Forgive my poor expressive ability, I don't know how much of the above plot is the result of the adaptation, but the gist of it must be the same, otherwise the actors would not be able to read those old English lines full of "Sha" flavor. Looking at the above plot, you can see that the word that appears the most is "kill". According to incomplete statistics, there are only 11 people with names and surnames in the film, and as many as 11 people died unexpectedly! I don't know if it is the deadliest in Shakespeare's works, and none of them are normal deaths. It is not an exaggeration to say that this is a bloody movie.
But this is not the point. The above description may make you think that this is a traditional epic movie that is well-organized according to the original script. That's fine. Even if it is well done, most of it should be attributed to Shakespeare. But this movie was destined to be subversive from the start. It opens with a pretty boy in his kitchen waging a violent war with a bunch of toys, but when the door opens, outside is the Colosseum, lifted high. At this time, a scene that surprised me even more appeared. A group of soldiers wearing Roman uniforms drove motorcycles and armored vehicles into the field! And this modern-looking boy doesn't have a line until halfway through the film, and the rest of the time has been a silent bystander in every bloody corner. And he is actually the grandson of Titus!
Both the narrative and the way of presentation are stunned: imagine a prince campaigning with a loudspeaker, a young man listening to heavy metal and playing video games, and later the Gothic corps dressed like Nazi Germany... Opera performed in the atmosphere of postmodern decadence and classical tragedy. It feels like a paranoid reorganization of two deconstructed worlds. I wanted to say something, but found that I couldn't say it at all.
Let's talk a little bit, just in terms of form, female director Julie Taymor has played to a certain level. It's not just the restless image quality and the constant emergence of dreamy scenes with strong psychoanalytic tendencies (such as the Queen
When the eldest son was slaughtered, the film did not show a positive performance, but presented the parts of a dismembered statue one by one in the stern music, and finally a complete statue appeared, but a scar was dug out at the heart), which can be described as opinions. However, in her painting, she injected the unique sense of emptiness of post-modern industrial society into ancient Roman society and fit perfectly with the environment. Even in the noisy scene, what she showed was still a kind of crying without tears. Sadness, more sympathy than the original. For example, when Titus was deceived and offered his hands, it was a car similar to a clown tour. The two clowns sang and danced, but when the curtain was lifted, two heads and a severed hand were revealed. The surroundings were completely quiet. At that moment, the feeling was like the singer who reported the message in "Brazil", full of absurd truth, but at this time Titus accepted everything with a smile, which was more in line with the sad atmosphere in this farce, the kind of The near collapse after the severe pain appeared immediately. In the previous scene, the Titus family stood at the crossroads and read white in isolation. The surroundings were desolate, and the light blue to black tone was reminiscent of Eliot's "Wasteland". This kind of environment setting is also in line with Titus' heart, the pain has been empty, but he is still rational, still has his family by his side, and he still has hope. In the scene mentioned above, Titus, who was holding his son's head, was only living for revenge, and that happy smile made people shudder even more. When it comes to the subject, revenge is indispensable. But I think the director may be more willing to show a kind of tolerance, which is not positive, let alone didactic, but manifested through ruthless killing. There is hardly a single innocent person in the film, everyone has someone else's blood on their hands, it's just a matter of how much. Having said that, Aaron is a very important role, and it is necessary to highlight it. He was a Moor, he was a slave, and he was the queen's lover. In a sense, the queen is justifiable to avenge her son. Titus's killing of the captive cannot be said to be a serious crime. The emperor is stupid but not vicious, but this Aaron is almost a complete bad guy. And bad, as he said before his death, it's a pity that he can't live to do more evil, he only repents for the good deeds he has done before him - if there is any. But watching this movie, I couldn't help feeling sympathy for this character, especially when he said "Shame? Don't you say black people can never blush?" See it as a classic racist slur like Sherlock's "Stab Me and I'll Bleed" in "The Merchant of Venice" The lines of resistance. For a person who has been despised and insulted since childhood, once he gains power, his will will be inflated and he will do whatever he wants. Aaron is like that. He almost intervenes in all the tragedies, but he should not be regarded as a complete murderer, and everyone who has despised and insulted him is equally guilty. Although Aaron has committed many evils in his life, when he faced death, I clearly saw his peace and serenity. Although he did not admit it verbally, I think he has really repented because he saw his own children. ——This little life that he once used as the carrier of his own sins was quietly held in the hands of a white child. Aaron is tragic, and just from his fate, he can be regarded as an anti-hero image. Although there are not many scenes, this role is very good and almost grabbed all my attention. It is very strange that in this person who is the least likely to be tolerant, I see the shadow of tolerance. And in Titus, the queen's blood red eyes with vengeance, I see no mercy. Including Titus' nearly spotless daughter, who was punished for her pride, albeit too harshly. As for the Queen's two sons, I prefer to treat them as babies, that is, Freud's id, ignorant, childish, and sin is not their original meaning. In the eyes of those two children, it is just a game. And Aaron is their teacher.
Although full of the binary opposition of traditional drama, there is no particular good and evil, just a bunch of guilty people adding blood on their hands in vain. Beginning in slaughter and ending in tolerance, all are lost, leaving only 11 graves behind as
they pass.
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