Titus
Short description
Julie Taymor's Titus is an adaptation of William Shakespeare's earliest tragedy, in which the Roman general Titus Andronicus returns victorious from war against the Goths. He brings the defeated queen Tamora and her sons back to Rome as captives, and his decision to sacrifice one of them sets off a cycle of revenge that escalates into murder, mutilation and slaughter, drawing in the imperial struggle over who will rule Rome. Taymor wrote the screenplay and directed the film, her first feature, followed by Frida, Across the Universe, The Tempest and The Glorias. Anthony Hopkins plays Titus, with Jessica Lange as Tamora, Harry Lennix as Aaron, Angus Macfadyen as Lucius, and Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Matthew Rhys as Tamora's sons. The production, made across the United Kingdom, Italy and the United States, cost about 18 million dollars and took roughly 2 million dollars worldwide.
On IMDb the film holds a critics' rating of 6.6 out of 10 from 77 reviews, slightly above the audience score of 6.4 out of 10 on TMDB from 294 votes.
What's left behind the scenes
- The film was going to receive an NC-17 rating for scenes of violence. To get an R rating, Julie Taymor had to make concessions and cut several scenes.
- After Caesar's death, the colors on the flags were the same as those of two rival Italian football clubs – Roma (yellow-red) and Lazio (white-light blue).
- The microphone used by speakers is decorated with the SPQR News logo, where SPQR is an abbreviation of “Senatus Populusque Romanus,” meaning “The Senate and People of Rome.”
- All scenes in the Colosseum were filmed in the Croatian city of Pula because filming in Rome was impossible, as the Colosseum there has no floor.
- Sir Anthony Hopkins confirmed that working on the film was very difficult and that he decided to retire from cinema after filming. In the same interview, he stated that in the banquet scene toward the end of the movie, he imitated great British actors Sir John Gielgud, Sir Ralph Richardson, and Sir Laurence Olivier.
- Julie Taymor and Sir Anthony Hopkins could not agree on the mental state of Titus, played by Hopkins. Taymor believed that Titus behaved the way he did because he was truly insane, while the actor maintained that his character was only pretending to be mad. They remained divided in their opinions until the very end of filming.
- Julie Taymor was very keen to avoid an 'NC-17' rating (no one under 18 admitted) and even trimmed the orgy scene to secure an 'R' rating (under 17 requires an accompanying adult). The scenes of violence were not an obstacle to the 'R' rating. Frankly speaking, there were no actual sex scenes in the film, only naked bodies.
- None of the characters in the film wear green at any point. The only greenery in the movie is the vegetables in the kitchen, as well as the leaves and grass in the forest scenes. According to Julie Taymor, the color green symbolizes safety and comfort; therefore, she instructed costume designer Milena Canonero to use only metallic shades and red, blue, gray, black, or white for the clothing.
- Director, screenwriter, and producer Julie Taymor used old props and costumes (including chariots, tanks, swords, and machine guns) in the film to use symbolic language to depict 2,000 years of war and violence.
- Sir Anthony Hopkins played King Lear on stage over a hundred times and Mark Antony over a hundred times as well, after which he swore never to perform in William Shakespeare's plays again. Shortly before he was offered the role of Titus in this film, he had been offered the same role in a British theatrical production, but he declined. Initially, he also rejected Taymor's offer, but after seeing her stage production of 'The Lion King' as well as her production of 'Oedipus Rex,' the actor changed his mind and agreed.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
