In an age of hyperkinetic narratives, the Austrian movie Revanche, with its leisured pace, might appear anachronistic to many. A character drama of the first order, the movie is about a former convict’s inner turbulence as to whether he should (or should not) seek revenge against the cop who accidentally killed his fiancé. Where revenge flicks go, it is absolutely antithetical to the likes of such explosive movies as Oldboy and A Bittersweet Life. Rather, what we have is an implosive character study of a man, stuck by a stroke of sudden misfortune, waiting to explode with cold, simmering fury. At the backbone of this extraordinarily gripping drama lie solid performances, grim realism, bleak, deglamourised vignettes and a deep sense of tragedy pervading the characters – factors that have made it structurally very similar to 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (interestingly, like the Romanian masterpiece, this movie too is nearly completely bereft of any background score). Though never overtly expressive, the movie, nonetheless, is emotionally charged, with violence almost bursting through the seams. This brilliant, gloomy crime drama has really upped my interest for Gotz Spielmann, the movie’s director. By the way, on hindsight, the first half of the movie might appear to be a MacGuffin to many, but I feel it acted as a vital driver to what followed – both plot-wise and character-wise.
Director: Gotz Spielmann
Genre: Drama/Crime Drama
Language: German/Russian
Country: Austria
