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Revanche (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]

Hanno Pschl (Actor), Andreas Lust (Actor), Gtz Spielmann (Director) Rated:
NR
Format: Blu-ray
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 192 ratings
IMDb7.5/10.0
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February 16, 2010
The Criterion Collection
1
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Revanche (English Subtitled) $3.59 $19.99
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Genre Mystery & Suspense
Format Blu-ray, Color, NTSC, Subtitled, Multiple Formats, Widescreen, Special Edition
Contributor Hanno Pschl, Irina Potapenko, Ursula Strauss, Gtz Spielmann, Johannes Krisch, Hannes Thanheiser, Andreas Lust See more
Language German
Runtime 2 hours and 2 minutes
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Product Description

Product Description

A gripping thriller and a tragic drama of nearly Greek proportions, Revanche is the stunning, Oscar-nominated international breakthrough of Austrian filmmaker Götz Spielmann. In a ragged section of Vienna, hardened ex-con Alex (the mesmerizing Johannes Krisch) works as an assistant in a brothel, where he falls for Ukrainian hooker Tamara. Their desperate plans for escape unexpectedly intersect with the lives of a rural cop and his seemingly content wife. With meticulous, elegant direction, Spielmann creates a tense, existential, and surprising portrait of vengeance and redemption, and a journey into the darkest forest of human nature, in which violence and beauty exist side by side.

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Director Götz Spielmann's Revanche, Austria's 2009 Academy Awards selection for foreign film, is quite a unique movie for its sensitive, empathetic portrayal of hard-boiled activity. Its gorgeously austere cinematography not only serves this sad story well but also makes the viewing experience more touching than one would expect from such a bleak narrative. Revanche, which means in German both "revenge" and "second chance," focuses on swarthy ex-con Alex (Johannes Krisch) and his girlfriend, Ukrainian prostitute Tamara (Irina Potapenko), a tender couple who are as naive as they are streetwise. Scenes set in the Viennese brothel in which they are both employed by a sleazy boss, Konecny (Hanno Pöschl), depict a couple stranded in financial ruin and dreaming of an exit plan. Meanwhile, a second story unfolds featuring Alex's aging grandfather, Hausner (Johannes Thanheiser), and his neighbors in their small village--Robert (Andreas Lust), the local policeman, and his wife, Susanne (Ursula Strauss). When Alex and Tamara's plan goes awry, the two couples' lives intersect in drastic ways. Not until their joint story becomes more grossly intertwined do they discover how much they all have in common. Revanche is a story about a struggle to repress vengeance and about how to redeem oneself after accidents occur. The acting in this film is astoundingly real, so the guilt that each character feels is crystal clear to the viewer. Crime, here, is so realistically complex that by the end it hardly seems like a crime has been committed at all. Moreover, as each character digs deeper into their sources of loss, one understands the humanity of such dire circumstance and learns about the overlap between urban chaos and the solace of nature via Austrian farm life. The second disc on this Criterion release contains excellent interviews with this insightful, intuitive director as well as his beautifully scenic student short film, "Foreign Land," about a boy in the Tyrolean Alps who learns how to manage his family farm. --Trinie Dalton

Product details

  • Aspect Ratio ‏ : ‎ 1.85:1
  • Is Discontinued By Manufacturer ‏ : ‎ No
  • MPAA rating ‏ : ‎ NR (Not Rated)
  • Product Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 0.7 x 7.5 x 5.4 inches; 4 ounces
  • Item model number ‏ : ‎ CRRN1873BR
  • Director ‏ : ‎ Gtz Spielmann
  • Media Format ‏ : ‎ Blu-ray, Color, NTSC, Subtitled, Multiple Formats, Widescreen, Special Edition
  • Run time ‏ : ‎ 2 hours and 2 minutes
  • Release date ‏ : ‎ February 16, 2010
  • Actors ‏ : ‎ Hanno Pschl, Andreas Lust, Ursula Strauss, Johannes Krisch, Irina Potapenko
  • Subtitles: ‏ : ‎ English
  • Studio ‏ : ‎ Criterion Collection
  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B002XUL6P8
  • Country of Origin ‏ : ‎ USA
  • Number of discs ‏ : ‎ 1
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 192 ratings

