Alex Cox

Revengers Tragedy Alex Cox

Scathing black comedy about love, sex, family, murder, incest and revenge, based on the 17th-century play by Shakespeare contemporary Thomas Middleton and transposed by subversive British director Alex Cox to a post-apocalyptic Liverpool. After ten years in hiding, Vindici (Christopher Eccleston) returns to destroy the Duke (Derek Jacobi) who murdered Vindici's wife on their wedding day. During his absence, Vindici's family fell into poverty - while the Duke, Duchess and their decadent sons acquired wealth and power, ruling over their court obsessed with transient beauty, money, inherited privilege and power.

Determined to exact his revenge, Vindici sets out to gain the confidence of the Duke and his villainous heir, Lussurioso (Eddie Izzard). The film was screened at the 2002 Locarno Film Festival.