Titus

"The fate of an empire. The descent of man."

1999 2h 42m EN

😐

6.4

MID

★6.4TMDB · 296

DramaHistory

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Titus Andronicus returns from the wars and sees his sons and daughters taken from him, one by one. Shakespeare's goriest and earliest tragedy.

“The fate of an empire. The descent of man.”

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Cast

Anthony Hopkins
Titus Andronicus
Jessica Lange
Tamora
Jonathan Rhys Meyers
Chiron
Matthew Rhys
Demetrius
Harry Lennix
Aaron
Angus Macfadyen
Lucius
Colm Feore
Marcus Andronicus
Alan Cumming
Saturninus

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Julie Taymor
Writers: Julie Taymor
Languages: English, Latin
Countries: United Kingdom, Italy, United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

Clocks in at 162 minutes — on the longer side of feature-length cinema.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Earned back only 13% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

27 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Latin.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 3 countries: United Kingdom, Italy, United States of America.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Julie Taymor, shot by Luciano Tovoli. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Original score by Elliot Goldenthal. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Françoise Bonnot shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Julie Taymor directs. Luciano Tovoli behind the camera. Elliot Goldenthal scores. Françoise Bonnot cuts. A long sit — settle in. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in United Kingdom, Italy, United States of America. Dialogue in English, Latin.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Clocks in at 162 minutes — on the longer side of feature-length cinema.
2Earned back only 13% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
327 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
4Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Latin.
5International production across 3 countries: United Kingdom, Italy, United States of America.
6Directed by Julie Taymor, shot by Luciano Tovoli. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
7Original score by Elliot Goldenthal. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
8Editor Françoise Bonnot shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
9Anthony Hopkins and Jessica Lange and Jonathan Rhys Meyers carry the top of the cast.
10Marketing tagline: "The fate of an empire. The descent of man.".
11IMDB entry: tt0120866 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
12Classified under 9 themes, including "rome, italy", "loss of loved one", "repayment", "battle for power".

The technical file

Cinematography: Luciano Tovoli
Original score: Elliot Goldenthal
Editing: Françoise Bonnot
Production design: Dante Ferretti
Costume design: Milena Canonero
Sound: Lora Hirschberg
Runtime: 162 min · 2h 42m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $18,000,000
Box office: $2,259,680
Return: 13% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Titus (1999)

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Julie Taymor

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What people are saying

CinemaSerf2023-08-28
★ 7/10
Sir Anthony Hopkins is the eponymous general who returns, victorious, from war and to great acclimation. He declines the throne allowing the elder son of his predecessor "Saturninus" (Alan Cummings) to accede instead. The new Caesar quickly declares his intention to marry Titus' daughter Lavinia (Laura Fraser) - a match nobody is keen on. She tries to flee, but her father prevents this escape, killing one of his own young sons in the process - but the damage is done. The emperor marries "Tamora" (Jessica Lange) - a hostage Queen of the Goths brought back from the war and what now ensures is Shakespeare at his most brutal - just about every crime in the book is featured - a battle for survival in which no-one is safe. The style of this production mixes the traditional (Oscar nominated) costume based drama with a more modern interpretation of other aspects of the complex story. The screenplay does try to stick to the play in general (though the men in the pie bit is perhaps an addition!) and the quirky nature of the characterisations are well captured by the likes of Cummings - a sort of Charlie Chaplin meets Hitler persona; Harry Lennix stands out as "Aaron" - a man who really epitomises evil and there is fun to be had from "Demetrius" (Matthew Rhys) and "Chiron" (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) whose leather clad antics are worth seeing before pie-dom looms. The direction from acclaimed theatre director Julie Taymor offers us quite an unique perspective on this lesser known but powerful tale of lust, greed and power and that perspective enhances some of the more physically (limiting) theatrical aspects of this play - especially when filmed out of doors. Sir Anthony is on authoritative form and Jessica Lange's malevolently sexy performance is probably the best depiction of that character I have seen on stage or screen. It's long, but then it's a long play so I'd get some Malbec in and enjoy!

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