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Revanche (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I saw this in the theater, but I'm excited to hear that it's going to be given the Criterion dvd treatment. It certainly deserves it for the depth and intrigue and subtlety of the film, and for the power of the visuals.

Alex and Tamara are in love. Unfortunately, there's little chance their love can work out. He's an ex-con working as a bouncer at the brothel where she turns tricks for a cruel and jealous pimp, who's not about to let her go and who would kill Alex if he found out. Hoping to make enough money to turn things around, Alex plots a fail-safe bank robbery, in which he thinks no one could possibly get hurt. He doesn't even bring a loaded gun. Things don't work out as he planned, however, and Alex has to take refuge at his grandfather's farm out in the country, where events take a truly unexpected turn.

The film opens with a powerful image that suggests the feel of the film that follows. A beautiful rippling reflection of trees in a pond at dawn (dusk?) is given an ominous sense by the lightly disturbing tones that hum softly in the background. Suddenly and loudly, the eerie calm is disrupted by a heavy object that is thrown into the water. The images of a tranquil forest, reflected in the trees, are interrupted violently by the splash and subsequent waves, until they gradually return to a semblance of their former look. Likewise, the uneasy peace of a small town is interrupted by the bank robbery, and the uneasy marriage of a childless young couple is further unsettled by the husband's tragic chance encounter with the criminals. It's hard to know in advance whether the easygoing peace will return.

It's a story that could have been played for drama and action and rising intensity and pace, but is allowed here to be above all about character, with a tension that builds naturally and without the need for artificial plotting or manipulative music. The acting throughout is strong, with special mention deserved by Johannes Fritsch, for what managed to be a both very physical and highly contemplative and reserved performance as Alex, but even the minor parts were perfectly casted and played extremely well. Gotz Spielmann brings a patient and masterful direction to this subtle and unique and mature film about love and longing and revenge and redemption. Images are carefully composed and beautifully lensed, and the delicate pacing of the editing is matched by a subtle use of music and a darkly comic undercurrent to the tragedy. Some viewers may want to know in advance that certain scenes in the film reflect a European sensibility about the body (i.e. there is abundant nudity and some sex). Still, it's all tastefully done and in the service of the story and of a remarkable film that is well worth watching.

The Criterion release will include:
-a new, restored high-definition digital transfer, approved by director Götz Spielmann (with DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition)
-a new video interview with Spielmann
-The Making of "Revanche," a half-hour documentary shot on the film's set
-"Foreign Land," Spielmann's award-winning student short film, with an introduction by the director
-the U.S. theatrical trailer
-a new and improved English subtitle translation
-and, an essay by critic Michael Wood

'Revanche' is a film that ends strong but begins ugly and vulgar, although there's no question that the life director Götz Spielmann portrays is exactly that. Because of its candid approach, some viewers may find the frank portrayal of a brothel disturbing, and even perhaps unnecessary for a film that is ultimately concerned with redemption and forgiveness - but in this case I believe it's justified. One of my usual complaints about film in general is the use of clichéd shortcuts that hand the viewer stereotypes instead of characters, and even though Spielman doesn't escape it completely, this film's reflection of prostitution transforms the character of Tamara from cardboard into a real human being, and is what enables the build-up for film's quietly compelling finish.

Alex, an ex-convict, works as a gopher/driver for the owner of the brothel, and, in secret, carries on an affair with Tamara, a prostitute who needs 30,000 dollars to essentially buy her freedom. He hatches a plan to rob a bank, thereby acquiring the money they'll need to escape their dead-end lives (I've yet to see this turn out to be a good idea). Unsurprisingly, the bank robbery does not go off as planned, and Alex must confront the dark corners of his nature and decide what sort of revenge is justified when the world doesn't go along with your desires.

I've purposely left out a lot while summing up the film because, even though the information is easily accessible, it moves at different pace and with so few conventional clues that it achieves a heightened unpredictability that I wouldn't want to ruin. Unpredictable may be too strong of a description, but the director does add a dose of uncertainty to a storyline that, in other hands, might have been numbingly safe and routine. As I mentioned, pacing has a lot to do with it, and this may turn off some viewers. There are stretches in the film where little happens - and even when the crucial moment arrives and Alex must decide what the rest of his life is going to look like, it comes with no warning and nearly off screen. An inattentive viewer may miss it completely.

I enjoyed this film a great deal once Alex began to deal with the aftermath of the robbery - and the entire movie was intelligent and un-condescending. Every time the director had an opportunity to do so, he treated the audience as if they were quite able to understand what was happening on screen, and didn't waste my time and patience by drumming every plot point into my head or spelling out every connection. Still, it did have some faults. Though random chance is definitely a factor in our lives, it's often difficult to accept on film, and this movie does indulge in it. Aside from that though, there was little to criticize. Cinematically crisp and striking, 'Revanche' delivers a resolution to impulse and fury that's told with both grace and dignity.

Although this film is not rated, it contains adult themes and situations, nudity, and frank sexual situations.

