Titus. (1999)
Anthony Hopkins, Jessica Lange and Alan Cumming star in Julie Taymor's deliciously lurid interpretation of Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus. Titus is an intense exploration of humanity's darker recesses. A tour de force of revenge, rape, dismemberment, madness and cannibalism.
Often reminding me of Derek Jarman's Jubilee with its punk rock delinquency, Titus is a film full of juxtapositions and anachronisms, hence the Roman centurions and their modern day fire arms and the merging of Mussolini's Italy with the ancient Roman Empire, not to mention pool tables and video game arcade machines. The film was shot on location at Cinecitta studios in Rome and utilized many iconic locations making the film a visual treat as well as a fine literary adaptation.
With a cast also including Angus Macfadyen, Colm Feore and Jonathan Rhys-Meyers and special effects by Sergio Stivaletti, Titus is a highly recommended take on a literary classic.
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