Revanche

Greetings again from the darkness. Is it revenge or a second chance? The double meaning of the title fits perfectly with this terrific, believable story. Nominated for Best Foreign Film last year, it is just now making its way to Dallas - one of the few downsides to not living in NYC.

What I love is the subtle approach of the filmmaker, director Gotz Spielmann, who obviously is a keen observer of people - moreso, I would guess, than a film buff. As a viewer, we thoroughly believe this story would play out this way because these people are reacting to real situations.

Johannes Krisch is captivating and powerful as Alex, one of the brutes working at a brothel. This is where he meets and falls for Tamara, played touchingly by Irina Potapenko. Alex hatches a plan that will allow the two to escape and start over. The plan goes well right up until the end. That's when things get really interesting.

Alex is thrown unexpectedly into the real life of police officer Robert (Andreas Lust) and his wife Susanne (fascinating acting from Ursula Strauss). Alex drops out of society on his grandfather's (Johannes Thanheiser) farm. The coincidences lead to a touch of comedy and also some real soul searching from Robert, Susanne and Alex.

The film could have ended about three different ways and I couldn't have been more happy with what we get. This is a rare film that should be seen by many more than will have the opportunity. That's a shame.

When his girlfriend is murdered during a bank robbery escape attempt, former convict Alex vows to take revenge on the man who pulled the trigger. Vengeance seems to make perfect sense until he meets his target face-to-face.

'Revanche' is a film that holds its cards close to its chest. Just when you think you have the story pinned in the first half-hour, all hell breaks loose and the film takes a wholly unexpected turn. It is a film that not only challenges you to predict what comes next, but one that forces you to decide whether revenge ever makes sense, to confront feelings of anguish and make decisions you can live with. In the character of Alex, we have a man used to dealing with the rougher side of humanity, which has hardened him in order to survive. The loss of his girlfriend Tamara robs him of the only time he allows himself to be someone else, at peace with the world. Into this world comes the unassuming presence of Robert, a policeman committed to serving the public, yet whom has never faced the hardest part of the job: taking a life. When Robert is confronted by this reality, it is then that we truly learn who he is. This, ultimately, is what the film is about - throwing ordinary people into life's darkest waters and seeing whether or not they will swim back into the light. Writer and director Götz Spielmann presents the viewer with a very compelling drama, which, through its cast of identifiably real characters, engages the viewer throughout. The lines may be drawn between those who feel wronged, but at no time is it ever easy for the viewer to take sides.

This perhaps explains the film's pacing and choice of photography. The basic storyline as described could very easily apply to a fast-paced Hollywood blockbuster, trading humanity and intelligence for cliché and car chases. Yet in the truer world of grocery shopping and household chores, moments of high drama are spaced apart by long periods of calm inactivity, leaving people to brood into the small hours over the choices they have made - the perfect environment within which feelings of revenge and misery can blossom. 'Revanche' is paced in such a way, with the principal characters having to tend to family and the ordinary demands of life while barely holding themselves together over the losses they have suffered. Yet these are their only opportunities to heal and come to terms with their pain. Spielmann accentuates these sequences with often picturesque long shots within which silence reigns and the magnitude of the suffering seems to pale into comparison with the enormity of the surrounding world.

Johannes Krisch, who some IMDb readers have intriguingly compared to Robert Carlysle, is well-cast as the hardened Alex. He not only looks the part, but conveys just the right mix of softness within a wary, battle-worn shell. Andreas Lust, as Robert, expertly portrays the policeman whose life collapses beneath him, propelling him into a world of anguish and self-doubt. Credit also goes to Johannes Thanheiser as Alex's grandfather, a man for whom life is much the same each day, yet this is no reason to complain, and Ursula Strauss as Susanne, who, as Robert's wife, must balance her role as supporter in difficult times with her needs as a woman.

Ultimately, the film leaves the viewer to tie up the loose ends, inviting comment on the drama that has unfolded. This is definitely a strong effort from all concerned, and a very mature approach to what easily could have been a simplistic action snuff piece. It's art imitating life with frankness and honesty, and worthwhile viewing. Actual rating: 7 1/2 stars.