Call me jaded, but as someone who's studied film, been a film critic, and been a film enthusiast for years, one can't happen to notice that typically the Oscar for Foreign Language film goes to something "heart-felt" and "sentimental" versus "depressing" and "minimailist." (And I promise I won't rant about the insanely outdated, ridiculous system that prevents many of the best foreign films from even being eligible for a nomination.)

In a way, this one film, is two very different parts in both mood and tone. However, it is in fact, one linear storyline, that is separated by an event that occurs midway through the movie. And by the time, it's done, seemingly different as the two components of the film may be, the whole is quite impressive and unique.

While everyone likes (and awards) the flashy performances, the ones I always find most satisfying are the restrained, carefully measured ones. The lead actor here is singular in the sense that he is cold, hard, detached, and understated--as he should be--but he also some very intense emotional moments which are compounded upon impact by the fact that the viewer has become so accustomed to his usual demeanor.

Another unique component to this brilliant work, is that it has almost no music whatsoever. No score, only a few isolated scenes with music as a necessary component. It's all about the quiet moments, the words spoken, and the ambient nature sounds that sound rich, from even the most basic tv speakers.

"Revanche" has some rather bold narrative and filmic approaches to its relatively traditional minimalism, observationism, and very otherwise typically European film sensibility. It's a welcome fit to the Criterion Collection, and it would be a welcome addition to any cinemaphile's library.

I loved the experience of watching Revanche...it's a slow-paced, straight forward revenge/ love triangle story which has been told very cleverly . Revanche has also been photographed, directed, and acted superbly...watch it late at night when you crave for a great stroy ...not for the hollywood crowd for sure.

This film is one of the best films I have seen in a long time, if not the best. I would write more but I'm a bit under the weather. Once the main event that serves as the film's engine occurs, the film is watched, as Russians say, "on one breath."
It's subtle, emotional, very nuanced. It's filmmaking at its finest. One of the first thoughts that came to my mind upon watching it was that contemporary Hollywood should be ashamed of itself(Brokeback Mountain and a few other films aside).

I loved the movie for a lot of reasons mentioned by other reviewers but the best part tis the photography. It is like watching a work of art in motion. I watched it twice for the photography. A must for all camera buffs :-)

****Warning: Spoilers ahead

This film's first fifteen to twenty minutes may give one the wrong impression of exactly what kind of movie this is going to be. The rawness may give credence to the description "erotic thriller"; however, this description is erroneous and misleading. While there are some definite "mature" moments, Revanche is a character study in dealing with life's conflicts, and the themes of redemption and forgiveness are at the forefront. There is an artistic quality that the director, Gotz Spielman, brings to the film, with a heavy dose of moments relying on mood and pacing rather than action or dialogue. Yet, these scenes, such as the one where the main character Alex arrives to his grandfather's place after his tragedy, give power and meaning to the film. The film's second half--where two character's lives become intertwined away from the city--is sharply contrasted with the pacing of the first half.

Alex, who works as a bouncer in a brothel in Austria, has a secret affair with Ukrainian prostitute, Tamara. Alex hatches a plan to have them leave this sleazy place behind, but in order to do this Alex plans to rob a bank to make this hope a reality. However, when an off-duty police officer encounters Alex as he is making his getaway, things go terribly wrong that alter both Alex's and the officer's lives. The officer (Robert), in an attempt to shoot the tires of the car, mistakenly shoots and hits Tamara, who dies. Alex, shocked and upset, drives off but eventually stops the car in the woods and leaves Tamara's body and the car, fleeing to his grandfather's farm for refuge. Alex, trying to lay low, begins to work to busy himself and deal with the heavy loss. He finds solitude here, but cannot seemingly escape the feelings of pain. Robert, meanwhile, must answer questions from his superiors about what went wrong with the shots fired, and feels a heavy dose of guilt about the event. He even goes to the point of carrying around Tamara's picture to try to come to terms with the conflict.

Alex and Robert's world collide again as the film moves away from the city to the country. In an ironic twist of fate, we find out that a woman, Susanne, who comes to visit Alex's grandfather at the farm, in fact, Robert's wife. Susanne feels a pity for the old man, and wants to check on him regularly. The fact that Robert and Susanne have not been able to have kids has put a strain on their marriage, and now Robert's isolation and moods compound the problem. Eventually, Alex figures out who Susanne is married to and has motives for revenge, which he begins to plot. However, Alex's epiphany comes when he understands that individual pain is not an isolated event, that those directly affected are not the only ones suffering. The death of Tamara has deeply affected and pained both men, one having a feeling of loss, and the other a feeling of guilt and regret.

Coming to terms with pain is an issue explored in Revanche, and moving on to lead a healthy existence. Speilman does a superb job of helping you feel the character's emotions without making everything too obvious. There are times when he could have chosen the easy road, but he treats this story with an understated quality, and I find this refreshing. This is a film that demands reflection on the part of the viewer once the credits are rolled, which is an attribute of a film that has done its job.

