TITUS (1999)

[indianasmith]

So where do you put a movie that is a brilliant adaptation of Shakespeare's WORST play?

I watched this years ago when it first came out, and recently I've caught substantial chunks of it as it's been playing on the Audience network on DirecTV.  It is brilliantly cast, with Sir Anthony Hopkins in the title role, and Jessica Lange as his nemesis, the Goth queen Tamora.  The setting is supposed to be ancient Rome, but it's a Roman Empire that exists with early to mid-20th century technology.  Some of the sets are incredibly elaborate, and the armor and clothing conveys a sense of ancient Rome with the feel of modern Europe.

But the story?

What was Shakespeare smoking when he wrote this crap?????

TITUS (based on the play Titus Andronicus) features dismemberment, rape, cannibalism, orgies, betrayal, revenge, and did I mention that the Emperor gets served his own stepsons cooked up inside a meat pie?  Or that poor Titus severs his own hand as ransom for his sons, only to have the hand and their severed heads returned to him?  Or that his daughter is raped, and her assailants cut out her tongue and cut off her hands to keep her from identifying them?

According to Felton and Fowler's Best, Worst, and Most Unusual, this is not only Shakespeare's worst play, it is actually so bad that if you were  unfamiliar with his body of work and read this one first, you would advise him "not to quit his day job."

Every bad movie lover needs to see this one!

[claws]

Always wanted to see that one. Stores in our area only got a few copies of the DVD for sale back then. By the time I wanted to buy the film wasn't available anymore. The disc also went OOP very quick.
Maybe someday....

[Rev. Powell]

I really want to see this again, I remember liking it a lot when it came out. I would have put it in "good movies," though I kind of understand why you put it here. Trivia: the director, Julie Taymor, went on to direct the Broadway adaptation of THE LION KING.

[Trevor]

www.takealot.com has it on sale at ZAR 66 (about $7).  

http://www.takealot.com/titus-import-dvd/PLID996407?utm_source=vizury

[BoyScoutKevin]

I saw in on TV a number of years ago. Probably the thing I remember the best, is the beginning, which starts out in such a way, I actually thought I or the TV station had made a mistake, and I was totally watching a different movie than the one I wanted to see.

What the play is was Shakespeare's attempt to imitate the violent and bloody revenge plays which were being written by his contemporaries at that time and were extremely popular with audiences.  It is only later, when Shakespeare found his own style of writing, that he became the Shakespeare we know and studied in school.