Revanche (film)
Encyclopedia
Revanche is a 2008 Austrian
thriller film written and directed by Götz Spielmann
. It centers on the ill-fated love story between a Viennese ex-con and a Ukrainian prostitute who get involved in a bank robbery.
The film premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival
in February 2008. It received critical acclaim and won a number of awards, and was nominated for the 2009 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
.
for Konecny, owner of the brothel "Cinderella", where Tamara, a Ukrainian
prostitute, also works. Alex and Tamara have a secret relationship, and want to leave Vienna as soon as possible to begin a new life together, for which they need money. While visiting his grandfather, Hausner, who lives on a smallholding in the country, Alex decides to rob the local bank.
Hausner has a neighbour, Susanne, who lives nearby, and visits him regularly to keep him company and to make sure that he is all right. She is married to Robert, a policeman. They want a child, but although Susanne was pregnant, she lost the baby. They have a nursery all ready in their house, but are unable to conceive a second time, because of Robert's fertility problems. Susanne would like to adopt, but Robert refuses to accept that there is any difficulty in his fathering other children, and will not consider adoption. Consequently, their relationship is suffering.
Tamara has a bad feeling about the planned bank robbery, and insists on being present: while Alex is in the bank, Tamara waits for him in the getaway car. By chance, Robert is passing the bank at the moment when Alex, wearing a mask, is leaving it. Alex threatens him with his gun, jumps into the car and drives off. Robert shoots at the tires of the car as it speeds away but instead hits Tamara.
When Alex realises that Tamara has been fatally wounded and has died, in despair he abandons the car and Tamara's body in the wood and makes his way to Hausner's, where he hides out. His loss makes him very withdrawn; he scarcely speaks, and spends hours every day chopping wood for the winter, in which he finds some relief for his pent-up aggression and frustration. His grandfather apparently notices nothing of Alex's heavy burden: he simply seems happy to have some company unexpectedly, and plays the accordion a great deal.
Robert and Susanne's relationship is now under still further strain because Robert's unintentional killing of Tamara is causing him great mental anguish: he blames himself for it and can find no way to deal with the guilt. He carries Tamara's photo round with him, and looks at it constantly. His colleagues at the police station are no help: they refuse to take his concerns seriously, and try to encourage him by telling him that he has only killed a bank robber's accomplice, and that in the forthcoming official enquiry into the death he has nothing to worry about. At home he is unable or unwilling to discuss the matter at all.
While they are shopping Alex and Hausner meet Susanne, who tells them about the bank robbery and that it was her husband who shot at the car. This has an effect on Alex. On her visits to Hausner, Alex has scarcely reacted at all to the extremely talkative Susanne and, when he does, is very dismissive, although this has apparently not bothered her. Under cover of darkness, he now starts to spy on the couple in their house and to follow Robert when he goes jogging in the woods.
During one of her visits to Hausner, Alex speaks to Susanne and tries to chase her off his grandfather's farm. This seems not to trouble her: she invites him to her house, with a hint that she will be alone that evening. Alex appears not to react to the invitation but that evening suddenly turns up at her terrace door and startles her, until she realises that it is "only Alex." She offers him a glass of wine. While Susanne talks brightly but nervously in an uninterrupted stream, Alex looks depressed and is almost silent. After a while he asks her why she wants to have sex with him. To his astonishment Susanne participates willingly in an almost brutal sex act, which seems to offer Alex a vent for his accumulated aggression. When he goes to take a shower he sees the nursery, but when he asks Susanne about it, she refuses to discuss it. As he is leaving she asks if he wants to come again.
The next time Alex sees Robert jogging in the woods, he draws his gun and aims it at Robert's back, but does not fire it.
Alex meets Susanne again while shopping. She tells him that she will be alone again that evening and that she wants him to visit her, which he does. She asks him whether he has a girlfriend, and he tells her that until recently he used to have, but that she was murdered, and that now he thinks day and night about killing the murderer. Susanne protests that he cannot do that, and must not even think about doing that. But she understands now why Alex is so cold, and takes him to bed.
In the night Susanne is wakened by the sound of a car engine. She hears that Robert has come home, and urges Alex, lying next to her, to go. Robert, crying, tells Susanne that he has been declared unfit for duty and suspended from the police force. He shows her Tamara's photo, that he is unable to stop looking at. Susanne goes to throw it away, and while she is doing so, sees Alex leaving the house.
