Revanche (2008)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1173745/
German language English and French suttitles
Revanche is a 2008 Austrian film written and directed by Götz Spielmann. It stars Johannes Krisch as a man robbed of his purpose and deadened by thoughts of revenge in the wake of a crime that was to grant his girlfriend and him a new life.
Johannes Krisch ... Alex
Irina Potapenko ... Tamara
Andreas Lust ... Robert
Ursula Strauss ... Susanne
Johannes Thanheiser ... Grandfather Hausner (as Hannes Thanheiser)
Hanno Pöschl ... Konecny - Tamara's Boss
Magdalena Kropiunig ... Prostitute in Hotel
Toni Slama ... Tamara's Customer
Elisabetha Pejcinoska ... Cinderella Prostitute #1
Aniko Bärkanyi ... Cinderella Prostitute #2
Annamaria Haytö ... Cinderella Prostitute #3
Nicoletta Prokes ... Cinderella Prostitute #4
Rainer Gradischnig ... Harry - Man Beating Tamara
Haris Bilajbegovic ... Man stopping Harry
Aleksander Reljic-Bohigas ... Owner of Cinderella
The film premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival in February 2008. It received critical acclaim and won a number of awards, and was nominated for the 2009 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
Film distribution in Austria is by Filmladen, while the world rights are held by The Match Factory, Cologne. The film was promoted by the Austrian Film Institute (Österreichisches Filminstitut) and the state of Lower Austria.
Production design was by Maria Gruber, who won the Femina Film Prize for it. Heinz Ebner was responsible for the sound. Film production was carried out entirely by the company Listo in Vienna.
The film was submitted on 1 September 2008 by the Austrian Film Commission as the Austrian entry for selection for the Oscars in the Best Foreign-Language Film category, and on 22 January 2009 was nominated by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences out of 67 entries as one of five films.This was the third time that Austria had submitted a film by Spielmann: the first two were Die Fremde (2000) and Antares (2004). Director Götz Spielmann did not appear especially surprised at film being short-listed, as it was "already obvious" that "'Revanche' will be unusually well received in the USA". He did not think an actual nomination impossible, but it would be a close-run thing. Spielmann saw three other favorites for distinction in this category–Waltz with Bashir, The Class and Everlasting Moments–which apart from the last were also among the nominees.
The film opened on 12 February 2009 in German cinemas and was subsequently released at different times in various European countries and the United States over the following months.
Combining the gutter-level dirty Europe realism of the Dardenne brothers or Ulrich Seidl with the rootless aesthetic of a 70s American thriller, Spielmann spins his yarn around monosyllabic Alex (Johannes Krisch), a protagonist so inscrutable he makes Thomas from "Jerichow" seem like Oscar Wilde. Alex works security in a Vienna brothel, where he's having an illicit affair with one of the working girls, Russian transplant Tamara (Irina Potapenko). Of course their attempt to rob a bank and escape from Tamara's pimp goes terribly awry -- but that's when "Revanche" really gets interesting.
Alex finds himself propelled into a strange new rural life, working on his grandfather's farm and locked in a compulsive, adulterous relationship with the cop's wife next door. Said cop, naturally enough, has a professional interest in Alex's previous activities. I have a particular fondness for movies that hide their true identity, like "The Crying Game" or Kubrick's "Lolita," movies that seem to be taking you in one direction and then go in a stranger or darker one.
Revanche begins as a real thriller and gradually disassembles itself into something Wim Wenders might have made in 1972. Simply a film of terrific texture, emotional depth and cinematic accomplishment, by a master director who's gone almost unnoticed outside the German-speaking countries.