by Catherine Marquis-Homeyer
staff editor

Murder, betrayal, revenge. "Titus" is a film based on Shakespeare's play "Titus Andronicus" and is directed by Julie Taymor, whose Broadway production of "The Lion King" amazed audiences with it's darkly dramatic and original costumes, sets and staging. This film is a movie version of her staging of "Titus Andronicus," perhaps Shakespeare's darkest tragedy, and it is therefore probably better suited to this gothic, dreamlike treatment than the highly-regarded "Lion King." "Gothic" is an especially good word for the look of this film, with actors clothed in black, with dark hair and pale complexions, stark sets that look alternately like Roman ruins or stark modern architecture, and scenes that are dominated by the colors black, white and red. These factors combined with a creative use of photography creates a very unusual and creative film adaptation that shows that Taymor is as skillful on film as in the theater.

The story opens as the Roman general Titus (Anthony Hopkins) is returning to Rome, along with his warrior sons, after having defeated the northern Goths. He has returned with captives: the Queen of the Goths, Tamora (Jessica Lange) and her three sons. Despite Tamora's pleas, Titus executes her oldest son and therefore earns Tamora's undying hatred. The events that follow this incident put Tamora in a position to exact revenge on Titus and his family.

A number of recent film versions of Shakespearean plays have chosen to re-stage the stories in a different time period. Director Taymor has taken this a step further by setting this play in an indistinct time period, drawing on elements from classic Rome and the present, along with futuristic hints, bits of Nazi Germany and the '30s, and touches of the '50s. These hints of different times are mixed within single scenes, so that we get Roman chariots alongside 1930s motorcycles and touring cars, with the whole scene tied together by minimal sets and the unified color scheme. The whole effect in such scenes is one of foreboding and drama, well suited to a play whose dominant theme is revenge. Other scenes, such as of palace revelry, are suffused with a more golden and glittering look, reminiscent of 1950s Las Vegas, also appropriate for that scene. In addition, photographic special effects create a dreamlike atmosphere, pointing toward particular subtext of the characters or action and helping tie the film together as a whole. This is an intensely visual film, and this approach adds a kind of visual beauty to a rather grim play. Since this is an adaptation of Shakespeare's work, some dialog has been changed or eliminated but enough remains to please the listener.

The acting, as one would expect, is outstanding, with Hopkins carrying a lot of the drama with style and power, as his character moves from rigidly loyal to his leader to a more cunning man beset by tragedy. Reed-thin Alan Cumming, with a Hitler-like haircut, is chilling as the treacherous Caesar Saturninus. Lange is especially powerful as Tamora, in one of the best performance I've seen from her. Supporting players also were excellent, with a standout performance by Harry Lennix as Tamora's aide, the unrepentantly evil Aaron.

The story includes quite a bit a violence, most of which is mercifully off-stage, making this the bloodiest of Shakespeare's plays, but the symbolic staging of the scenes and the marvelous visual effects make the story so visually stunning that the film is worth seeing for the visual experience alone. (Now playing at the Tivoli)