Titus: Shakespeare written for the big screen

Titus Andronicus is considered Shakespeare’s worst play by many Shakespearean experts. Maybe that’s because Shakespeare wrote a screenplay, not something for a single stage.

Titus is a massive tale of revenge, family, honor, betrayal, and death. Not only is Shakespeare’s play a fascinating tale, but Julie Taymor’s depiction of the story is epic in scope and beauty. With a mixture of periods in costumes and settings, the play loses all reference to any specific time period and becomes its own world.

The Plot

Oh geez. This is REALLY complicated.

Titus Andronicus (Anthony Hopkins) is a general who arrives back in Rome after defeating the Goths. The Goth queen, Tamora (Jessica Lange), her three sons, and her Moor attaché, Aaron (Harry J. Lennix), are Titus’ prisoners. Because many of the Andronici (gotta love the Latin plural) sons were killed in battle, Titus orders Tamora’s oldest son sacrificed for his sons’ burials. Tamora pleads with Titus, but he doesn’t budge and before you can say boo, her son’s entrails are being put on a fire. Ewww… And thus begins the tale of revenge.

As Titus is returning to Rome, the Emporer Saturninus (Alan Cumming) chooses Titus’ daughter, Lavinia , as his wife. This is a problem for Lavinia and the Emperor’s own brother because the two are betrothed. But Titus believes duty to his country comes first and he offers Lavinia’s hand. This won’t last, however, because Levinia’s brothers help her and her man escape, and Titus ends up betrayed by his own family.

Although the Emporer is angry, he quickly takes Tamora as his bride and she becomes the Empress. So now she hates Titus and she’s in power. Uh-oh.

Meanwhile, Tamora’s two remaining sons decide they both love Lavinia and they’re going to get her any way they can. Aaron helps them plan a horrible event that leaves the Emporer’s brother dead, two of Titus’ sons held responsible for the murder, and Lavinia without hands or a tongue and raped.

You’d think this was pretty bad for Titus, but it gets worse. He starts to lose his mind about his sons, and is convinced by Aaron to cut off his hand in order to get his sons back. It doesn’t work (well, the cutting off his hand part does, but the getting his sons back doesn’t). Meanwhile, his other son gets banished, and his two “guilty” sons get killed. Poor Titus.

While all this is happening, Tamora is living the good life and enjoying her affair with Aaron. Her sons are also living it up in a Rock-n-Roll fashion. As one last stab at Titus, they decide to disguise themselves as gods and get Titus to make a fool of himself one last time.

What they don’t know however, is that Titus isn’t that crazy and he knows that they are responsible for all of the horrible events that have happened to his family. When Tamora’s godess character goes off, her sons are left behind for Titus to kill. And kill he does. Nothing like serving up a meat pie to your enemies, is there?

Just so you don’t think Shakespeare is promoting revenge and killing, almost everybody dies at the end.

What makes this movie so great?

If you’ve read my brief plot description you’re probably thinking “Egads! That’s awful!” And yeah, it’s not a pretty tale. But it is very interesting, the actors are amazing, and the characters are wonderful. There is humor and evil and good in every character and it makes them fascinating to watch.

But the real reason why I think this is such an amazing movie is because of Julie Taymor’s eye for visuals. In the DVD version of this movie you can view a Making Of documentary that really shows her talent for picking exactly the right props and costumes. But you don’t need that documentary to know that she is a genius.

The choice of the building for the Emporer as well as the odd choices of juxtaposing 30’s jazz music, black leather longcoats, and roman robes, seem strange at first glance, but blend beautifully together to create a mesmerizing image. I think it is something that is best experienced on a big screen, but it comes through in any wide-screen version.

I also have to stop and mention the fantastic costumes. Tamora’s gold breast-plate and red riding suit are absolutely gorgeous. The Emporer’s long black coat and weird little suits are incredibly cool. And every little detail of all of the outfits is fantastic. Also, the sets are often breathtaking. The scene of the Emporer’s big metal chair with a big metal wolf-head over it is humorous (and meant to be) but it is also striking. The choice of the outdoor location of the crossroads (also very symbolic) make you wonder where you can find this place because it’s so gorgeous!

Who should (or shouldn’t) see this

This is not a movie for everyone. Yes, it is Shakespeare, so there is a tiny bit of a learning curve to it (I’ve seen a zillion plays and it still takes me many minutes to get used to the language). Also, it is quite disturbing in some places. Hands cut off and people being ground into pies might be a bit much for some younger viewers.

But if you like a tale of revenge, or horror, or like complex characters, or just like gorgeous sets and costumes, Titus is incredibly worth the 3 hours in time. I cannot recommend this movie enough. It’s an amazing film and I can’t wait to see what’s next from Julie Taymor.