A brief introduction to the film, which is a character study of four characters and how their unlikely paths will soon cross. The opening scene forecasts whats to come in the movie when a placid lake is disturbed by a heavy object thrown in it.
Ukrainian prostitute Tamara and her not so sharp lover Alex are in love with dreams of escape to maybe Ibiza in search of a better life. The pimp wants Tamara to be an exclusive call girl and give her a house of her own but Tamara wants to be on the street with her fellow hookers. Then one day Alex dreams of a plan that will change their lives forever.
A cop and his wife live in a village where they are unsuccessfully trying to have a baby. Their lives will change soon......
The movie premise may have déjà vu written all over it but the story has enough interesting moments to create a unique movie experience. The acting is first rate and the direction is superb right down to the last scene. I liked this movie. I give it four stars. 3/19/10

The tagline on the movie's theatrical poster asks: Whose fault is it if life doesn't go your way?

This German production, a crime drama/love story, directed by Gotz Spielmann has been described as "about a bad person seeking good." The heart of the drama is as old as Hamlet's indecision and as modern as a classic noir story of a man who spirals down because of a woman.

Alex is an incompetent bouncer at a brothel who wants to get a fresh future with his hooker girlfriend Tamara. But he needs some dough for his new life in a new place so he decides to rob a bank. But of course things don't go as planned. In fact they go very wrong when his girlfriend Tamara is almost killed by an unexpected cop who just happens to pass by. Chance is fate's eternal companion.

Alex plans revenge on the cop and we participate in his exploration of getting even or reconciling.

This description does not do justice to the exquisite unfolding of a journey into the darkest recesses of human nature.

Desperate, tense and surprising, REVENCHE is at heart an existential examination of the scar made by revenge on the body of redemption.

[Note: Over 500 of my movie reviews are now available in my book "Cut to the Chaise Lounge or I Can't Believe I Swallowed the Remote!" Get it at Amazon.]

This is a carefully orchestrated film set in and around contemporary Vienna. It is about how the desires and needs of men and women differ at the most fundamental level. The action concerns what can go wrong when you try to rob a bank, even when you use an unloaded gun.

There is an old saying in the theater that if you show a gun in the first act, it had better go off in the third act. Here director Gotz Spielmann plays a variant on that old stage business. We see something splash into a pond as the opening credits roll. It is not clear what it is. The camera lingers as the concentric ripples spread out and then are done. Later on in the film we see the same scene from the point of view of the person who threw the object into the water. It is near the end of the film, in what in the theater would be the third act.

"Revanche" in German means "revenge." We all know how hard it is to forsake revenge when we have been hurt. We want to strike out at some target. But what do we do when we have no target or when the target is innocent? And to what extent is the desire for revenge a way of absolving ourselves from what has happened? Revenge is a standard, even hackneyed, movie theme. Action movies and thrillers often employ the psychology of revenge as both theme and plot device, as a way of keeping the audience emotionally involved. Here revenge is used in a different and ultimately redemptive way.

Early in the film the camera lingers on a street scene. We see a narrow alleyway like an urban street tunnel. The camera holds that shot so that we expect to see someone or something emerging from that alleyway. But it is only later that the scene is revisited, and much like the pond scene mentioned above we see the scene from the opposite angle, and what transpires contains the central event of the movie. This sense of seeing scenes from different angles--opposite angles actually--is echoed in the opposing perspectives of the two women and the two men.

There is, for example, the symmetry of how the two men work off the psychological tension that they feel. Robert (Andreas Lust), who is a cop who has accidentally shot and killed a young woman involved in a robbery, jogs. Alex (Johannes Krisch), who is the boyfriend of the dead woman, a woman he loves very much, puts his physical energy into chopping wood--viciously. For one it is the cardio and the legs; for the other it is the upper body.

And then there are the two women: Tamara (Irina Potapenko) who is the young woman now dead, who was a prostitute, and Susanne (Ursula Strauss) who is the cop's wife. Both are very physical as women, both aware of the power of their bodies, but more significantly both are aware of their primeval need to understand men, and their ability to do just that.

Susanne, who is thoroughly bourgeois, does something that is condemned by society in the same way that prostitution is condemned. Yet she acts out of clear intent without a hint of shame or the sense that she is doing something essentially wrong. The prostitute acts out her societal role with a shrug of her shoulders as to society's hypocritical morality. Thus both women are morally and humanly the same.

This is Spielmann's point, not to make moral judgments about the worth of either man or either woman. The prostitute is the moral equal of the cop's wife, and cop's wife is the equal of the prostitute who sells her body. And the man who kills because his aim is bad is the same as the man who caused the death because of his criminal act and his carelessness.

And in a deeper, extended sense, the old man (Alex's grandfather) grows old and will die soon, but another life is stirring, and will be born to take its place in this world. And so it goes. It is not for us to pass judgment on the rightness or wrongness of any of this, except to say that revenge, as Susanne expresses it, is a "sin" whether you are a "believer" or not.

At any rate, this is a finely wrought and beautifully realized film by a gifted cinematic artist who explores the human condition with sensitivity and candor while eschewing clichés and easy answers. I hope to see more of his work in the years to come.

(Note: over 500 of my movie reviews are now available in my book "Cut to the Chaise Lounge or I Can't Believe I Swallowed the Remote!" Get it at Amazon.)

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