Dean_Sayers This movie relates a surrealistic rendition of a 16th century play by Thomas Middleton (sometimes credited to Cyril Tourneur). The movie is set in a feudal European society (Liverpool) in the near future, the opening scene relating a nuclear attack on Europe.The acting is very good - Christopher Eccleston's emotions are believable and he brings the old English style of the play to life. The actors actually bring the old English to life in a way that Romeo and Juliet failed to. From the hatred of the Duke from the commoners to the expressions of Joy in the wedding sequences, the acting makes one feel as if the emotion is sincere.The scenery manages to appear a post-apocalyptic impoverished city that is dynamic and pleasing to the eye. The images of the Duke become eerier as the film progresses, representing an authority that s all - encompassing. There is very little nature shown, though the glamorous buildings chosen as sets suggest opulence at the expense of the people, and are beautiful.The writers modify the language to a degree to make the violent speech sharper and the whole script easier to relate to. The lines that appear in old English but were absent from the play blend in well and supplement the near - futuristic setting well. The whole story is in fact changed to some degree in order to make the futuristic set blend in well with the script.Politically, there are many references to peoples' struggles. A poster depicting Oscar Romero, a martyr for his support of "Liberation theology" and a quote of his appears near the end of the movie. The original play in fact was released anonymously, probably because it depicts authority as reviled by the disgruntled populace. The play makes the royal family appear corrupt from their abuse of the law to an adulterous, murderous family life. The movie takes this further; dressing the Duke to resemble a vampire and making the heirs to the throne appear childish as well as greedy. The news is symbolized by an eye over a pyramid, the duke appears regularly as if he was Big Brother and even the popular Antonio is corrupt.Not surprisingly, a leftist musical group, Chumbawamba was chosen to do the whole soundtrack. The music is more than stunning; it's atmospheric, melancholy adds graveness to the movie. In some ways the shows plays like a music video - even when the music fades the beauty of the old English is lyrical and allows the audio to flow seamlessly. Chumbawamba released a new version of "Don't Try this at Home" including bits of audio from the movie; the song appears during the credits and on the soundtrack. The lyrics of the song underline the undoubtedly political intent in the movie, and the original lyrics ironically relate very well to the plot of the movie.

maximumhong Revenger's Tragedy is a great little movie directed by Alex Cox and starring Christopher Eccleston as the "Revenger." Probably not for young audiences (language, violence), but is timely and full of of quirky, chaotic fun."Let the man who seeks revenge remember to dig two graves." This is the message the film begins with. How apt, considering the nature of the film and the state of the world's affairs today.Christopher Eccleston is a brilliant actor and can tackle any role with a unique and charming fervor. Here, he plays a tortured man on top of his game of seeking revenge for the murder of his bride. He's a 'bone-setter' by trade, and he even carries around his bride's skull and rants and raves with it.Derek Jacobi plays the villainous, lecherous duke who is the target of revenge. With such a determined performance, one would not believe that the actor was paid little to nothing for his involvement.Eddie Izzard plays a son of the Duke and the next in line, and a reluctant power junkie. I love the off-casting, because usually Eddie Izzard is the funny man but in this case he is the witty but ultimately corrupt fall guy.If you've seen Repo Man, Sid and Nancy, and Straight to Hell, take that impression and combine it with a Jacobian revenge tragedy (language unchanged), add Eccleston and Eddie Izzard and Derek Jacobi, with little or no budget, and you have a memorable way to spend 2 hours of your life. This won't be a remembered or highly-sought after film, but then again, the truly unique ones never are.

david-davies-1 This is an excellent adaptation of the play, which penguin classics claims Tourneur wrote, not Middleton, by the way.Christopher Eccleston is superb in acting Vindice as a fanatically hilarious psychopath, and the modern twists to give it present day significance also work well.However the language is quite difficult to understand, indeed I would say reading the play is important to gain some perspective into what is actually occurring, and to keep in mind as you watch it, especially th subtle changes, and a more satisfying ending than that given in the play. However it is quite advisable to never question the plausibility of the events in the play actually occurring, in essence it would make little sense, however I recommend you suspend your disbelief and be carried along on this imaginary journey into the surreal and meaningful.

lizzie2763 i bought this film because it had eddie izzard in it. i was pleasantly surprised at how good it was. eccleston and izzard were great. derek jacobi was brilliant. The plot wasn't too predictable. the idea for the backdrop to be post-apocalyptic Liverpool was an inspiration. worth watching. its a film i would watch more than once. happy to add it to my favourites collection. the speech was sometimes drowned out by the background music which made the film a little hard to follow. but i intend to watch the film again, so I'm sure i will pick up stuff i missed the first time round. and my film doesn't have subtitles which would have helped.