the years for various films and used them as “temp” tracks for TITUS. This place to Goldenthal in the unenviable position of having to create a new score that built upon or otherwise exceeded his previous works. During the Q&A that’s included on the supplemental disc, Taymor vows to never put Goldenthal in that position again in the future. Ironically, we are the beneficiaries of Goldenthal’s labor and are rewarded with an outstanding score that accompanies the visuals with equal weight. Frequency response is wide and dynamic, with bone-piercing brass and thundering bass.
Just as the visuals travel through time, so too does the musical styles. For instance, during the scene were Saturninus and Bassianus are vying for support from the masses, each in their own version of the Pope Mobile, the music is very contemporary, edgy jazz that clicks and pops to a snappy beat.
The BIG Picture is pleased to award our highest honors for sound as well as picture. So long as you can stomach the violence and funky orgy scene contained in TITUS, you will be rewarded with the best in image and sound that the current limits of DVD technology allow.
Although the spoken word was clear and easy to discern from the music and background effects, thanks to Will Shakespeare’s other-worldly command of the English language, even the subtitles couldn’t help me with some of the dialogue. Suffice to say, the next time I watch TITUS, and may have to resort to using a dictionary to help the sort things out. I look forward to the exercise.
