Most literary critics regard William Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus as his worst play. It is a violent work with horrifying acts of brutality including rape, cannibalism and dismemberment. The theme is revenge and the revenge is a bloody mess. First-time director Julie Taymor seems to be exacting a cruel revenge on what otherwise could be an amazing film.
The opening scene of Titus is a strange metaphor for the rest of the film. A young boy in a contemporary kitchen is sitting a table covered with breakfast foods and toy soldiers. Wearing a bag over his head, the boy begins to toss the toys around, makes a mess of his food and uses everything within his grasp to create a chaotic mix of toys, ketchup and breakfast.
Taymor's previous efforts have all been for the stage, most notably Broadway's The Lion King. But she makes a mess with her first cinematic project, bombarding the audience with incoherent special effects and unclear symbolism.
For example, the small boy in the opening scene gets whisked away into the story of Titus. At first he says nothing and just watches, becoming part of the periphery. But he assumes a role later in the film. The reason that he changes from symbol to character? I don't know. Tapped the casting budget, maybe?
At other times this over-the-topness is projected via oddly timed cuts to burning fire and flying body parts. The flying body parts are a useless metaphor for the film's violence. Someone needs to call the obvious police. As for the glowing fire and the spiraling, beating torsos, I could have survived this movie without having been reminded of exactly what a torso looks like every five seconds. Thanks to a gratuitous orgy scene, I got so many close- ups of naked bodies. Descriptive orgy murals reminded me of what sex looks like. Thanks for the reminder.
The early scene in a coliseum with Roman soldiers marching in lockstep (almost like a missing dance number from The Lion King) is a gorgeous use of costume, set and makeup-then the tanks and motorcycles come in. Taymor has mixed the ancient elements with 1930s Fascist Italy. Later some of the characters play arcade games and shoot pool. Taymor truly has made a timeless film, as in "what the hell time period does this take place in?" Luckily she scrapped a scene that took place on a moon colony....
Even though there is so much wrong with the direction the film succeeds because of its performances. Anthony Hopkins portrays Titus as Hannibal Lecter meets Hamlet. His performance, for all its intensity and skill, is exceeded by Jessica Lange and Harry J. Lennix as the villains Tamora and Aaron. Alan Cumming plays a flamboyantly pompous emperor with hilarious perfection. Colm Feore portrays the role of Titus' brother with a moving sadness that becomes increasingly sharp as the tragedy unfolds.
The set pieces, costumes, makeup and cinematography are all dazzling in their own right. Even the editing is solid, with this 400-year-old play spoken in iambic pentameter sporting a Michael Mann quickness in each scene.
But Taymor nearly kills everything good about this film with her blind, uncontrolled audacity. Titus is still one of the young year's best, but one has to wonder what it might have been had Taymor left some cookies in the jar.
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