irreverent

And his version of the Russian literary masterpiece - which starts with the phrase "bloody hell" - is about being flippant and irreverent.

Clifton Ko, a film director who shot to fame in the 1980s with irreverent comedies, was tapped by security officials to play to a more serious tune this time.

“He loved giving people a little joy in their day,” Sanchini said, remembering Landau’s irreverent family Christmas cards.

“The lyrics were just very conversational. It was witty; it was self-aware; it was irreverent.”

But while the bloody rites of the original Euripides are at the heart of the tale, this version is so relentlessly digressive and irreverent that it plays more like parody than tragedy.