Revengers Tragedy

Alex Cox brings us a gleefully over-the-top adaptation of a Jacobean revenge play. Where Shakespeare was the high culture of his day, this piece (originally performed anonymously, presumably to shield its author from any repercussions due to its distinctly anti-authoritarian slant) plays out more like a 17th-century Leone movie. In this version, the action has been transferred to a vaguely-defined post-nuclear-war Liverpool, ruled over by an amoral Duke and terrorized by his violent sons.

The cast is great (especially Derek Jacobi and Christopher Eccleston) and the whole film is characterized by an intense spirit of fun. My only problem (as a yank) was that -- in spite of years spent enjoying British TV -- I found the combination of archaic syntax and scouse accents to be incomprehensible at times. Fortunately, the subtitles on the DVD made it much easier to follow the dialogue and plot line.

This certainly won't be to everyone's tastes, but it's a good one.

I thought the film was brilliant, fair enough, some things were slightly questionable, but on the whole, the film was great. Oh and Scouser boy, the script is actually a play, written by Thomas Middleton in 1607, so no use complaining coz the guy who wrote it won't be able to hear you!

Christopher Eccleston is brilliant in the lead role, adding a gritty determined and almost sinister touch to the character; Eddie Izzard is wonderfully camp but never the less remains serious throughout the film. It's colourful and fun (the 'footy' match is inspired lunacy)...well apart from the grim storyline. Don't be looking for realism, instead just revel in Alex Cox's artistic approach to modern storytelling and enjoy the film.

The acting is tremendous, the dialogue is delivered with such ease and intensity, and where there is caddiness-- it is intentional. This movie is visually beautiful and unapologetic; it does not bore you with tedious dialogue, but challenges the audience to mesh both Jacobean language with a modern day setting. Other movies have tried to accomplish this time fold, attempting to 'modernize' what they consider to be classics, but other movies did not have Christopher Eccleston and Eddie Izzard. There performances deserved more credit than the average moviegoer could afford. See this movie.

A superb turn from the eternal punk, Alex Cox. Excellent performances and production design that never overshadows the rest of the show, despite being constantly inventive and energetic. And a great soundtrack by ChumbaWunmba (never thought I'd see myself saying that :))

I have just seen the premier of this film at the Cambridge Film Festival, and it is superb. Christopher Eccleston is demented as the lead role, and Eddie Izzard at last cuts out the buffonery and lives up to his promise. Chumbuwumba provide and excelent soundtrack, and the costume designers have seen too many Adam Ant videos. The scouse touches bring the film down to earth just when it seems to get away. Better performances, and directing, would be difficult to see.