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Revanche Movie Review

Revanche is a 2008 Austrian drama film directed by Gotz Spielmann. It’s an uneven, but interestingly dramatic thriller movie.

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“I aimed at the tires“

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After a bank robbery gone wrong, Alex plans to find and kill the police officer who shot his girlfriend. To his surprise, the police officer happens to be his grandfather’s neighbor. This was one of the five movies nominated for a foreign Oscar back in 2009. It received very strong reviews, but I wasn’t impressed with it to be honest. It’s a typically cold European drama that is disguised as a thriller, but isn’t really one for better and for worse.

My main issue with this plot is its soapy nature. So many plot points and characters hinge on being connected somehow to each other, which felt way too convenient and melodramatic to me. I did appreciate the more psychological and character-driven approach to telling its story instead of an action-packed one, but still the inconsistencies of the plot prevented it from ever reaching greatness.

Revanche is very well performed by its small cast of unknowns for an audience that isn’t Austrian, but apparently in Austria some of these people are a big deal. Johannes Krisch was particularly strong and Alex is the film’s most complex and intriguing character. I did also appreciate the older man introduced way too late in the game, but he added a lot of emotion to the proceedings for sure.

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Revanche is well directed, solidly paced and featuring excellent dialogue and fine characterization. But it needed more thrills and a better crafted storyline. The technicalities are just fine without being particularly artistic or inspired. The movie’s cold tone prevented the emotional investment from ever fully kicking in.