As seen at the AFI Film Festival, Revanche is a tight thriller that is at a the same time a mood piece and a human moral drama. Austrian's official submission for the foreign language category in the 2009 Academy Awards is likely to this reviewer to get the nomination. Following the lives of two couples, a prostitute and a thug, a cop and his wife; tragic circumstances converge their lives when a bank robbery goes awry. Featuring a stand out performance by Tommy Lee Jones look-alike Johannes Krisch as the thug Alex, the man creates tension when out of frame, in the nick of shadows and in front of the camera. His character of Alex is a tortured soul that the audience is never sure off; his intentions or actions are hidden behind a mask of serenity. Not satisfied with being a replica of Jones, he also gives a very Tommy Lee Jones no-frills turn that keeps the movie afloat. Director Gotz Spielman creates tension using sound and extremely detailed camera set-ups. Not show-offy in anyway but including two long one take shots, he also uses his DP to infuse the screen with pale and desaturated color tones for nights scenes and natural lighting for daylight scenes, all used to provide a flat élan on the screen. It effectively supports the vibe of these revenge melodrama. What could be hammy in another director's hands becomes poetry in his. The sound of the ax smashing a block of wood never seemed more intimate. When a director uses it in such a way that the viewer feels inside the innards of a man's soul, you know the director knows his stuff. Intricate and detailed, it is consummate from top to bottom. If there is any qualms with the movie, it is in the character of Robert the cop played by Andreas Lust. His character arc is supposed to mirror Alex but he never earns the audience's sympathy the way Alex does; yet his story is geared toward such a response. The character is slightly underwritten and the actor never engages the character the way Johannes does. Playing against our expectations to create an ending reminiscent of Greek tragedy, it is a worthy movie experience and the best movie I've seen in 2008 along with Mike Leigh's Happy go lucky.

This Austrian drama starts as a love story between a scruffy ex-con and a Ukranian prostitute, but evolves into an interesting character study. It takes a while for the film to settle down and the central storyline to emerge, but it is quite absorbing. The acting is excellent, particularly Strauss and Thanheiser. Spielmann's direction is assured and marked by visual elegance. He doesn't use any flashy camera-work, but manages to infuse every frame with a sense of foreboding. The pacing is deliberate (about 10 minutes of screen time is devoted to watching Krisch cut wood), but it never drags. The Austrian countryside is beautifully shot in this low-key and rewarding film.

Is it an accident? Or is it fate, coincidences predestined? You don't really think about these reservations as you are watching Austrian director-producer-screenwriter Götz Spielmann's quietly fascinating film, "Revanche." The one-word title in French translates to 'revenge.' But this is hardly your usual action thriller, though there are anxious suspenseful moments and bank heist involved.

Love the film. The storyline and the characters, the occurrence of incidents all seem to follow natural development - their own course (by design 'divine'). So few dialog and no music score at all, just birds chirping, sound of raindrops, everything naturally delivered. Well, the only human music being the accordion played by grandfather Hausner. One man's revengeful thoughts or action just might turn out to be blossoming into another's hopeful, joyous beginning of future. Two men hung up on one woman dead, both men acquiesced by one woman alive, whose optimistic intuition and trustful understanding may bring full circle to the string of events, perhaps liken to how nature takes care of itself? The engaging 'fate' element is somehow unbeknown to all parties involved (while the audience might marvel at the clues, possibly unaware also).

As I was quietly watching the film following the story progression, I said to myself at one point: I hope this is where the film ends and go on no more. The next second the screen did fade to black and the end credits start rolling, without any music other than birds chirping can be heard, and later on, sound of raindrops falling for the rest of the credit roll.

What a script! So perfectly directed, and such steady subtle performances from the ensemble cast of characters. The four main roles are so solidly portrayed: Alex by Johannes Krisch and his girlfriend Tamara by Irina Potapenko; Robert the policeman by Andreas Lust and his wife Susanne by Ursula Strauss. A satisfying movie experience, it is. I actually appreciate this film more than the winning 2008 Oscar foreign film "Departures" - well, it's different in story layers and 'Departures' encompasses many aspects, while "Revanche" also has its layers of emotions, psychological human nature perspectives, is delivered 'clean' and focused, ever so naturally acceptable of human foibles, vulnerability and one woman's life force. A very humanistic film - a MUST SEE.