Titus

'Titus Andronicus' enjoys the rather dubious distinction of being one of the least performed works by William Shakespeare, a possible corollary to it also being one of the bloodiest of his works, as well as the recipient of many a chilly critical response, which lingers over the title as though it had once been accused of some great crime. Certainly one of the most argued upon of Shakespeare's plays, 'Titus Andronicus' calls forth a myriad of disagreements and hypotheses with regard to authorial intent and, most tediously, those who persist in disputing the authorship of the work as one bearing Shakespeare's name.

Some have taken to see the work as a wicked send-up of Rome's decadent ruling class, as the gore and violence are so overblown and unrelenting, the suggestion that it is anything else seems too farfetched. Meanwhile, others have taken to describing it as an answer to the immensely popular revenge stories/tragedies of Shakespeare's fellow playwrights, which considering it was written roughly six years before 'Hamlet,' might be saying something with regard to Shakespeare's relative inexperience concerning some of the more prevalent concepts, and could therefore help explain why many see it as such a divergent work from what came afterward.

And while discussions of Shakespeare's intent and questions of authorship have their place, the latter must be pushed aside when discussing Julie Taymor's lavish and wildly imaginative 1999 film version of the play, simply titled 'Titus.' Starring the likes of Anthony Hopkins, Jessica Lange, Alan Cumming, and Colm Feore, the movie is a visually stunning interpretation that, for many, set a new standard for presenting the Bard's work to a modern filmgoing audience – that is: in addition to staying true to the play's objective with regard to narrative, character, and overall gist, 'Titus' played around with visual components that alluded to, or otherwise made more applicable to contemporary viewers, the story's key concepts through the use of various anachronisms bridging the gap between the time in which the play was written, initially set, and when it was being watched. Now, this was by no means a new concept, but what makes Taymor's adaptation so unique is that in her exhaustive efforts to bring a specific aesthetic and design to the production, she effectively created an artistic endeavor that's arguably more powerful and evocative than the work on which it is based.

It could also be argued that 'Titus' has served as the template for future Shakespearean productions, such as the 2010 BBC version of 'Macbeth,' starring Patrick Stewart that contemporized the story of the Thane of Glamis as a metaphor for the rise of Stalin and the protracted conflict the Cold War. But Taymor's work here is more akin to fantasy, the kind of thing that could be compared (at least in its visual ambitions) to her work onstage with 'The Lion King.'

The nightmarish quality of the material, however, and the unrelentingly savage, yet viscerally dazzling violence erupting from the screen, move 'Titus' miles from anything remotely related to the Broadway smash. As the titular Titus, Hopkins begins a harrowing decent into the black belly of human nature, when the conquering hero returns to Rome with Tamora (Jessica Lange) and her three sons (Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Matthew Rhys) in tow. Titus promptly offers up the queen's firstborn, Alarbus (Raz Degan) as a sacrifice, setting in motion a cruel campaign of bloody one-upmanship that soon has Titus, his sons, and daughter Lavinia (Laura Fraser, 'Breaking Bad'), caught in an endless cycle of bloody retribution. For her part, Tamora seduces Saturninus (Alan Cumming), who has recently been made emperor, while continuing to plot her vengeance against Titus with her Moorish lover, Aaron (Henry Lennix).

Taymor's prowess for infusing her film with luscious, ornate costumes, sumptuous backgrounds, and, most of all, overt anachronisms that somehow made the text relevant across a multitude of generations, lifts the Bard's poetic dialogue and gives it life beyond a stage production. For many it makes 'Titus' a feast for the eyes as well as the ears, while others have found Taymor's treatment of the material to be far too overwrought and heavy-handed, and its framing device one of many aspects of the superfluity of the film's unyielding, in-your-face design. While the film certainly benefits from Taymor's talented eye, and some terrific performances from Hopkins and Lange, there are some limits to how well all of it meshes together. For the most part, the varying depictions of warriors, conflict, and the media (and certainly Chiron and Demetrius' childlike consumption of it) are certainly captivating to watch, but for everything that works, there's an aspect of the symbolism that rings completely hollow at times, or otherwise suffers from being too on the nose in others. On the whole, though, 'Titus' comes off as such an ambitious production the various hits and misses of this particular interpretation will likely be as varied as the interpretations of the play itself.

Those who have not yet seen it may have already surmised that 'Titus' checks all the boxes when it comes to the necessities of revenge stories, as well as those pertinent to tragedies. While its tragic element is most certainly seen on-screen, in the form of all the suffering handed out (not a pun) to the various characters, it is perhaps more evident in how the wicked themes of 'Titus Andronicus' are still so relevant today, and how its text as well as Taymor's visual throughline of war, terror, mutilation, and worse, turn the spiral of death and destruction into an exploration into the very nature of violence itself.

The Blu-ray: Vital Disc Stats

'Titus' comes from Twlight Time as one of a limited run of 3,000 copies. It is a single 50GB disc in the standard keepcase, which includes a 4-page booklet with an essay written by Julie Kirgo. There are no previews on the disc, and the extras are all from the previous DVD release of the film.