Some days later Alex is sitting on a bench by the lake in the woods and waiting for Robert. He jogs past, and sits on the bench with Alex. In the course of their conversation the subject of the bank robbery arises. Robert tells how the death of the young woman has preyed on his mind, and how he was aiming to shoot the tires. Alex asks if Robert is not afraid that the robber will come and shoot him, out of revenge. Robert's only comment is a resigned "He's welcome to." He gets up to leave but pauses to add that he would like to ask the bankrobber why he took the woman with him in the first place: "the whole mess wouldn't have happened if the woman hadn't been in that car without any reason." When Robert is out of sight, Alex throws the gun into the lake.
That evening Susanne tells her husband that at last she is pregnant.
On Sunday Susanne calls again to visit Hausner, but he is in hospital and only Alex is at home. She asks him to consider their affair at an end, and not to tell her husband about it, and Alex promises this. Susanne then sees a photo of Tamara on the table, and in a moment of insight the connections suddenly become clear to her.
Film distribution in Austria is by Filmladen, while the world rights are held by The Match Factory, Cologne
. The film was promoted by the Austrian Film Institute (Österreichisches Filminstitut) and the state of Lower Austria
.
Production design was by Maria Gruber, who won the Femina Film Prize for it. Heinz Ebner was responsible for the sound. Film production was carried out entirely by the company Listo in Vienna.
The film was submitted on 1 September 2008 by the Austrian Film Commission
as the Austrian entry for selection for the Oscars in the Best Foreign-Language Film
category, and on 22 January 2009 was nominated by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
out of 67 entries as one of five films. This was the third time that Austria had submitted a film by Spielmann: the first two were Die Fremde (2000) and Antares
(2004). Director Götz Spielmann did not appear especially surprised at film being short-listed, as it was "already obvious" that "'Revanche' will be unusually well received in the USA". He did not think an actual nomination impossible, but it would be a close-run thing. Spielmann saw three other favorites for distinction in this category–Waltz with Bashir
, The Class
and Everlasting Moments
–which apart from the last were also among the nominees.
The film opened on 12 February 2009 in German cinemas and was subsequently released at different times in various European countries and the United States over the following months.
and Ottenschlag
in the Waldviertel
.
2008 the film had excellent reviews around the world and received several awards. Variety
s Alissa Simon noted:
In January 2009 it was announced that Revanche was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
.
Revanche was placed at 90 on Slant Magazine
's best films of the 2000s.
Revanche won further awards at smaller film festivals: at the Filmkunstfest 2008 in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (Fliegender Ochse as best feature film), at the Monterrey
International Film Festival 2008 (Best Screenplay and Audience Award), at the Fünf Seen Filmfestival in Starnberg
(First Prize Star 2008), and at the International Filmfestival Motovun
(From A to A-Award).
Austrians
Austrians are a nation and ethnic group, consisting of the population of the Republic of Austria and its historical predecessor states who share a common Austrian culture and Austrian descent....
thriller film written and directed by Götz Spielmann
Götz Spielmann
Götz Spielmann is an Austrian director and scriptwriter.Götz Spielmann grew up in Vienna. After High School, he lived in Paris for several months. From 1980 to 1987 he studied film direction and script-writing in Vienna at the Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien...
. It centers on the ill-fated love story between a Viennese ex-con and a Ukrainian prostitute who get involved in a bank robbery.
The film premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival
Berlin International Film Festival
The Berlin International Film Festival , also called the Berlinale, is one of the world's leading film festivals and most reputable media events. It is held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in West Berlin in 1951, the festival has been celebrated annually in February since 1978...
in February 2008. It received critical acclaim and won a number of awards, and was nominated for the 2009 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
The Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film is one of the Academy Awards of Merit, popularly known as the Oscars, handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences...
.
Plot
Alex works in ViennaVienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
for Konecny, owner of the brothel "Cinderella", where Tamara, a Ukrainian
Ukrainians
Ukrainians are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine, which is the sixth-largest nation in Europe. The Constitution of Ukraine applies the term 'Ukrainians' to all its citizens...
prostitute, also works. Alex and Tamara have a secret relationship, and want to leave Vienna as soon as possible to begin a new life together, for which they need money. While visiting his grandfather, Hausner, who lives on a smallholding in the country, Alex decides to rob the local bank.