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
4.3 out of 5
192 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

bamapete12
5.0 out of 5 stars Very unique, slow burn drama
Reviewed in the United States on March 3, 2024
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Disc played perfectly. Cinematography is superb, acting, unique story, all top notch. These lower budget character driven foreign films are really finely crafted. No special effects, explosions, convoluted story line, just excellent character development and immersion.
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NOWISM
5.0 out of 5 stars Loved It!
Reviewed in the United States on November 5, 2019
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This movie was a pleasant surprise. It moves at a slower pace than usual (those of us with deficient attention spans, beware) but accomplishes much more than a Hollywood blockbuster full of explosions and cut-and-paste dialogue. It's suspenseful, but not overly so, tender, but not cheesy, and funny, but by no means a comedy. The acting is on point, the characters are genuine and complex--nothing seems contrived. It's a simple story that held my interest throughout since I couldn't predict where it was going and in the end, I was pleased with how it concluded.
It's a shame that a lot of the 1-star reviews are due to the "subtitles not working". The director chose not to subtitle the occasional part when one of the characters speaks in a language (russian) other than the main language of the film (austrian). That amounts to about 3 lines. Two of those lines are in the opening scene. If you give it a minute you'll see that the rest of the film is subtitled.
9 people found this helpful
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Kathy Mac
5.0 out of 5 stars An adventure set in autumnal Austria that will keep you involved and wanting more!
Reviewed in the United States on March 15, 2016
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This is a pretty fantastic movie and keeps you interested and caring for the protagonist. His acting chops are revealed as the tortured soul grieving the loss of his deep love for a prostitute. It resonates in the fact that it has a woman from the Ukraine existing in Austria by selling her body and you so much want her to have a better life. The portrait of the aging grandfather alone on a farm who speaks to his dead wife's picture really hit hard. You want him to connect to his grandson very much. You want the neighbor lady to get pregnant but she cannot.However she nurtures the old man and brings a cake, encouraging him to play the accordion again made ones heart feel warm. People connecting and then being torn apart seems to be a theme that is woven through this excellent film. Well worth your time and expect rapturous scenery of an autumn in Austria!
7 people found this helpful
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Seen
4.0 out of 5 stars The kind of brilliant foriegn film that won't win the Oscar...
Reviewed in the United States on February 20, 2010
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Call me jaded, but as someone who's studied film, been a film critic, and been a film enthusiast for years, one can't happen to notice that typically the Oscar for Foreign Language film goes to something "heart-felt" and "sentimental" versus "depressing" and "minimailist." (And I promise I won't rant about the insanely outdated, ridiculous system that prevents many of the best foreign films from even being eligible for a nomination.)

In a way, this one film, is two very different parts in both mood and tone. However, it is in fact, one linear storyline, that is separated by an event that occurs midway through the movie. And by the time, it's done, seemingly different as the two components of the film may be, the whole is quite impressive and unique.

While everyone likes (and awards) the flashy performances, the ones I always find most satisfying are the restrained, carefully measured ones. The lead actor here is singular in the sense that he is cold, hard, detached, and understated--as he should be--but he also some very intense emotional moments which are compounded upon impact by the fact that the viewer has become so accustomed to his usual demeanor.

Another unique component to this brilliant work, is that it has almost no music whatsoever. No score, only a few isolated scenes with music as a necessary component. It's all about the quiet moments, the words spoken, and the ambient nature sounds that sound rich, from even the most basic tv speakers.

