A film by Götz Spielmann, In German with English subtitles, 121 min, Austria

By Andrew Rosinski

Nominated for a 2009 Academy Award for Best Foreign Film, Götz Spielmann’s Revanche is a dark allegory of the human mental fight — distinctly European; distinctly vanguard — an incisive influx of erotica, existentialism, optimism, pessimism, and, best of all, it’s told in a neo-realist fashion, so the film is tragically human and admirably perceptive of human nature and all its polarities.  It certainly is an emotional piece; the surface of the film is painted morose, but under all that gloom is an indescribable and beautiful universal truth that’s (more…)