Hausner has a neighbour, Susanne, who lives nearby, and visits him regularly to keep him company and to make sure that he is all right. She is married to Robert, a policeman. They want a child, but although Susanne was pregnant, she lost the baby. They have a nursery all ready in their house, but are unable to conceive a second time, because of Robert's fertility problems. Susanne would like to adopt, but Robert refuses to accept that there is any difficulty in his fathering other children, and will not consider adoption. Consequently, their relationship is suffering.
Tamara has a bad feeling about the planned bank robbery, and insists on being present: while Alex is in the bank, Tamara waits for him in the getaway car. By chance, Robert is passing the bank at the moment when Alex, wearing a mask, is leaving it. Alex threatens him with his gun, jumps into the car and drives off. Robert shoots at the tires of the car as it speeds away but instead hits Tamara.
When Alex realises that Tamara has been fatally wounded and has died, in despair he abandons the car and Tamara's body in the wood and makes his way to Hausner's, where he hides out. His loss makes him very withdrawn; he scarcely speaks, and spends hours every day chopping wood for the winter, in which he finds some relief for his pent-up aggression and frustration. His grandfather apparently notices nothing of Alex's heavy burden: he simply seems happy to have some company unexpectedly, and plays the accordion a great deal.
Robert and Susanne's relationship is now under still further strain because Robert's unintentional killing of Tamara is causing him great mental anguish: he blames himself for it and can find no way to deal with the guilt. He carries Tamara's photo round with him, and looks at it constantly. His colleagues at the police station are no help: they refuse to take his concerns seriously, and try to encourage him by telling him that he has only killed a bank robber's accomplice, and that in the forthcoming official enquiry into the death he has nothing to worry about. At home he is unable or unwilling to discuss the matter at all.
While they are shopping Alex and Hausner meet Susanne, who tells them about the bank robbery and that it was her husband who shot at the car. This has an effect on Alex. On her visits to Hausner, Alex has scarcely reacted at all to the extremely talkative Susanne and, when he does, is very dismissive, although this has apparently not bothered her. Under cover of darkness, he now starts to spy on the couple in their house and to follow Robert when he goes jogging in the woods.
During one of her visits to Hausner, Alex speaks to Susanne and tries to chase her off his grandfather's farm. This seems not to trouble her: she invites him to her house, with a hint that she will be alone that evening. Alex appears not to react to the invitation but that evening suddenly turns up at her terrace door and startles her, until she realises that it is "only Alex." She offers him a glass of wine. While Susanne talks brightly but nervously in an uninterrupted stream, Alex looks depressed and is almost silent. After a while he asks her why she wants to have sex with him. To his astonishment Susanne participates willingly in an almost brutal sex act, which seems to offer Alex a vent for his accumulated aggression. When he goes to take a shower he sees the nursery, but when he asks Susanne about it, she refuses to discuss it. As he is leaving she asks if he wants to come again.
The next time Alex sees Robert jogging in the woods, he draws his gun and aims it at Robert's back, but does not fire it.
Alex meets Susanne again while shopping. She tells him that she will be alone again that evening and that she wants him to visit her, which he does. She asks him whether he has a girlfriend, and he tells her that until recently he used to have, but that she was murdered, and that now he thinks day and night about killing the murderer. Susanne protests that he cannot do that, and must not even think about doing that. But she understands now why Alex is so cold, and takes him to bed.
In the night Susanne is wakened by the sound of a car engine. She hears that Robert has come home, and urges Alex, lying next to her, to go. Robert, crying, tells Susanne that he has been declared unfit for duty and suspended from the police force. He shows her Tamara's photo, that he is unable to stop looking at. Susanne goes to throw it away, and while she is doing so, sees Alex leaving the house.
Some days later Alex is sitting on a bench by the lake in the woods and waiting for Robert. He jogs past, and sits on the bench with Alex. In the course of their conversation the subject of the bank robbery arises. Robert tells how the death of the young woman has preyed on his mind, and how he was aiming to shoot the tires. Alex asks if Robert is not afraid that the robber will come and shoot him, out of revenge. Robert's only comment is a resigned "He's welcome to." He gets up to leave but pauses to add that he would like to ask the bankrobber why he took the woman with him in the first place: "the whole mess wouldn't have happened if the woman hadn't been in that car without any reason." When Robert is out of sight, Alex throws the gun into the lake.
