If we were to divide Shakespeare's tragedies, a good deal would take place in Rome or Greece. These plays include: Titus Andronicus, Coriolanus, Julius Caesar, Anthony & Cleopatra, Troilus & Cressida, Timon of Athens (Greece), etc., while others take place in Italy (Romeo & Juliet, for example). Titus Andronicus is based on the story of Procne and Philomela found in Ovid's Metamorphoses.
Procne avenges the dismemberment of her sister Philomela, whose tongue
is cut out after she is raped by Procne's husband Tereus, by killing her
son and feeding him to her husband. Just as Procne is driven by
revenge, the characters in Titus Andronicus are driven by revenge fueling the rape and carnage that occurs
throughout the play. Some of Titus' sons are killed during the war with
the Goths, and as a result Titus sacrifices Alarbus, the oldest of
Tamora's sons, perpetuating the conflict between the Andronicus family
and Tamora. With the intention of revenge, Tamora orders her sons Chiron
and Demetrius to rape Lavinia, Titus' daughter. Not only is Lavinia
raped, but she is brutally dismembered as her tongue and hands are cut
off. Titus eventually takes revenge on Tamora by killing and then
cooking Chiron and Demetrius into a pie and serving it to the Queen.
The play has characteristics similar to the work of Seneca, specifically his play Thyestes, which included horrific scenes of severed hands, cannibalism, and rape. Although violence was not uncommon in Elizabethan plays, Titus Andronicus stands out due to the volume and extremity of the violent acts committed. Unlike his other works, the play contains an uncanny number of crude and savage moments, which has sparked debate among critics as to whether or not the play was actually composed by Shakespeare.
Shakespeare likely would have been familiar with from Ovid's work, or Livy's work The History of Rome. It has been noted by critics that the play contains very few subplots in contrast to other works by Shakespeare such as Twelfth Night and A Midsummer Night's Dream.
Titus (1999)
Director: Julie Taymor (Across the Universe 2007; Frida 2002)
Cast (in order of appearance)
Osheen Jones.... Young Lucius
Dario D'Ambrosi .... Clown
Anthony Hopkins .... Titus Andronicus
Jessica Lange.... Tamora
Raz Degan .... Alarbus
Jonathan Rhys Meyers.... Chiron
Matthew Rhys.... Demetrius
Harry J. Lennix.... Aaron
Angus Macfadyen.... Lucius
Kenny Doughty.... Quintus
Blake Ritson.... Mutius
Colin Wells.... Martius
Alan Cumming.... Saturninus
Constantine Gregory.... Aemelius
Trivia: Director Julie Taymor fought against an NC-17 rating for the film, but finally agreed to make cuts in the Roman orgy scene in order to obtain an R rating. None of the gruesome violence, however, was considered inconsistent with an R rating.
• Following the death of Caesar, the two princes' supporters carry banners with the same colors as modern Rome's two rival soccer teams: A.S. Roma (yellow/red) and S.S. Lazio (white/pale blue).
• The microphone used during the election at the beginning of the movie sports the logo SPQR News, SPQR, stands for "Senatus Populusque Romanus" which means "the Senate and people of Rome." The letters were used to denote official entities. They can still be seen in many parts of the city of Rome to this day.
• In a TV profile on British TV in 2002 Hopkins confirmed that he had found the experience of working on this film so stressful that he decided at the time to retire from film acting. In the same interview Hopkins points out that in the dinner scene towards the end of the film he mimics the great British 'Knight' actors of Shakespeare, John Gielgud, Ralph Richardson and Laurence Olivier
• Goofs: Continuity: The position of the spoon as Lucius jams it down Saturninus' throat.
The play has characteristics similar to the work of Seneca, specifically his play Thyestes, which included horrific scenes of severed hands, cannibalism, and rape. Although violence was not uncommon in Elizabethan plays, Titus Andronicus stands out due to the volume and extremity of the violent acts committed. Unlike his other works, the play contains an uncanny number of crude and savage moments, which has sparked debate among critics as to whether or not the play was actually composed by Shakespeare.
Shakespeare likely would have been familiar with from Ovid's work, or Livy's work The History of Rome. It has been noted by critics that the play contains very few subplots in contrast to other works by Shakespeare such as Twelfth Night and A Midsummer Night's Dream.
Titus (1999)
Director: Julie Taymor (Across the Universe 2007; Frida 2002)
Cast (in order of appearance)
Osheen Jones.... Young Lucius
Dario D'Ambrosi .... Clown
Anthony Hopkins .... Titus Andronicus
Jessica Lange.... Tamora
Raz Degan .... Alarbus
Jonathan Rhys Meyers.... Chiron
Matthew Rhys.... Demetrius
Harry J. Lennix.... Aaron
Angus Macfadyen.... Lucius
Kenny Doughty.... Quintus
Blake Ritson.... Mutius
Colin Wells.... Martius
Alan Cumming.... Saturninus
Constantine Gregory.... Aemelius
Trivia: Director Julie Taymor fought against an NC-17 rating for the film, but finally agreed to make cuts in the Roman orgy scene in order to obtain an R rating. None of the gruesome violence, however, was considered inconsistent with an R rating.
• Following the death of Caesar, the two princes' supporters carry banners with the same colors as modern Rome's two rival soccer teams: A.S. Roma (yellow/red) and S.S. Lazio (white/pale blue).
• The microphone used during the election at the beginning of the movie sports the logo SPQR News, SPQR, stands for "Senatus Populusque Romanus" which means "the Senate and people of Rome." The letters were used to denote official entities. They can still be seen in many parts of the city of Rome to this day.
• In a TV profile on British TV in 2002 Hopkins confirmed that he had found the experience of working on this film so stressful that he decided at the time to retire from film acting. In the same interview Hopkins points out that in the dinner scene towards the end of the film he mimics the great British 'Knight' actors of Shakespeare, John Gielgud, Ralph Richardson and Laurence Olivier
• Goofs: Continuity: The position of the spoon as Lucius jams it down Saturninus' throat.
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