A brilliant and impressive crime thriller.

Brilliant crime-thriller. It's like The Place Beyond the Pines if you were to cut out that shitty third act and keep following the two main characters even further down the rabbit hole. It goes in directions I didn't expect and manages to stay gripping throughout while maintaining a sense of realism in the decisions being made by these people in a lose-lose situation. Things never fly off the scale of believability which for me is a common problem in this sub-genre.

Not much else to say about this one...a real must see if you are at all a fan of thrillers or crime films.

An intricately weaved plot of passion and crime, Revanche is a slow boiling film that builds its tension in almost the same fashion as The Witch: natural sounds and surroundings. The absence of a soundtrack creates a feeling of tension that matches the plot and its intensity, allowing for a great and unique cinematic experience. A fascinatingly written story with a thrilling domino effect that all connects with sublime delicacy.

It is a shame it has taken almost two years for this highly regarded Austrian film to hit UK shores but thankfully it was worth the wait. There are a lot of traditional 'flaws' in this film, details and plot choices that in other movies would annoy the hell out of me, but here they all just work brilliantly. It builds on coincidence after coincidence but it unfolds beautifully and the contrivances seem to fit with the Shakespearean mood.

On the surface it seems a pretty standard revenge film but Revanche goes out of its way to avoid easy categorising, instead it throws a number of spanners in the work, some predictable and some rather surprising. It is a slow burner but one that is never less than engaging and most of the time riveting. The performances are very strong, and whilst many will hate the end I thought it worked perfectly.

Carino, bella fotografia, ottimi gli attori, ma l'ho trovato davvero troppo vuoto di contenuti per reggere le due ore. O almeno, non sono resi in un modo sufficientemente incisivo da giustificare il tempo né da rimanere troppo impressi dopo la visione. Trovo che si ponga degli obiettivi ben chiari, ma, per quanto capisco la strada che intraprende il regista, non mi ha entusiasmato. Merita la visione.

*Future movie night with friends*

Host: "What two films shall we pick?"

Guest #1: "Ooh! Battle Royale and The Hunger Games."

Guest #2: "RoboCop and Terminator would be cool."

Me: "Revanche and Incendies."

*silence*

Solid but a bit slow.

Impeccably plotted and absolutely heartbreaking, it refuses to offer you an easy out or a cheap shot and the empathy it inspires for its characters is deep and well-earned. It also serves as an important reminder to filmmakers that sometimes no score is the best score.

Not the kind of movie I expected; and that's for the better.

Edward Hopper aesthetic in a suspense that plays with tense contrasting elements perfectly. Interior/exterior, rural/urban, and conscious/subconscious are pitted against one another in both the cinematography and narrative. 

Definitely check out this seemingly underrated work.

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

a nice movie from austria that ran for best foreign film in 2008. the plot is somewhat contrived and there's not much going on in it. it's a revenge story with a different ending, even though it has a lot of 'common places' and predictable developments in it.

i really liked the way it was directed, though. it's very restrained and it lets the actions speak for themselves. if just there was more content to fill in this narrative, i would've enjoyed it much more.

Witness the un-peeling of the onion.