"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.
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.