"Revanche" has some rather bold narrative and filmic approaches to its relatively traditional minimalism, observationism, and very otherwise typically European film sensibility. It's a welcome fit to the Criterion Collection, and it would be a welcome addition to any cinemaphile's library.
21 people found this helpful
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gregory lake
5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent film in every aspect
Reviewed in the United States on June 28, 2020
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I just finished watching " Revanche " at Amazon Prime video .
A solid 10 on a 1 - 10 scale
No over the top special effects , digital enhancements , loud music , car chases or shoot outs just a superbly crafted , well acted fine movie . One of the best I've seen in years .
A gripping thriller and a tragic drama of nearly Greek proportions, Revanche is the stunning, Oscar-nominated international breakthrough of Austrian filmmaker Götz Spielmann. Hardened ex-con Alex works in a Viennese brothel, where he falls for Ukrainian hooker Tamara. Their desperate plans for escape unexpectedly intersect with the lives of a rural cop and his seemingly content wife
One person found this helpful
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JG in PHX
1.0 out of 5 stars Horrible and boring.
Reviewed in the United States on December 30, 2018
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I am a movie buff who watches a lot of movies, so when I say that this is one of the worst movies I have seen, that's saying something. It is billed as a "gripping thriller," but there was no thrills to be had...just a boring, monotonous mess with unengaging characters. This "C" movie is really low budget, the acting is poor, and there is no plot to speak of. And the ending, if you want to call it that, was unbelievable. To give you an idea of how boring this movie is, about 30 minutes of the movie is taken up with the protagonist chopping wood. For the life of me, I can't understand all the glowing reviews.
One person found this helpful
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BK Lim
5.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent Film!
Reviewed in the United States on August 6, 2021
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I watched this film cold. And what an amazing discovery! I was blown away by Götz Spielmann’s impressive narrative structure, with its unexpectedly refreshing meandering layers, filled with jaw-dropping scenes…all in a quiet way. Indeed, this auteur says that he likes to narrate silence…and in Revanche, he has succeeded brilliantly. A film for multiple viewings
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Top reviews from other countries

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christophe auduraud-clement
5.0 out of 5 stars Parfait
Reviewed in France on April 7, 2024
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Envoi rapide. Produit impeccable.
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maurizio
4.0 out of 5 stars Revanche - ti ucciderò
Reviewed in Italy on December 6, 2017
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Eccellenti inquadrature iniziali e finali, di una rilassante campagna austriaca. Film tranquillo, senza sussulti, ma sempre avvincente. Ed il dilemma che si pone in due occasioni: perché lei era là? Dilemma che è la pietra miliare del film. Ovviamente, non mi pare il caso di svelarne la trama, né altri dettagli: sarebbe una cosa più sciocca di quanto si possa supporre. Buona invece la qualità del DVD. Bello il cinguettio degli uccellini sui titoli di coda.
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J.A.Hallbauer ;Doc Halliday
5.0 out of 5 stars Gleiches mit Gleichem vergelten....
Reviewed in Germany on March 3, 2016
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.... das bietet sich förmlich an für den Protagonisten dieses bemerkenswerten Films aus Österreich. Nach Drehbuch und unter Regie von Götz Spielmann 2008 gedreht, erhielt er zahlreiche Filmpreise und war für den Auslandsoscar 2009 nominiert. Weder der Film noch sein Hauptdarsteller Johannes Krisch haben die Ehrung erhalten, Fehlentscheidungen wären es nicht gewesen. Die bei Wiki gelisteten Kritiken, welche man tunlichst erst hinterher lese bzw. nicht die Inhaltsangabe vorweg, sind durchweg begeistert.

ACHTUNG!! Nicht frei von Spoilern!!

Der Kleinganove Alex (Johannes Krisch) arbeitet als Handlanger, Chauffeur, Mädchen für alles für den Wiener Bordellier Konecny (Hanno Pöschl) und hat ein Verhältnis zu der ukrainischen Prostituierten Tamara (Irina Potapenko). Konecny möchte sie als Luxuscallgirl für seine Kundschaft aus besseren Kreisen aufbauen, eigenes Appartement, Politiker und Industrielle aus seinem Freundeskreis als Kunden.
Als diese schließlich ablehnt, da sie sich im Kreise der Kolleginnen sicherer fühlt, erhält sie rabiaten Besuch, der von Alex verdroschen wird, als sie schreit. Alex muss sich beim Kunden entschuldigen, dieser nimmt an, mir scheint die Episode von Konecny eingefädelt.
Vielleicht war das Ereignis der letzte Anstoß für Alex: er baldowert einen Bankraub aus, mit ungeladener Waffe und "ganz sicher" geplant, Tamara lässt sich nicht davon abbringen, ihn im geklauten Wagen auf ihn wartend zu begleiten, und die Tragödie nimmt ihren Lauf.
Den Wagen hat Alex in einer Seitenstrasse geparkt, wegen des Halteverbotes (soviel zu sicher!) fällt der Wagen dem Polizisten Robert (Andreas Lust) auf. Er will Tamara kontrollieren, ihren Ausweis habe ihr einkaufender Freund, sie stamme aus der Ukraine, woher der Freund wisse sie nicht. Der vom erfolgreichen Raubzug zurückkehrende Alex beobachtet die Szene, tritt heran, bedroht den Polizisten und braust davon, Robert schießt hinterher, "auf die Reifen", kurze Zeit später stirbt Tamara im Fluchtwagen.

