From the Jan 27 – Feb 2, 2000 issue

Film

Violence Done Right

Julie Taymor Takes on Titus

by Steve Wiecking

"I THINK IT FEELS LIKE it's before its time. It was obviously of its time, and its time is our time. I feel that there's a really strong parallel," says director Julie Taymor of the vital nature of Titus Andronicus. "[Shakespeare's] got nihilism; he's got traditionalists; he's got fascism... he explores every facet of violence, which is a very big part of our culture now -- not just American, [but] world culture. You have a consciousness in the late 20th century that makes it just shocking still that we are such a violent people. It's very much the essence of the nature of being human. [Shakespeare] has really done the thorough dissertation on why man is a violent being."

An articulate, wildly creative theater director who is making her feature film directorial debut, Taymor means business. She's the woman who took the pop appeal of Disney's The Lion King and gave it heft and resonance with an acclaimed Broadway production, which also featured her costume designs, mask and puppet co-designs, and her additional music and lyrics. Her Shakespeare adaptation, called simply Titus, may grab you by the jugular, but unlike most commercial films, its visceral turmoil isn't dubiously gilded excess.

"I was very careful about how to support the violence," she says. "One of the things that I remember experiencing when we were putting temp music down before Elliot [Goldenthal, the film's composer] did the score: the pre-rape scene when [Chiron and Demetrius] are circling around Lavinia -- we tried rock and roll. Which is absolutely what every contemporary movie would have done. And it made me freak out. I said, 'This is absolutely cheap, dangerous -- and if I do this, then I am doing exactly what I loathe about all those films, which is making it fun and making it from the rapists' point of view.' So Elliot and I said, 'No, let's not do this; let's do it from the fear. Let's do it from her.' I was very critical about how I would show each mode of violence. [The violence in the film] is almost terrifying in its sheer nakedness."

The concern that Taymor shows for the story's human elements, and the unique style with which she uses it to broaden a tale of revenge into the hope for a brighter future, make Titus a rewarding cinematic experience. The story of a prideful general (Anthony Hopkins) and a ritual killing that begins a maelstrom of vengeful hatred, Titus fairly seethes with tragic consequence, the blackest of humor, and juicy acting bits, without ever losing sight of its greater vision.

"There are a lot of things that are tricky for directors. That's why this play can be very bad," she says. "The play isn't bad, but its productions can fail. They can become Grand Guignol -- they don't take the poetry, they don't take the weight of it. I feel like I tried -- and with my actors, we were on a mission -- to take the weight and have the substance there."