The Revenger's Tragedy

[xiphias]

When we were in DC for the Marlowe plays, we went out to lunch with our friend Akiva Fox, the dramaturg for the company. Over lunch, he'd mentioned that he'd found a movie version of Thomas Middleton's (or maybe Cyril Tourneur's) play The Revenger's Tragedy. It was filmed in 2002, and put together by Alex Cox, who was the director of Sid and Nancy and Repo Man. It's set in a post-apocalyptic Liverpool, and stars Chris Eccleston as Vindici (The Revenger), Derek Jacobi as the Duke who killed Vindici's beloved, and Eddie Izzard as the Duke's son Lussurioso (The Lecher) who is trying to seduce Vindici's sister.

Okay. Let's recap. A Jacobean revenge play, set in a post-apocalyptic world, directed by Alex Cox, and starring Christopher Eccleston, Eddie Izzard, and Derek Jacobi.

It took Lis WEEKS to track down a copy in any of the libraries we are members of.

We watched it last night.

Those of you who have Netflix? Put this one on your queue. It's not one I'd watch over and over again, but it was fun, and it's definitely worth watching, at least once.

Comments

It really works?

[dakiwiboid.livejournal.com]

I've gotten awfully jaded about post-apocalyptic versions of Elizabethan and Jacobean tragedies. I've seen several. The last one was a Macbeth. The entire cast was strong except for the Thane of Cawdor himself, which was bad enough in itself, and the sets and techno-acoutrements were really close to being too much. The phantom dagger, for instance, appeared on three TV monitors above Macbeth's head during the soliloquy, revolving constantly in shimmering red light. It sort of worked and sort of didn't.

Re: It really works?

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

Define "works". It was a lot of fun, and it was worth seeing. That may or may not mean that it works, though.

I think it more-or-less worked.

If it didn't make you squirm uncomfortably or want to throw peanuts, for instance

[dakiwiboid.livejournal.com]

or laugh or groan inappropriately or want to make constant audible comments along the lines of "Aw, that ain't RIGHT"!

I mailed your book today, speaking of oddities. Under normal circumstances you'd have it the middle of next week. Considering the season, you'll have it whenever the Postal Snail gets it to you. ;)

Re: If it didn't make you squirm uncomfortably or want to throw peanuts, for instance

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

Define "inappropriately."

From Alex Cox's website:

WHY IS IT SO SILLY?

What do you mean? REVENGERS TRAGEDY is a tight-lipped, hard-edged Noir thriller featuring a showdown between narrow-eyed, desperate hombres. Just because the characters have names like Spurio, or Ambitioso, or Supervacuo, or a mother who has sex with her own sons, or a hero who carries his late wife's head around with him, doesn't mean they're meant to be ridiculous!

The play itself is definitely my idea of a good time

[dakiwiboid.livejournal.com]

I don't know that moosl will be amused by it, but I think I'll get a kick out of it. I'll take your word for it that the setting doesn't interfere with the play, and add it to my Netflix queue. It doesn't sound as if it'd make the Evil Shakespeare Overlords List, either.