That evening Susanne tells her husband that at last she is pregnant.
On Sunday Susanne calls again to visit Hausner, but he is in hospital and only Alex is at home. She asks him to consider their affair at an end, and not to tell her husband about it, and Alex promises this. Susanne then sees a photo of Tamara on the table, and in a moment of insight the connections suddenly become clear to her.
Background
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
. The film was promoted by the Austrian Film Institute (Österreichisches Filminstitut) and the state of Lower Austria
Lower Austria
Lower Austria is the northeasternmost state of the nine states in Austria. The capital of Lower Austria since 1986 is Sankt Pölten, the most recently designated capital town in Austria. The capital of Lower Austria had formerly been Vienna, even though Vienna is not officially part of Lower Austria...
.
Production design was by Maria Gruber, who won the Femina Film Prize for it. Heinz Ebner was responsible for the sound. Film production was carried out entirely by the company Listo in Vienna.
The film was submitted on 1 September 2008 by the Austrian Film Commission
Austrian Film Commission
The Austrian Film Commission was founded in 1986 and is an organisation financed by public funds with the aim of promoting Austrian film abroad.-Activities:...
as the Austrian entry for selection for the Oscars in the Best Foreign-Language Film
Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
The Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film is one of the Academy Awards of Merit, popularly known as the Oscars, handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences...
category, and on 22 January 2009 was nominated by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is a professional honorary organization dedicated to the advancement of the arts and sciences of motion pictures...
out of 67 entries as one of five films. This was the third time that Austria had submitted a film by Spielmann: the first two were Die Fremde (2000) and Antares
Antares (film)
Antares is a 2004 Austrian film directed by Götz Spielmann. It was Austria's submission to the 77th Academy Awards for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, but was not accepted as a nominee.-See also:*Cinema of Austria...
(2004). Director Götz Spielmann did not appear especially surprised at film being short-listed, as it was "already obvious" that "'Revanche' will be unusually well received in the USA". He did not think an actual nomination impossible, but it would be a close-run thing. Spielmann saw three other favorites for distinction in this category–Waltz with Bashir
Waltz with Bashir
Waltz with Bashir is a 2008 Israeli animated documentary film written and directed by Ari Folman. It depicts Folman in search of his lost memories from the 1982 Lebanon War....
, The Class
The Class (2008 film)
The Class is a 2008 French drama film directed by Laurent Cantet. Its original French title is Entre les murs, which translates literally to "Between the walls". It is based on the 2006 novel of the same name by François Bégaudeau...
and Everlasting Moments
Everlasting Moments
Everlasting Moments is a 2008 Swedish drama film directed by Jan Troell, starring Maria Heiskanen, Mikael Persbrandt and Jesper Christensen. It is based on the true story of Maria Larsson, a Swedish working class woman in the early 1900s, who wins a camera in a lottery and goes on to become a...
–which apart from the last were also among the nominees.
The film opened on 12 February 2009 in German cinemas and was subsequently released at different times in various European countries and the United States over the following months.
Filming locations
Large parts of the film were shot in the area round GföhlGföhl
Gföhl is a town in the district of Krems-Land in the Austrian state of Lower Austria....
and Ottenschlag
Ottenschlag
Ottenschlag is a municipality in the district of Zwettl, in Lower Austria, Austria....
in the Waldviertel
Waldviertel
The Waldviertel is the northwestern region of the Austrian state Lower Austria. It is bounded to the south by the Danube, to the southwest by Upper Austria, to the northwest and the north by the Czech Republic and to the east by the Manhartsberg , which is the survey point dividing Waldviertel...
.
Critical reception
Following the world premiere at the Berlin International Film FestivalBerlin International Film Festival
The Berlin International Film Festival , also called the Berlinale, is one of the world's leading film festivals and most reputable media events. It is held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in West Berlin in 1951, the festival has been celebrated annually in February since 1978...
