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{{short description|2002 film by Alex Cox}}
{{About|the 2002 film|the soundtrack album for the film by Chumbawamba|Revengers Tragedy (album)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2024}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2013}}
{{more citations needed|date=September 2023}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Revengers Tragedy
| image = Revengers Tragedy DVD cover.png
| caption = Christopher Eccleston as Vindice
| director = [[Alex Cox]]
| producer = Margaret Matheson<br />[[Tod Davies]]
| writer = Frank Cottrell Boyce
| starring = [[Christopher Eccleston]]<br />[[Eddie Izzard]]<br />[[Derek Jacobi]]<br>[[Andrew Schofield (actor)|Andrew Schofield]]<br>[[Antony Booth|Tony Booth]]
| music = [[Chumbawamba]]
| cinematography = Len Gowing
| editing = Ray Fowlis
| distributor = World Cinema Ltd.
| released = {{Film date|df=y|2002|08|06|Locarno Film Festival}}
| runtime = 106 minutes
| country = England
| language = English
| budget = 
}}
'''''Revengers Tragedy''''' is a 2002 film adaptation of the 1606 play ''[[The Revenger's Tragedy]]'' (attributed to [[Thomas Middleton]] in the credits, following the scholarly consensus). It was directed by [[Alex Cox]] and adapted for the screen by Cox's fellow Liverpudlian, [[Frank Cottrell-Boyce]]. The film stars [[Christopher Eccleston]] as the revenge-obsessed Vindici, with [[Derek Jacobi]] as the evil Duke, [[Eddie Izzard]] as his lecherous son Lussurioso, [[Diana Quick]] as the Duchess, [[Andrew Schofield (actor)|Andrew Schofield]] as Vindice's brother Carlo (a version of the play's Hippolito), [[Carla Henry]] as his virtuous sister Castiza, and [[Marc Warren]] and Justin Salinger as the Duchess's sons Supervacuo and Ambitioso.

==Synopsis==
The original play is set in a depraved Italian court, but Cottrell Boyce's screenplay relocates it to a futuristic version of [[Liverpool]] in the year 2011,<ref name="variety">{{cite web|last=Young |first=Deborah |url=https://www.variety.com/review/VE1117918421?refcatid=31 |title=Variety Reviews – Revengers Tragedy |work=Variety |date=8 August 2002 |accessdate=7 March 2012}}</ref> following the aftermath of a [[natural disaster]] which has destroyed the southern half of [[Great Britain]]. The city is a [[dystopia]] in which society is collapsing and where [[feud|vendettas]] and the crude exercise of power are the norm. Jacobi's Duke is the most powerful crime lord in the city. Cottrell Boyce's script rearranges the play heavily and mixes the original Jacobean language with modern language.

==Cast==
<!--in order of credits-->
{{columns-list|colwidth=20em|
* [[Christopher Eccleston]] as Vindici
* [[Kevin Knapman]] as Firework
* [[Michael Ryan (British actor)|Michael Ryan]] as 1st Thug
* [[Andrew Schofield (actor)|Andrew Schofield]] as Carlo
* [[Paul Reynolds (actor)|Paul Reynolds]] as Junior
* [[Justin Salinger]] as Ambitioso
* [[Eddie Izzard]] as Lussurioso
* [[Marc Warren]] as Supervacuo
* [[Carla Henry]] as Castiza
* [[Shaun Mason]] as Hippolito
* [[Sophie Dahl]] as Imogen
* [[Anthony Booth]] as Antonio
* [[Derek Jacobi]] as Duke
* [[Diana Quick]] as Duchess
* [[Alex Cox]] as Duke's Driver
* [[Margi Clarke]] as Hannah
* [[Tony Maudsley]] as Executioner
* [[Charles De'Ath]] as Sordido
}}

==Production==
''Revengers Tragedy'' was shot and edited in [[Liverpool]] with an almost entirely local crew, including [[cinematographer]] Len Gowing, costumer Monica Aslanian, makeup designer Lesley Brennan and assistant director Kim Ryan. Cox's usual [[production designer]], Cecilia Montiel prepared a visual strategy which was executed by her co-designer Remi Vaughan-Richards. The producers were Margaret Matheson (who executive produced Cox's ''[[Sid and Nancy]]'' for Zenith) and [[Tod Davies]] (Cox's wife, who also wrote and produced Cox's ''[[Three Businessmen]]'').

The soundtrack [[Revengers Tragedy (Album)|of the same name]] was written and performed by [[Chumbawamba]].<ref name="linernotes">{{Cite AV media notes |title=Revengers Tragedy Film Notes |last=Davies |first=Steven Paul |type=booklet |publisher=Batsford}}</ref>{{rp|1}} In 2003, it was released by the band on their independent record label, MUTT.

The film was originally intended to end with a montage of [[September 11 attacks|the World Trade Center exploding]] as Vindici whispered "revenge", but this was removed at the request of the film's stakeholders.<ref name="linernotes" />{{rp|3}}

==Reception==
The BBC's Jamie Russell gave the film 3/5 stars, stating "it exaggerates the play's confused identities, deliberate miscommunications, and sarcastic asides into an overblown exercise in outright camp." The review further states that the film's messages are "ultimately let down by the film's rough edges", and contains "moments that are painfully amateurish", stating that the film "ultimately annoys as much as it exhilarates."<ref name="bbc1">{{cite web|last1=Russell |first1=Jamie |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2003/01/24/revengers_tragedy_2003_review.shtml |title=Films – review – Revengers Tragedy |publisher=BBC |date=7 February 2003 |accessdate=7 March 2012}}</ref>
''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]''{{'}}s Deborah Young described the film as "ambitious, sometimes exhilarating but ultimately not very new attempt to unleash the power of great literature past by punking it up."<ref name="variety" /> The ''[[Time Out (magazine)|Time Out Film Guide]]'' commented: "The stylistic intention, presumably, was old meets new with a [[Baz Luhrmann|Luhrmann]]-like flourish, but the modest resources on display result in a look somewhere between threadbare [[Derek Jarman|Jarman]] and school play. One struggles to be impressed."<ref name="timeout">{{cite web |url=https://www.timeout.com/film/reviews/76696/revengers_tragedy.html |title=Revengers Tragedy Review |publisher=Timeout.com |accessdate=7 March 2012 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20121017234214/http://www.timeout.com/film/reviews/76696/revengers_tragedy.html |archivedate=17 October 2012 }}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{IMDb title|id=286921|title=Revengers Tragedy}}
*[http://www.alexcox.com/dir_revengerstragedy.htm ''Revengers Tragedy'' page on Alex Cox website]{{Dead link|date=October 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot }}

{{Alex Cox}}

[[Category:Films directed by Alex Cox]]
[[Category:2002 films]]
[[Category:2000s science fiction comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:British science fiction comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:2000s dystopian films]]
[[Category:2000s English-language films]]
[[Category:British films based on plays]]
[[Category:Films set in 2011]]
[[Category:Films set in Liverpool]]
[[Category:Films shot in Liverpool]]
[[Category:Films set in the future]]
[[Category:British post-apocalyptic films]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by Frank Cottrell-Boyce]]
[[Category:2002 comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:2000s British films]]
[[Category:English-language comedy-drama films]]
[[Category:English-language science fiction drama films]]
[[Category:English-language science fiction comedy films]]
[[Category:English-language science fiction comedy-drama films]]