With a policeman and a prostitute in prominent roles, one would anticipate that sex and violence would dominate "Revanche," an Austrian Oscar candidate for Best Foreign Language film that opens today. But before we engage in any games of conclusion-jumping, let’s look a little more deeply into the excellent film written and directed by Gotz Spielmann.
Irina Potapenko is Tamara, a Ukranian working in a Vienna brothel and carrying on a secret life with Alex, a small-time crook who dreams of major scores but remains pretty much an errand boy for more important mobsters. Johannes Krisch is excellent in the role. When the brothel owner decides he wants Tamara for specialty work, Alex decides to play savior and asks her to wait in the car while he robs a bank, seeking a stake to finance their departure. A young policeman fires a shot at Alex’s fleeing car – and kills Tamara.
Alex escapes to a nearby country town, home of his grandfather.
Guess who lives next door?
Robert, the policeman (Andres Lust), and his wife, Susanne (Ursula Strauss), a happy, couple with one problem, an inability to conceive a child
Granted this is a little convenient for a discussion of morality involving a desperate woman, a saddened small-timer who has obtained his stake but who is suddenly stricken with familial guilt as he sees his grandfather (a superb portrayal by Hannes Thanheiser) begin to fail, a policeman who exults in a continuous efforts at fitness.
Spielmann’s screenplay is taut, stripped of unnecessary verbiage, always on target, and he has brought fine performances from his entire cast. Even in a backwater of society where sex and violence are an integral part of life, Spielmann understands the importance, but shows it as only a small part of larger world. An excellent movie.
At the Plaza Frontenac
-Joe