Revanche

Revanche

121 Minutes






Redemption can be a bitch and Alex (Johannes Krisch), the protagonist of Götz Spielmann's electric Revanche must lose not only his identity as a mindless employee for a repellent pimp, but the things he loves most before ascending to any sort of release or awareness of his own hand in the interconnectedness of the world.

Is there any place lower than a brothel? Russian prostitute Tamara (Irina Potapenko) longs to escape her life in an Austrian whorehouse and Alex, her secret boyfriend, has a plan to get them away from her dangerous pimp: rob a rural bank and hide out in the countryside with his ailing grandfather. Too bad fate places policeman Robert (Andreas Lust) at the scene of the crime and one wayward bullet shatters the dreams of one family but soon provides salvation for another. It's funny how fate works.

See, Alex's grandfather lives near Robert and his wife Susanne (Ursula Strauss) whose fractured marriage can only be saved by a baby, something the pair is unable to have. The incident at the bank has left Robert suffering from trauma and the marriage is about to reach a breaking point. Enter Alex, ready for revenge and as the entire movie drifts towards the eventual meeting of Alex and Robert, Spielmann juxtaposes of the impending violence with the quiet, bucolic life of rural Austria.

Revanche can be viewed as a film in two parts. The first half is a frank, wrenching look at the Eastern European skin trade. Spielmann employs scenes of degradation and violence to indict this dehumanizing profession. As Tamara desperately tries to fight off the advances of her pimp, Alex can only watch as the man who employs him tries to drag her deeper into this world of ruin. But, as the film moves into its rural setting, the story turns gentle and the characters begin to heal together, although no one knows it. Spielmann has very deliberately lensed Vienna as hell and the countryside as heaven. He is quick to point out, however, the residents in neither place know it.

"Revanche" has two meanings in German: revenge or a second chance. Both are apt in this beautiful, haunting and touching film. Spielmann finds his voice best in the open, spare scenes of rural Austria. We watch Alex split wood and Robert run through the forest. There is something beguiling in these long takes and when the characters intersect it is without bombast, but quiet sorrow. Even when a terrible secret is revealed its transference affords Alex the chance to finally move on. Krisch gives a stunning performance in a heartbreaking film where revenge is sought but a second chance is the real prize.

by David Harris