"Titus," a gruesome tale of the sweetest revenge, can be summed up flawlessly by the opening line of the musical "Chicago," "Murder, greed, corruption, violence, exploitation, adultery, treachery - all those things we hold near and dear to our hearts."
I doubt Shakespeare scripted orgies, arcade video games, or obnoxiously banal bookends for his deliciously appalling tragedy, "Titus Andronicus." Yet here we are, 400 years later, soaking in Julie Taymor's campy and freakish adaptation of the Bard's most sanguinary work which she says, "speaks directly to our times, when audiences feed daily on tabloid sex scandals, teenage gang rape, and the private details of a celebrity murder trial, when racism, ethnic cleansing, and genocide have almost ceased to shock by being so commonplace and seemingly inevitable. Our entertainment industry thrives on the graphic details of murders, rapes and villainy, yet it is rare to find a film or play that not only reflects on these dark events but also turns them inside out, probing and challenging our fundamental beliefs on morality and justice. For Titus is not a neat or safe play, where goodness triumphs over evil, but one in which, through relentless horror, the undeniable poetry of human tragedy emerges in full force, demanding that we examine the very root of violence and judge its various acts."
Today on "Where Are They Now?" we have Academy Award winners Anthony Hopkins and Jessica Lange, Tony Award winners Alan Cumming and Julie Taymor, and the self-proclaimed greatest writer of all time, William Shakespeare. Hopkins, who won an Oscar for playing Hannibal "The Cannibal" Lecter in the 1991 film "The Silence of the Lambs," is back in another human flesh munchfest, this time one written by The Bard. Although the performance as the great Roman general Titus is powerfully preeminent, it lacks the bite that made Hannibal such a kick to watch.
The Queen Bee is Titus' archenemy. No, not Li'l Kim! I'm talking about the venomous Queen of the Goths played libidinously by Jessica Lange, Tamora who is married to Saturninus, played by Alan Cumming, Queen of the Cross-Dressing Broadway Singers and Dancers. See, Tamora is PMSing because Titus slew her first-born son despite her begging for his life. And now, she's planning a number of dirty double crossings and revenges to be exerted upon him, his friends, his family, his reputations, his sanity....
And the woman helming it all is none other than that evil mastermind also behind the Broadway adaptation of "The Lion King," Julie Taymor. Like Baz Luhrmann (Romeo + Juliet) before her, Taymor tries a number of attention-grabbing concepts to update this Shakespearean work, and like Luhrmann before her, several of them fail horribly. Some are fiercely disturbing and memorable; some are obliviously insipid and uninspired. There's an MTV music video halfway through the film that is absolutely vapid and just takes up precious screen time.
Julie opens "Titus" with a strikingly lame introduction that is supposed to link the play to modern times. A young boy with a paper bag over his head plays with toy soldiers and sprays ketchup on them. This sequence lasts an astoundingly tedious 5 minutes. What’s worse, is that the film ends with this same boy walking into "the light." Talk about disrespecting The Bard.
There are only two ways to review a Shakespearean play and a Shakespearean adaptation. If the Shakespeare play has great dialogue, nothing else matters, it's a Shakespeare play that's main objective is to have great dialogue, monologues, and duets. For a Shakespearean adaptation to be successful, all that is truly necessary is adequate interpretation and superb acting performances. And you bet your ass "Titus" has excellent performances.
However, like most Shakespearean adaptations, there's always a couple of weak links, and this is no exception. For every strikingly stirring Shakespearean rant and rave spewed by a veteran actor or actress (Hopkins, Lange, Harry J. Lennix, Colm Feore), there's a boring and juvenile high school performance by what seems like amateurs (Cumming, Matthew Rhys, Jonathan Rhys- Meyers).
No matter how many shots I take at "Titus," nothing can fade a movie that is this far-out. Any movie that can be called "Shakespeare on Crack" is untouchable. "Titus" is the freakshow we have no choice but to stare at with uncontrollable awe.
- © 2000 by Donlee Brussel
You can read this review at http://illmatic- mind.epinions.com/mvie-review-4D8F-1085790D-38BB8880-prod2
And other reviews on the same topic at http://illmatic- mind.epinions.com/mvie-Titus_1999
Check out my profile page at http://illmatic- mind.epinions.com/user-donlee_brussel
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