dir. and writ. Götz Spielmann
feat. Johannes Krisch, Irina Potapenko, Andreas Lust, Ursula Strauss, Johannes Thanheiser
Alex (Krisch) is your typical mid-level action picture thug, the tough but disposable guy who dies nameless, either at the hand of his employer for crossing the line by dating one of the girls or as fodder for the good guys as they chase the top dog. But not in Revanche. Here, he takes the lead, gritting and bearing it when his boss calls him soft, and formulating his own big plan to escape a shitty life, taking his prostitute girlfriend with him. And like so many such plans, something goes terribly wrong.
This twist sends the story spinning into rural territory, where Alex, devastated by the loss of his girlfriend, his intended future shattered, hides out on the farm of his grandfather, Hausner (Thanheiser). There, he prepares firewood for the old man with such fervor, it seems he might throw himself into the spinning blade. Furious and shaken, he stumbles upon the man he deems responsible for his predicament, Robert (Lust), and hatches his plan for revenge (in the second, and most obvious, of several spins on the title).
But easy solutions will not be permitted. Guilt-ridden cop, Robert, and his wife, Susanne (Strauss), cross paths with Alex, offering him his shot before quickly complicating that supposedly simple act as their lives interweave. The film excels here, as these relationships develop, crossing surprising lines and elevating the tension. One could argue that all the intricacies of the plot are laid out to lead to one delightfully taut scene, a confrontation between Alex and Robert that forces hard questions about resolve and responsibility.
Ultimately, the title earns its due, in a manner of speaking, though in a far more elaborate and satisfying way than one might guess, for the viewer if not the characters.
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