REVANCHE(r-vnch,-vsh)n.[French, from Old French revancher, to revenge: re-,re-+vengier,vencher,to avenge; see revenge.]1. The act of retaliating, especially in response to some bad action; revenge.2. Second attempt to win a game requested by a losing player.3. A usually political policy, as of a nation or an ethnic group, intended to regain lost territory or standing.
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 Gtz Spielmann.In the ragged underbelly of Vienna, hardened ex-con Alex (a mesmerising performance from Johannes Krisch) works as an assistant in a brothel, where he begins a relationship with Ukrainian prostitute Tamara (Irina Potapenko). Desperate to leave behind the brutal and oppressive life of the brothel, their plans for escape unexpectedly and violently intersect with the lives of a rural cop Robert (Andreas Lust) and his seemingly content wife Susanne (Ursula Strauss), whose own emotional hardships are eased by her friendship with Hausner (Hannes Thanheiser), Alex's ailing grandfather.
With meticulous, elegant direction, Spielmann creates a tense and surprising portrait of vengeance and redemption, and a journey into the darkest forest of human nature, in which violence and beauty exist side by side.