Soweit- nicht gespoilert, siehe Filmbeschreibung- die Ausgangslage, die förmlich nach Revanche schreit. Alex geht nach Abstellen des geklauten BMW durch den Wald zu seinem Großvater(?) Hausner (Hannes Thanheisner), der einen kleinen Hof bewirtschaftet, Nicht weit davon lebt in einem einsamen Haus am See Robert mit seiner Frau Susanne (Ursula Strauss). Die Ehe ist belastet durch Kinderlosigkeit, aber einer angedachten Adoption stimmt er nicht zu, er hoffft immer noch auf Nachwuchs auf normalem Wege. Das Ereignis mit dem Tod der "Komplizin", die der gute Schütze glaubhaft nicht habe treffen wollen, belastet Robert sowohl bei der Arbeit als auch die Ehe weiter, da er nicht in der Lage ist, über das Trauma mit Susanne zu sprechen.
Über die in einem Supermarkt arbeitende Susanne bekommt Robert zufällig mit, wer der Todesschütze ist, sie besucht auch gelegentlich den alten Hausner und bietet Hilfe an.
Den Todeschützen und seine Ehefrau als Nachbarn, an wen soll er sich halten? Robert erschießen oder ihm die Ehefrau wegnehmen, damit dieser genauso leide wie Alex selber, der immer wieder ein Foto der Geliebten betrachtet? Diese Erwägungen sind naheliegend, werden aber nicht expressis verbis ausgesprochen. Es sind die beiden möglichen Alternativen, die wir hinter der Stirn von Robert arbeiten sehen. Immer wieder wird gezeigt, wie er in einem Schuppen von Hausner sich körperlich völlig verausgabt, mit geschwollenen Stirnadern nicht nur von Anstrengung. Er lädt Brennholz auf eine Karre, zersägt es mit einer großen Ktreissäge, später wird wiederholt gezeigt, wie er (und Krisch kann es wirklich gut!) mit der Axt die Stücke in präzisen einzelnen Schlägen weiter spaltet, dass sie nach beiden Seiten davonfliegen.
Er hat öfter und später einen besonderen Kontakt zu Susanne und trifft auch wiederholt auf Robert. Wiederholte Schwächeanfälle des Alten sind genial inszeniert und erhöhen die Spannung: Bleibt Alex noch aus Pflichtgefühl auf dem Hof oder sondiert er immer noch die Lage, überlegt, ob und wie und wann er seine Revanche nehmen solle. Er spricht auch mit Robert, der immer wieder auf einer Bank am See eine kurze Rast bei seinen täglichen Joggingrunden einlegt, zielt auf den Weiterlaufenden, drückt aber noch nicht ab.
Das Ende ist völlig anders als wir es fast 90 Minuten lang mit zunehmender Spannung erwartet haben. Zwei Menschen teilen ein, möglicherweise auch zwei Geheimnisse.

Den begeisterten Pressestimmen muss ich mich uneingeschränkt anschließen. Ohne nach der anfänglichen Szene im Bordell mit der Prügelei weitere spektakulären Thrill zu inszenieren, schafft es der Regisseur besonders durch die herausragenden Schauspieler, bei denen ich Johannes Krisch und Ursula Strauss, danach auch Andreas Lust hervorheben möchte, durch alltägliche Szenen, wie das Leben halt weitergeht, bis zum Ende bei uns ein beeindruckendes Kopfkino in Gang zu setzen, die beiden Tötungsalternativen, die ich eingangs als naheliegend erwähnt habe, scheinen permanent hinter der Stirn von Alex zu arbeiten, auch wenn er seine Verzweiflung, seine Wut förmlich an dem Brennholz austobt. Die Banalität großer Teile des Gezeigten, alltägliche Handlungen sind besonders durch das Spiel von Johannes Krisch permanent durch die Frage überlagert, wie es in ihm wohl brodeln mag und welche der Alternativen er erwägt, vielleicht fallen Zuschauern auch noch weitere als die von mir beiden genannten Revanchen ein.
Auch Irina Potapenko ist nicht nur schön nackig-knackige Staffage oder Nebendarstellerin, sowohl sie als auch der mir ebenfalls bekannte Hanno Pöschl spielen ihre Rollen vorzüglich. Und eine überzeugende Leistung zeigt auch der "Alte", Hannes Thanheiser als Hausner, ebenso ein "Sturkopf " wie Alex, der in für das Alter nicht untypischer Manier seinen Hof nicht im Stich lassen will, irgendwann mit den Füßen zuerst aus ihm herausgetragen werden möchte, wenn sein Stündlein schlägt, und die Alarmsignale, die sein Herz auszusenden scheint, lange bagatellisiert oder ignoriert, bis er sich von Alex ins Spital fahren lässt.

