by Xiang Xiang Liew

Created on: December 16, 2009

Julie Taymor’s Titus eschews realism in favor of a highly stylized, anachronistic interpretation, while still managing to remain mostly faithful to the original text. Some people might question the use of anachronisms, such as the mixing of costumes, architecture, and weapons, from multiple time periods, but I agree with her decision to use anachronisms as they are essential to destroy the boundaries between time and space, and to create a hyperawareness in the audience about the pervasiveness of evil and violence throughout history and across geographical locations. In short, Julie Taymor interprets the story of Titus Andronicus as a universal narrative that is relevant to all kinds of people regardless of their background. I agree with this interpretation because human beings have always been prone to violence, from the human sacrifices of certain ancient cultures to the massacres of World War II, up until the present day where people still kill other people every day. Aggression is an innate, permanent part of the human psyche, ingrained in us for our survival, and Taymor creates a film that dramatizes that dark side that is present in every single one of us.

Taylor’s interpretation of Titus Andronicus also involves heavy blurring of the lines between fantasy and reality. The little boy, Titus’s grandson, is the most obvious device that she uses to create this impression. Contrary to the beginning of the play itself which starts off with a dialogue between Saturninus and Bassianus, the film begins with a scene depicting this young boy in a seemingly normal, modern setting, playing with food and toys that are effectively used to foreshadow the blood and gore later in the film. He is then swept off his feet by a Roman warrior and brought into the story of Titus, which skips over the first part of the first scene and goes straight to Titus’s first speech. The other characters simply accept the boy as if he has always been there and he seems to adapt to the sudden change very quickly. There is no explanation whether this is a fantasy created by the boy himself or if he has really been transported into an alternate reality. The message this conveys is that ‘it doesn’t matter’, and that the lines between fantasy and reality are not only blurred, but constantly shifting. Again, this creates the impression of the omnipresence of violence in our lives, that there is no real boundary between the fantastical violence portrayed

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