Titus (1999) - film adaptation of Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus

Literary/ Cultural Context Essay

Derek Dunne (Universitaet Fribourg)

Ed. by Ema Vyroubalova, Trinity College Dublin
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.09: English Writing and Culture: Postwar and Contemporary Britain , 1945-present.
Vol. editors: Gina Lyle (University of Glasgow), Graham MacPhee (University of Manchester), Kerry Myler (Birmingham Newman University), Jenni Ramone (The Nottingham Trent University)

Domains

Cinema/ Film/ TV

Dates

Date of occurrence 1999

Places

England (Involved)

Genres and Modes

Adaptation

Resources

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Directed by Julie Taymor. Starring Anthony Hopkins, Jessica Lange, Alan Cumming, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Matthew Rhys, Laura Fraser, Angus Macfadyen, and Osheen Jones. English. Colour. 162 minutes.

Taymor’s Titus is the first feature-length adaptation of Shakespeare’s early revenge tragedy Titus Andronicus, which grew out of Taymor’s stage version of the play produced off Broadway in 1994. This play is one of Shakespeare’s bloodiest works, involving as it does human sacrifice, rape, decapitation and cannibalism. The action of the film shifts between the play’s original Roman setting and a more contemporary world of motor cars, video games and loudspeakers. This is in keeping with Shakespeare’s own practice of setting plays in the distant past while allowing them to act as a

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979 words

Citation: Dunne, Derek. "Titus (1999) - film adaptation of Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 09 February 2016 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=19413, accessed 18 April 2024.]

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