There's real biblical tragedy, and redemption, in Spielmann's fine, sad, suspenseful film.
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11/05/09
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Revanche (2009)
94
%
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Reviews Counted:50
Fresh:47
Rotten:3
Average Rating:7.6/10
Consensus: With Revanche, Götz Spielmann has crafted a debut as surprising as it is suspenseful.
Theatrical Release:May 1, 2009 Limited
Synopsis: At once a gripping thriller and a tragic drama of nearly Greek proportions, Revanche is the stunning, Oscar–nominated, international breakthrough film from Austrian filmmaker Götz Spielmann. In a... [More]
Starring: Ursula Strauss, Irina Potapenko, Johannes Krisch, Andreas Lust
Director: Götz Spielmann
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Reviews for Revanche
Top CriticArtful, suspenseful and utterly engaging, Revanche is also challenging and arguably one of the most mature dramas to hit art houses this year.
10/29/09
Spielmann’s deft storytelling is coupled with immaculate compositions that constrain the characters as confidently as any prison bars.
10/09/09
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09/11/09
A film of carefully strained pulp and rigorously controlled intrigue, the Austrian revenge drama Revanche, which is really about the dividing line between vengeance and forgiveness, belongs to a neo-noir universe where all the classical genre laws apply.
08/14/09
Top CriticSo few characters in Hollywood thrillers ever feel real. The true achievement of Revanche may be that Spielmann's characters sometimes feel too much so.
08/07/09
Writer-director Gotz Spielmann (Antares) avoids the clutter and manipulation of most thrillers, escalating tension almost solely through the characters' turbulent emotions.
08/07/09
Top CriticRevanche involves a rare coming together of a male's criminal nature and a female's deep needs, entwined with a first-rate thriller.
08/06/09
Top CriticThe quiet cinematography by Martin Gschlacht underscores the film's emphasis on characters rather than action while placing the characters in very specific contexts...
07/31/09
The title Revanche means 'retribution,' and this Oscar nominee for best foreign-language film is a European extract of neo-noir, like a Bavarian Body Heat or a Teutonic 21 Grams.
07/30/09
It's undeniably effective and pretty engrossing. And there's something to be said for the unconventional way it sucks viewers in.
07/16/09
Unsettling and at the same time genuinely moving, it's a superb psychological thriller...remarkable for its meticulous creation of mood.
07/03/09
The performers do terrifically understated work. Even in a scene of angry, anguished coupling, silence and stillness persist.
06/26/09
Top CriticIt can be a mite slow, but it's exquisitely crafted and deeply atmospheric, and it pays you amply for your patience.
06/12/09
Johannes Krisch leads an effective cast. But it's writer-director Götz Spielmann who's truly the talent to watch.
06/12/09
This cool, tense Austrian thriller follows a Ukrainian hooker and her petty criminal boyfriend as they try to escape their dead-end lives.
06/05/09
Top CriticRevanche is an extraordinary film, mythic in feeling, about an ex-con who falls in love with a prostitute and how their lives intertwine fatefully with that of a policeman and his wife.
06/05/09
Top CriticRevenge is a dish best served Austrian in Revanche.
06/05/09
The uniformly crackerjack cast keeps things electric, yet always believable, even when behaving in ways that are shocking.
05/29/09
Top CriticThere are periods of time when Revanche's audience could be forgiven for falling asleep, but at other moments it captures harrowing feelings of guilt, betrayal and anger better than nearly anything else out there.
05/15/09
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