This is another foreign movie - continuing my recent theme - a drama that takes place in a run down section of Vienna, then later on the rural outskirts nearby. (Language track is in German.) Revanche is a German word that translates to "revenge" or "second chance", which fits this movie very well in both cases. I would say the movie unfolds very much like a Greek tragedy, where no one seems to "win". The characters are also all portrayed sympathetically.
The story is about a down-on-his-luck ex-con, Alex, and his Ukrainian girlfriend, Tamara, who is working in a local brothel. Alex and Tamara appear to be trapped in their low class lives, so Alex decides to rob a local bank. This will intersect Alex and Tamara's paths with a street cop named Robert, and his wife named Susanne living out their middle class existence. We also discover that Robert and Susanne are trying to get pregnant but are having difficulties because Robert appears to have fertility problems.
Alex commits the robbery with an unloaded gun, not wanting to hurt anyone. As he is returning to his car, Alex spots Robert, on foot patrol, questioning Tamara who is sitting in the passenger seat. Robert approaches from behind and forces Robert to the ground, using the still unloaded gun. Alex jumps into the car and as they are escaping Robert fires at the car, trying to hit the tires (he later claims), but instead kills Tamara. This is a jump off point to the rest of the movie.
Alex is ridden with guilt about Tamara needlessly dying, plus he is filled with anger and so he wants revenge - to kill Robert - for murdering Tamara (in his eyes). Alex flees the city to his father's rural farm to "hide out", and which we find out, coincidentally, is nearby Robert and Susanne's residence.
Robert is now also filled with guilt for killing Tamara, and while the other police officers think he was justified in the shooting, and almost treat him like a hero, he begins to fall apart emotionally, and is subsequently suspended. Alex stalks Robert over the next several weeks, and the end of the movie might surprise you.
As I have noted before when discussing foreign films, I often wonder what could be lost in translation from the spoken language to what is put in the subtitles. While Critierion is usually tip-top for their work getting films to DVD, including the translations, I caught a few minor language-to-subtitle errors. Nothing that changes the tempo, tone, or expression of the moment(s)... just more of an fyi.
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