The lowdown:  'Revengers Tragedy' is based on a Jacobean play called The Revenger's Tragedy, which was
written by Thomas Middleton and first performed in 1606. It uses a mixture of both the original dialogue and
language of the play and contemporary language, although it is set in the Liverpool of the near-future in the wake
of an unspecific natural disaster that has killed much of the population of Great Britain. Liverpool is ruled by a
number of crime lords, of which the Duke (Derek Jacobi) is the most powerful. Christopher Eccleston stars as
Vindici, who has returned to Liverpool after a decade in exile and vowing to avenge the death of his wife, Gloriana,
who was poisoned by the Duke on their wedding day because she rejected his sexual advances. Vindici and his
sister Castiza are among the few who survived the wedding day, as they did not drink the poisoned wine. Vindici
has kept his wife's skull and talks to it, while it talks back! Vindici teams up with his brother Carlo and Castiza to
bring down the Duke and his entire family. He develops a close friendship with Lussurioso (Eddie Izzard), the 
Duke's oldest son and heir, who is determined to seduce Castiza. Vindici first gets his revenge on the old Duke,
and then kills his successor Lussurioso, which sparks a gang war, leading to the death of the Duke's family.

The verdict:  'Revengers Tragedy' is a difficult film to watch due to the mix of modern and Jacobean dialogue,
and the plot can be confusing if you are not familiar with the original play. However, it has very high production
values and a rather eye-catching script (the scenes with Vindici talking to his wife's skull in particular are very
memorable, and the cast is generally very good. Eccleston, Jacobi and Izzard are especially good.

Trivia: The original play's authorship has been subject to debate for many years. It was published anonymously,
and it was not until 1656 that it was attributed to Cyril Tourneur, although modern scholars now generally believe
that 'The Revenger's Tragedy' was written by Thomas Middleton.

Video Clips:    Poisoned wine     3.1mb          Vindici and Carlo    3.9mb          Lussurioso dies     5.8mb
 
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