- Overview
Titus Andronicus returns from the wars and sees his sons and daughters taken from him, one by one. Shakespeare's goriest and earliest tragedy.
- Release Date
25 December 1999
- DirectingJulie Taymor
- Budget
$0.00
- Revenue
$2,259,680.00
- Stars
Videos
User Reviews
See moreCinemaSerf
28 August 2023
Sir Anthony Hopkins is the eponymous general who returns, victorious, from war and to great acclimation. He declines the throne allowing the elder son of his predecessor "Saturninus" (Alan Cummings) to accede instead. The new Caesar quickly declares his intention to marry Titus' daughter Lavinia (Laura Fraser) - a match nobody is keen on. She tries to flee, but her father prevents this escape, killing one of his own young sons in the process - but the damage is done. The emperor marries "Tamora" (Jessica Lange) - a hostage Queen of the Goths brought back from the war and what now ensures is Shakespeare at his most brutal - just about every crime in the book is featured - a battle for survival in which no-one is safe. The style of this production mixes the traditional (Oscar nominated) costume based drama with a more modern interpretation of other aspects of the complex story. The screenplay does try to stick to the play in general (though the men in the pie bit is perhaps an addition!) and the quirky nature of the characterisations are well captured by the likes of Cummings - a sort of Charlie Chaplin meets Hitler persona; Harry Lennix stands out as "Aaron" - a man who really epitomises evil and there is fun to be had from "Demetrius" (Matthew Rhys) and "Chiron" (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) whose leather clad antics are worth seeing before pie-dom looms. The direction from acclaimed theatre director Julie Taymor offers us quite an unique perspective on this lesser known but powerful tale of lust, greed and power and that perspective enhances some of the more physically (limiting) theatrical aspects of this play - especially when filmed out of doors. Sir Anthony is on authoritative form and Jessica Lange's malevolently sexy performance is probably the best depiction of that character I have seen on stage or screen. It's long, but then it's a long play so I'd get some Malbec in and enjoy!
More Like This
Nobel Son
Soon after his insufferably arrogant father wins the Nobel Prize for chemistry, Barkley Michaelson is kidnapped by Thaddeus James, a young genius...
See more
Incendiary
A woman's life is torn apart when her husband and infant son are killed in a suicide bombing at a soccer match.
See more
Dorothy Mills
When a gloomy, God-fearing island community is rocked by the assault of an infant, a psychiatrist is called in to examine Dorothy Mills, the...
See more
If Only
After his impetuous musician girlfriend, Samantha, dies in an accident shortly after they had a fight (and nearly broke up), a grief-stricken...
See more
Gaandeweg
Sophie just finished high school and is going to college. This means she will have to move out of town and say goodbye to her mother, brothers...
See more
Week-ends
It sometimes takes little to spoil a weekend in the country. A simple misunderstanding in a supermarket parking lot, a bad reaction, and there you...
See more
Breadcrumbs
When Liliana decides to return to Uruguay she will have to face up to a new dilemma, perhaps the last great dilemma of her life: To choose between...
See more
Jugni
Jugni (Firefly) is the beat of the soul, the free-flying spirit. Jugni is Vibhavari (Vibs). Vibs is a music director, working on her first big...
See more
Not Here to Be Loved
Jean-Claude Delsart, a 50 years-old bailiff, with his worn-out smile and heart, abandoned a long time ago the idea that life could give him...
See more
Fat Girl
Anaïs is twelve and bears the weight of the world on her shoulders. She watches her older sister, Elena, whom she both loves and hates. Elena is...
See more
Munich
During the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, eleven Israeli athletes are taken hostage and murdered by a Palestinian terrorist group known as Black...
See more
The Last Samurai
Nathan Algren is an American hired to instruct the Japanese army in the ways of modern warfare, which finds him learning to respect the samurai and...
See more
Bridget Jones's Diary
Bridget Jones is an average woman struggling against her age, her weight, her job, her lack of a man, and her various imperfections. As a New...
See more
Life Is Beautiful
A touching story of an Italian book seller of Jewish ancestry who lives in his own little fairy tale. His creative and happy life would come to an...
See more
My Life Without Me
A fatally ill mother with only two months to live creates a list of things she wants to do before she dies without telling her family of her illness.
See more
A History of Violence
An average family is thrust into the spotlight after the father commits a seemingly self-defense murder at his diner.
See more
Walk the Line
A chronicle of country music legend Johnny Cash's life, from his early days on an Arkansas cotton farm to his rise to fame with Sun Records in...
See more
Hero
During China's Warring States period, a district prefect arrives at the palace of Qin Shi Huang, claiming to have killed the three assassins who...
See more