2008 the film had excellent reviews around the world and received several awards. Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
s Alissa Simon noted:
Elegantly spinning primal elements of guilt, revenge, faith and redemption, helmer's gripping fifth feature is prime fest material that's likely to rate Euro arthouse exposure, with further viewers in ancillary. (...) Stillness and sounds of nature play a key role in creating pic's intense atmosphere. (...) Asking the question, "Whose fault is it if life doesn't go your way?," the cleverly constructed script introduces some fresh and surprising twists and turns. (...) Impressive lensing from Martin Gschlacht, the key cinematographer for Austria's young helmers, provides simplicity and clarity, while concise cutting by Karina Ressler allows no gratuitous moments in a pic that clocks in at just over two hours. With 'Revanche' his strongest work yet, Spielmann creates high expectations for the future."'
In January 2009 it was announced that Revanche was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
The Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film is one of the Academy Awards of Merit, popularly known as the Oscars, handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences...
.
Revanche was placed at 90 on Slant Magazine
Slant Magazine
Slant Magazine is an online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New York Film Festival.- History :...
's best films of the 2000s.
Awards
- Berlin International Film FestivalBerlin International Film FestivalThe Berlin International Film Festival , also called the Berlinale, is one of the world's leading film festivals and most reputable media events. It is held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in West Berlin in 1951, the festival has been celebrated annually in February since 1978...
2008- European Cinemas Label as Best European Film of the Panorama section
- Art-Cinéma-Award 2008 of the CICAE (Confédération Internationale des Cinémas D´Art et Essai)
- Femina film award of the Verband der Filmarbeiterinnen to Maria Gruber for the production design
- DiagonaleDiagonaleThe Diagonale is a film festival that takes place every March in Graz, Austria.The festival was initially held under the auspices of the Austrian Film Commission in Salzburg from 1993 to 1995 but moved to Graz in 1998. Traditional cinema venues are UCI Kinowelt Annenhof, Schubertkino, augartenkino...
2008:- Grand Award as Best Austrian feature film
- Spezial Award of the Jury for actress Ursula StraussUrsula StraussUrsula Strauss is an Austrian actress. She is best known for her role as inspector Angelika Schnell in the television series Schnell ermittelt.-Selected filmography:-External links:* – Official website...
- Diagonale-Prize of the Association of Austrian Cinematographers to Martin Gschlacht for best cinematography in a feature film
- Tromsø International Film FestivalTromsø International Film FestivalThe Tromsø International Film Festival is an annual film festival held in Tromsø, Norway.The inaugural Tromsø International Film Festival was held in 1991, and today TIFF is the largest film festival in Norway as considered by attendance figures; in 2010 there were 58 267 admissions. In 2006 TIFF...
2008 (Norway):- FIPRESCIFIPRESCIThe International Federation of Film Critics is an association of national organizations of professional film critics and film journalists from around the world for "the promotion and development of film culture and for the safeguarding of professional interests." It was founded in June 1930 in...
Award - First Prize Aurora
- FIPRESCI
- Palm Springs International Film FestivalPalm Springs International Film FestivalPalm Springs International Film Festival is a film festival held in Palm Springs, California. It was started in 1989 and is held annually in January...
2008: FIPRESCI-Award as Best Foreign Language Film of the Year
Revanche won further awards at smaller film festivals: at the Filmkunstfest 2008 in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (Fliegender Ochse as best feature film), at the Monterrey
Monterrey
Monterrey , is the capital city of the northeastern state of Nuevo León in the country of Mexico. The city is anchor to the third-largest metropolitan area in Mexico and is ranked as the ninth-largest city in the nation. Monterrey serves as a commercial center in the north of the country and is the...
International Film Festival 2008 (Best Screenplay and Audience Award), at the Fünf Seen Filmfestival in Starnberg
Starnberg
The city of Starnberg is in Bavaria, Germany, some 30 km south-west of Munich. It lies at the north end of Lake Starnberg, in the heart of the "Five Lakes Country", and serves as capital of the district of Starnberg...
(First Prize Star 2008), and at the International Filmfestival Motovun
Motovun
Motovun is a village in central Istria, Croatia. The population of the village itself is 531, with a total of 983 residents in the municipality ; 442 of the residents have Italian as their mother language...
(From A to A-Award).
External links
- www.revanche.at (English version)
- A review of Revanche by Götz Spielmann
- Video interview with Götz Spielmann at MUBI (April 2009).