It's no easy feat to stand out among the many, many Shakespeare film adaptations created in the last century, but Julie Taymor's 1999 epic Titus does indeed stand tall. The director's adaptation of Titus Andronicus stars the likes of Anthony Hopkins (in the titular role), Jessica Lange and Alan Cumming — a rare revenge tale that manages to balance high camp with deeper explorations of power and corruption.
As the film approaches its 25th anniversary, event space and private members' club NeueHouse hosted Taymor for an exclusive screening of the film followed by a Q&A session with the director, alongside composer Elliot Goldenthal and actor Harry Lennix. During the post-screening talkback, Taymor praised Hopkins' involvement in particular: "When the lead actor gets it, people fall in line; otherwise, you're just an absolutely lunatic director who doesn't know what they're doing."
Taymor's discussion of the film spoke to Shakespeare's ability to "blend time" and remove social situations from their temporal moorings. "What he did as an artist was to take the current situation out of the current environment so that people could face it," Taymor said. "That's how they can see themselves." She also highlighted how Titus Andronicus exemplifies Shakespeare's youth when he wrote it: "It does have that young man's fury, that young man's anger."
Taymor also took time to discuss the racial aspects of the film, especially in contrast to Shakespeare's other works. "I think the racial aspect of this play is beyond genius," Taymor said. "Many people don't think there are other African-European parts [in Shakespeare] beyond in Othello. But Aaron is a far superior character, for me. Aaron very honestly says exactly what his violent nature is and how the racism explains a lot of his nihilism."
Taymor, who has directed three Shakespeare adaptations, spoke most highly of Titus. "Titus Andronicus is the greatest Shakespeare play," she said. "I find it so moving."
Photography: Alyssa Lester
