| Titus | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Julie Taymor |
| Produced by | Conchita Airoldi |
| Written by | William Shakespeare (play) Julie Taymor (script) |
| Starring | Anthony Hopkins Jessica Lange Alan Cumming Harry Lennix Angus Macfadyen |
| Music by | Elliot Goldenthal |
| Distributed by | Twentieth Century Fox |
| Release date(s) | 26 December 1999 |
| Running time | 162 min. |
| Country |  Italy United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $20 million |
| IMDb profile | |
Titus (1999) is a 1999 film adaptation of Shakespeare's revenge tragedy Titus Andronicus, about the downfall of a Roman general. It was the first film of the play (aside from TV productions). The film was made by Overseas Filmgroup and Clear Blue Sky Productions and released by 20th Century Fox. It was the directorial debut of Julie Taymor who co-produced and wrote the screenplay. It was produced by Jody Patton, Conchita Airoldi and executive produced by Paul G. Allen. The film stars Anthony Hopkins and Jessica Lange, with Alan Cumming, Colm Feore, James Frain, Laura Fraser, Harry Lennix, Angus Macfadyen, Matthew Rhys, and Jonathan Rhys Meyers. Geraldine McEwan also has a small role.
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Background and production
Director Julie Taymor took Shakespeare's script, added various linking scenes without dialogue (while cutting some of the text) and set the play in an anachronistic fantasy world that uses locations, costumes and imagery from many periods of history, including Ancient Rome and Mussolini's Italy. The opening scenes are perhaps among the most arresting in modern film, with a heavily choreographed, stilted and chilling triumphal march of the Roman troops, complete with motorcycle outriders. The selection of music is similarly diverse. Apart from the deliberate anachronisms, the film follows the play quite closely. One of the experimental concepts in the film was that the character of Young Lucius (Titus' grandson) is initially introduced as a boy from the present who finds himself transported to the fantastical reality of the film. At the beginning of the film his toy soldiers turn into Titus's Roman army. At the end, when Titus' son Lucius avenges his father by condemning Aaron to a painful death, the boy takes pity on Aaron's baby son. That gives the film a more humane and hopeful ending. It is debatable whether the original play had such a positive ending, since some critics regard Lucius as a "severely flawed redeemer": Lucius was keen to lynch Aaron's baby, and his insistence on human sacrifice started the cycle of violence in the first place.
- LUCIUS. Give us the proudest prisoner of the Goths,
- That we may hew his limbs, and on a pile
- Ad manes fratrum sacrifice his flesh
The film was shot at Cinecittà , Rome and on location at the EUR in Rome, Pula, Croatia and Tampa, Florida, USA.
Although the film did not do well at the box office, it was praised for its visual inventiveness. It is, so far, the only theatrical film based on a Shakespeare play in which Anthony Hopkins plays the leading role (he played Claudius in the 1969 version of Hamlet, as well as Othello on television). In the film's dinner scene, Hopkins mimics the characteristic delivery of the three great British theatrical knights, John Gielgud, Ralph Richardson and Laurence Olivier.
Cast
- Anthony Hopkins - Titus Andronicus
- Jessica Lange - Tamora
- Jonathan Rhys-Meyers - Chiron
- Matthew Rhys - Demetrius
- James Frain - Bassianus
- Laura Fraser - Lavinia
- Harry Lennix - Aaron
- Alan Cumming - Saturninus
- Colm Feore - Marcus Andronicus
- Osheen Jones - Young Lucius
- Angus Macfadyen - Lucius
- Kenny Doughty - Quintus
- Blake Ritson - Mutius
- Colin Wells - Martius
- Raz Degan - Alarbus
Trivia
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- In the bath scene, the wall behind the soldiers, from which the water flows, is a copy of the Tomb of Eurysaces the Baker
- The microphone on the podium during the election scene near the beginning of the movie has the call letters "SPQR" on it. SPQR stands for Senatus Populusque Romanus, which is Latin for "The Senate and People of Rome." The letters were used as a sigil for Rome (as a republic as well as the later empire), much in the same way that "USA" is commonly used to represent the United States of America. The abbreviation "SPQR" can still be seen in many parts of Rome to this day.
- Saturninus' and Bassianus' banners, and animal symbols, show the colors of the two roman soccer teams: Saturninus' red and yellow and the wolf for A.S. Roma , Bassianus' azure and white and the eagle for S.S. Lazio
- A number of musical cues from the film "300" bear a striking resemblance to Titus' entry march from the score, for more see below for the soundtrack.
Soundtrack
The score to the film was created by Taymor's long-time friend and partner Elliot Goldenthal and is a typical Goldenthal soundtrack with an epic, inventive and dissonant feel.
