Thumbs up for Revanche

[Gerald Cooperberg]

I had a chance to catch up with Revanche, one of this year's Academy Award nominees for Best Foreign Film from Austria. It's slow to develop, but pays off in the end. The plot centers around an underling at a Vienna brothel who decides to rob a bank to make a new life for himself and his Ukrainian girlfriend. After the heist, he hides out at his grandfather's farm in the countryside and finds himself interacting with the policeman and his wife who live down the road in unexpected ways. What starts out as a taut but familiar crime thriller deepens into a complex but satisfying meditation on loss, regret, and the titular motivation. The acting is naturalistic but the film is well-cast, including a visceral Johannes Krisch in the lead role, Ursula Strauss as the cautiously friendly neighbor, and a moving Hannes Thanheiser as Krisch's aging grandfather. The film is not scored and the ambient soundtrack gives it an extra tension, especially in the scenes immediately following the robbery. Some might find the ending frustrating in a No Country for Old Men sort of way, although I think the final scene is a nice grace-note. The film has plenty of action early (and yes, some fairly explicit sex) and even non-fans of European or art-house cinema are likely to find it tolerable. I don't think it has any chance of winning the Oscar (which is sure to go either to the Cannes-pleasing The Class or Waltz With Bashir), but I do hope it gets a little wider exposure. Most folks will probably have to look for it on DVD.

-Coop