Götz Spielmann’s “Revanche”

Revanche (2008)

Absorbing and naturalistic story built around a bank robbery at its centre which quietly discusses ethics, freedom, guilt, revenge and redemption to great effect in this daylight noir

I wish I’d not read the synopsis of this movie prior to watching, but despite this the film worked. The film tells the story of Alex(Johannes Krisch) who works in a brothel and his secret girlfriend Tamara(Irina Potapenko), one of the prostitutes. Both have dreams of escaping together but weighed down by debt and servitude, a plot to rob a provincial bank builds as a path towards freedom.

For what becomes quite a complex and layered story dealing with ethics, guilt, family, freedom, revenge and redemption, the film remains accessible and clear in its sound and visuals. Time is allowed to let the atmosphere sink in, hear the sounds of nature and see the wind blow through the leaves. For what is technically a crime drama, it’s surprisingly gentle with moments of violence left for brief but convincing crescendos.

Atmospheric and with an unusual but effective tone for a crime drama, this is daylight noir with a lot of heart.