Revanche Johannes Krisch, Ursula Strauss, Andreas Lust, Irina Potapenko Director: Goetz Spielmann
Nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at last year's Academy Awards, Goetz Spielmann's fifth feature offers a cycle of revenge and redemption sprouting from a fatal shooting in a rural Austrian town. At the centre of the story is Alex (Krisch), a Viennese nightclub bouncer seeking to start anew with his Ukrainian escort girlfriend Tamara (Potapenko); while fleeing from the bank he has robbed, he runs into Robert (Lust), a police officer.
Shooting at the couple's car, Robert inadvertently kills Tamara; overwhelmed by confusion and grief, Alex deserts the car and heads into hiding at his estranged grandfather's cottage, where he begins a friendship with frequent visitor Susanne (Strauss) - who, unbeknown to Alex, is Robert's wife. Thus begin exchanges that draw out the loneliness and despair of each of the individuals as the bigger picture draws in, ending on a note that reveals the double meaning of the German title - revenge and reciprocation.
Spielmann succeeds with what could have been contrived melodrama. Revanche stresses how fury, fear and guilt consume everyone involved - in Alex's inability to articulate his anger, Robert's breakdown as he's forced to confront his own culpability, and Susanne's helplessness in rebuilding Robert's life and hers.
By setting such anxiety in an apparently idyllic rural milieu, Spielmann heightens the tension while isolating his characters; cinematographer Martin Gschlacht's lush cinematography enhances the emotional punch.
Extras: interview with Spielmann; on-set making-of documentary; Foreign Land, Spielmann's award-winning student short film from 1984.