TITUS; taymor (1999)

While I can acknowledge that Titus Adronicus is not one of Shakespeare’s finest moments, Taymor’s imaginative and creative approach lends the film version some unexpected sense of (very black) humor. Titus stars Alan Cumming as the brattiest Saturninus you will ever witness, Jessica Lange as the golden and cunning Queen Tamora, and Anthony Hopkins as the old and tortured Titus Andronicus. Harry Lennix plays Aaron, the hidden star of this rendition of Titus. The conniving (secret) lover of Queen Tamora is just totally bent on wreaking havoc and generally knocking over the dominos of everyone’s lives. He gets some of the best lines in the script and is the antihero that rocks the boat of the film.
The setting blends contemporary urban attributes with classical ancient Rome vibes. The modern props hold symbolic significance —highly-polished muscle cars tote political candidates down claustrophobic cobblestone alleys, pinball machines and a jukebox occupy a stone chamber rec room for two spoilt and punkish princes.

In spite of the memorable art direction, narrative decicions, and admirable performances, lot of viewers downright hated it.

“One moment we see Roman soldiers in traditional 15th century garb then suddenly we see microphones, cars, motorcycles, Alan Cumming (wildly miscasted) wearing 1940’s leather coat and gloves, then we’re treated to 1980’s punk hairstyles and arcade games. What is the purpose with this? Stick to a single era.”
 — sanders_mike25, IMDB message boards, clearly unimpressed

“I say is a crappy movie because of it’s crappy and horrible adaptation. And that’s not just my opinion. The people would leave the theatre where I saw it.[…] Ps: by the way, I study film making, I´m not just an improvised critic.”
 — danielzuliani, IMDB message boards, not just an improvised critic

Taymor’s work isn’t Hollywood-polished; not that the film is sloppy or suffers from low budget syndrome — the contrary, really. Taymor’s art direction is notably avant-garde and stems from a life of theatre costuming and set design. Is there merit to the dissenting opinions? Maybe, or maybe not. It’s a refreshing departure from overproduced and predictable blockbuster design decisions, and speaks volumes about the perceived segregation between art and movies (read: entertainment).

If Taymor’s Titus came to Broadway in the same fashion as The Lion King (one of Taymor’s other directions), would it earn the same befuddled backlash? Film may be the most flexible creative medium ever, and yet it seems many film lovers are turned off by anything non-representational in movies. When the only limit is imagination, why are film-makers criticised for creating something wild?