Revanche (2008)

Better Late Then Never

Best movie ever!

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

Both Alex and Tamara work in a Vienna brothel, while they carry on a secret relationship. To improve their life and pay off Tamara's debts, Alex decides to rob a bank and things get out of control when a policeman shows up on his getaway. It's a drama movie that creates tensions and the revenge story was told in a different suspenseful way. More than a revenge story, it actually deals with humans emotional behavior and how they approach to a serious situation. The story is unpredictable and most of the things that happened in it looks real to me. Overall, I like this movie and To be frank, it's not everyone's cup of tea.

"Revanche" is a German-language movie from 7 years ago and, together with "Antares", the most known work by Austrian filmmaker Götz Spielmann. This one was Oscar-nominated in the Foreign Language Film category, but lost out to the Japanese entry. "Revanche" runs for over 2 hours and this is maybe also the movie's biggest problem. While it is extraordinarily tense and gripping, the film also has a couple sequences where it does drag in my opinion. I am basically referring to parts before the botched bank robbery here. 50 minutes or so was simply too long for the character presentation part in my opinion. As much as I liked looking at the stunning Irina Potapenko, they certainly could have kept these sequences at 30 minutes max and, consequently, the film at 100 minutes.There is absolutely nothing wrong with the acting here: Krisch, Lust, Strauss, the aforementioned Potapenko and Thanheiser delivered from start to finish, even if Thanheiser's character did not really add that much to me for the movie. It sucks a bit to see that Krisch did not really manage a career in known films other than this one (and maybe the pretty bad "Vergiss mein Ich" from last year) as he carries this film here nicely from start to finish and creates a truly interesting character. In terms of Lust, you may want to check out the very good "The Robber"."Revanche" is a lot about masculinity for Krisch's and Lust's character, but also as a consequence for Potapenko's and Strauss'. There is one scene early on when we hear that the main character is not tough enough and this definitely influenced his decision to rob the bank and has him play with a gun in the presence of his girlfriend right after to prove to himself how tough he is. On the other hand, Lust struggles with being too serious while still having a massive ego and the fact that he just does not seem manly enough to get his girlfriend pregnant. We hear on one occasion that it's his fault probably. This impotence may also have to do with the woman's cheating. Krisch's character initially plans a much more brutal revenge, but he won't go through with it, maybe another example that he simply is not a tough guy. Instead, he (almost unintentionally) chooses a less violent path by hurting the police officer emotionally. And the final talk between the two men on the park bench basically destroys his plan completely when he sees how Lust's character suffers from the shooting. He doesn't mind if the boyfriend comes for him, he aimed for the tires etc. He may not have lost a loved one, but he suffers almost the same as Krisch's character, emotionally and professionally."Revanche" is not among my top5 favorite non English films from 2008, but I still recommend the watch. The robbery scene is absolutely edge-of-the-seat stuff and one of the best movie moments of 2008 when the two men run into each other. Unfortunately, there are not many more truly outstanding scenes and even if Spielmann elaborates convincingly on the characters' reactions and emotional states, it sometimes feels that the film is just dragging on. This is by no means a bad film, but it's also not as good as it could have been.

Being artistic doesn't always mean you have made the decent flick. Sometimes, the artistic can be so arrogant that it suffocates decent story. This is just the case with Austrian "Revanche", an incredibly dull and slow movie coming from nowhere and leading nowhere.Nothing is right here. The naive and empty script, empty long cuts and pretentious acting tend to irritate rather than to suck the viewer inside the revenge story in rural Austria."Revanche" is one over prized and vanity-filled flick. Nomination for Best foreign language film shouldn't have even been taken into consideration let alone be read in Kodak theater.

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.