Titus

Year:	1999
Country:	International
Language:	Multilingual
Genre:	Drama, History, Thriller
IMDB:	IMDB Page
Rating:	7.0 Rate
Collection:	Seen It Wishlist
Community:	1 Has Seen, 1 Wishlist


Director	Julie Taymor
Selected Cast	Anthony Hopkins
	Jessica Lange
	Osheen Jones
	Jonathan Rhys Meyers
	Alan Cumming as Saturninus
	Laura Fraser as Lavina

On DVD & Blu-ray World

DVD

Titus - Nordisk Film / Egmont - Sweden (2004)

DVD

Titus - 20th Century Fox - USA (2000)

Comments and Reviews


alexlincs 27th Dec 2020		Rated 7/10 Really difficult to rate this one as I am in two minds; it is dull, but it is gorgeous to look at. A 90s technostyle retelling of Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus. That is an achievement in itself. Titus is known as a tragedy. A fictional Roman army general Titus undergoes a long bloody war with Tamora, the queen of Goths. The theatre play is sometimes controversial when it is performed due to its violence and the rape of Lavina scene. Anthony Hopkins does a fine job as Titus. Alan Cumming is good as Saturnius, the Roman leader; a thinly veiled attempt to make him look like a fascist dictator; is he Mussolini or Hitler though? We also have the lovely looking Laura Fraser as Lavina. The acting is good across the board and intentionally camp. The over the top acting doesn't match what little action there is. The stabbings have most of the violence off screen. There's surprisingly little blood given the stageplay's reputation and even the rape of Lavina is subtle. Don't get me wrong I wasn't expecting Straw Dogs, but I was hoping for something to justify the 18 certificate. The film has Grade A production values with incredible set design and costumes. A throwback orgy scene to Barbarella, black Italian(?) motorbikes and bad guys who dress like extras from The Warriors albeit with bondage-style leathers. Shakespeare Purists will hate this, but it is its best feature for me. Really good original score as well. What ruins it for for me is it is way too long. At 162 minutes, it is an hour too long. I know it uses the original stage script for dialogue, but please cut it down. The 90s\early 00s saw similar updated versions of Shakespeare with the hugely successful Romeo + Juliet which filters the tragic romance through a club culture lens, Hamlet with Ethan Hawke which I've not seen, BBC series ShakespeaRe-Told which in my opinion and probably nobody else's was largely unfunny and not very clever and worst of all although not based on a specific play: Shakespeare In Love - dreck. This is with worth watching if you have the patience. As much as I like watching Anthony Hopkins in anything or Alan Cumming ham it up you need two cans of Red Bull to get through this one. Twilight Time's Blu-Ray feature a superb print free of damage and clean 5.1 sound as well as commentaries. Shame about the cost due to it being OOP, although I think it is the definitive version at present. 7 people found this review helpful. ✔︎ Helpful Review?

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