Götz Spielmann ist mit seinen hervorragenden Schauspielern, die alle das Beste aus ihren Rollen herausholen und von denen Burgschauspieler Johannes Krisch besonders hervorgehoben werden soll, gelungen, ohne spektakuläre Grausamkeiten und billige Spannungseffekte wie dramatische Musikuntermalung durch Schilderung banaler Alltäglichkeiten, nämlich das zu zeigen, was den Alltag ausmacht, einen bis zum Ende höchst spannenden Film mit einem nicht unbedingt so erwarteten Ende zu drehen.

Doc Halliday
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JOEY
5.0 out of 5 stars UNA SOPRENDENTE Y BIEN CONSTRUIDA PELICULA AUSTRIACA QUE CONVINA EL ...
Reviewed in Spain on December 9, 2014
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UNA SOPRENDENTE Y BIEN CONSTRUIDA PELICULA AUSTRIACA QUE CONVINA EL THRILLER Y EL DRAMA, Y QUE FUE NOMINADA AL OSCAR A LA MEJOR PELICULA DE HABLA NO INGLESA EN 2008. A DESTACAR SU REPARTO.
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Bill
5.0 out of 5 stars Second chances
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 29, 2011
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Revanche (French for revenge, but also meaning a re-match or second chance in German) begins in the seedy outskirts of Vienna, where ex-con Alex and his Ukranian girlfriend Tamara, a prostitute, live out their hopeless lives in dingy hotel rooms and tacky brothel bedrooms, dreaming of a way out. Alex is none too bright, and decides that robbing a bank is the easiest way to escape. 'What could go wrong?' he reassures Tamara, showing surprising faith in his rather limited resourcefulness.

So far, so predictable. But then, following a sudden and quietly shocking incident at around the half-way point, the film makes a dramatic and abrupt left-turn and becomes a different sort of beast altogether, in much the same way as Hitchcock's 'Psycho' switches, with a flick of a shower-curtain, from crime caper to horror movie.

The action moves from the mean streets of Vienna to the empty horizons and dark brooding forests of the country, as Alex schemes and smoulders, hiding away on his grandfather's rundown smallholding, just a short hike from the nearest neighbours, policeman Robert and his wife Susanne. The film's tempo shifts down a notch, and the plot's twists and turns (there are more surprises in store) are marked by the continual slow thud of the axe and the whine of the chainsaw. The end, when it comes, is both satisfying and mildly inconclusive, and you leave the film with a sense of the characters living on beyond the credits.

Director and writer Spielmann is determined throughout not to hold our hands. There's no film score controlling our emotions, and his camera plays with us, teasingly fixing motionless on scenery - a wooded glade, a narrow side-street, a silent lake - the significance of which only becomes clear much later. He allows us to slowly get inside the (initially unsympathetic) protagonists, so that we come to care what happens to all of them.

If Hollywood ever remakes this film (as it surely will) then you'd better expect a hell of a lot more action and violence, a stirring and emotional soundtrack, and all shades of ambiguity removed. Revanche comes firmly from that school of European film-making where less is more, and which expects the cinema-goer to fill in the silences between dialogue, to question the characters' motivation and their morality. In short, it's a film which makes you think, in much the same way as Haneke's 'Hidden' and Zvyagintsev's 'The Return'. If you liked those, you'll like this.
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