Revanche (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray] by Gtz Spielmann at DVD Hills.com

Revanche (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]

Revanche (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]
by Gtz Spielmann

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Blu-ray details

Actor: Andreas Lust, Hanno Pschl, Irina Potapenko, Johannes Krisch, Ursula Strauss
Director: Gtz Spielmann
Brand: Image Entertainment
Blu-ray: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Subtitled); German (Original Language)
Format: Color, Special Edition, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 122 minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: 2010-02-16
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Criterion

Blu-ray Reviews of Revanche (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]

Blu-ray Review: Blu-ray: Extraordinary, smart and compelling! Spielmann's masterpiece -"REVANCHE" is magnificent!
Summary: 5 Stars

I have been highly anticipating the release of Götz Spielmann's wonderful film "REVANCHE" on Blu-ray. His masterpiece has received mostly all positive reviews worldwide, was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Film and fortunately for cinema fans, the Blu-ray and DVD release has been given The Criterion Collection treatment.

VIDEO:

"REVANCHE" is featured in 1080p High Definition (1:85:1 Aspect Ratio). The film captures the beauty of the Austrian countryside, with the blue skies, clouds on top. While green fields and lush vegetation and trees surround the area. Colors are absolutely beautiful when focused on the countryside, but the we get to see the details of the seedy Vienna underground especially from the "Cinderella" brothel where Alex and Tamara works. Red lighting is featured in the prostitute rooms and a different contrast to the warm, earthy colors of Robert and Susan's home.

Detail can be seen everywhere from old, painted walls of Hausner's home to the woods in the forest, the walls in Alex's apartment, the bark on the trees to the serene lakes as it ripples through wind or a rock hitting. Blacks are nice and deep and skin tones are natural. Cinematographer Martin Gschlacht captures nature quite vividly through his cinematography and looks absolutely beautiful. But also a poetic and yet interesting way of filming certain scenes with the quick pans from character to character, pictured the way that Spielmann has thought of it in his mind (note: a special feature is included on the Blu-ray to show us Spielmann's approach to filmmaking and camerawork) and specifically knows how he wants things to be on screen.

The camerawork really catches your attention and of course, the choice of using 16mm instead of 32mm is quite intriguing but for the most part, for a film such as "REVANCHE", the film is detailed. I didn't find any major compression artifacting, edge enhancement or banding.

According to The Criterion Collection, the transfer was approved by director Götz Spielmann. The high-definition digital transfer was created from the Super 16mm color negative which was scanned at 2K on a Northlight scanner and color graded on a Baselight EIGHT system.

AUDIO & SUBTITLES:

As for the audio, the film is presented in DTS-HD Master Audio. The film features a fully digital surround soundtrack in German. Audio was mastered at 24-bit from the original digital audio master files using Pro Tools HD. Dialogue is crystal clear and certain scenes with Alex on his motorcycle or Robert at the shooting rage or firing shots from his gun are the primary sounds that catch your attention. You occasionally hear the surrounding ambiance of the policemen talking to each other at the station in the background, the birds chirping in the field to the cows mooing inside the barn but for the most part, the film is dialogue driven.

Subtitles are provided in English.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

"REVANCHE" comes with the following special features:

* Götz Spielmann Interview - (35:32) A Criterion Collection exclusive interview with director Götz Spielmann recorded in 2009. Spielmann talks about being a director, his approach to filmmaking and more.
* The Making of "Revanche" - (36:13) A documentary about "REVANCHE". Behind-the-scenes footage of the making of the film and interviews with cast and crew.
* Foreign Land - (44:43) Director Götz Spielman's debut short film from 1984. The winner of a European Film Academy Award. An optional director's introduction by Spielmann is included (3:31).
* U.S. Trailer - (1:37) The U.S. original theatrical trailer.

EXTRAS:

* 12-Page Booklet - Also, included is a 12-page insert booklet with an essay titled "REVIVAL OF THE FITTEST" by Armond White, film critic for the New York Press.

JUDGMENT CALL:

The word "REVANCHE" in German means "revenge" but also has the meaning of "second chance".

Götz Spielmann manages to craft his masterpiece through utilizing these five characters in whose lives are intertwined after tragedy but not going through the cliched route of banality or a theme of built on misanthropy. Each character at their own moral crossroads and each character brings something to the viewer. Alex as a man in love and in a man in mourning. Robert as a man who is proud but broken down by guilt. Hausner as a man who knows he's growing older but seeing a side of his son that he has never seen before. Susanne as a wife, who will do anything to save her marriage. These characters are all vulnerable and must struggle with their own personal dilemmas. Spielmann uses the theme of "REVANCHE" as a choice the character Alex will need to make.

The Criterion Collection once again brings a quality release. For Spielmann fans, just to see the man in work while he is creating the film via the documentary included is quite wonderful. Plus the addition of his debut short film is another plus in this release. I have also been asked by my readers to let them know in my Criterion Collection reviews if I can mention if the films are family friendly films. In "REVANCHE", this is definitely not a film to showcase in front of children as there is full frontal nudity and sexual themes in addition to some violence.

What makes this film work for me is that these Australian talents are people that I have never seen before in a film, they play their role remarkably well and the film is well-cast. No one has this image of unbelievability. Spielmann is able to craft a tale that captivates your attention from beginning to end through its characters but also the beautiful cinematography of the naturalistic surroundings of where these characters live but also capturing the seedy underground of Alex's and Tamara's life earlier in the film.

Overall, "REVANCHE" is compelling, smart and extraordinary film. This is a true masterpiece for Götz Spielmann and for the Criterion Collection, another magnificent Blu-ray release. Highly recommended!

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Description of Revanche (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]

A gripping thriller and a tragic drama of nearly Greek proportions, Revanche is the stunning, Oscar-nominated international breakthrough of Austrian filmmaker Götz Spielmann. In a ragged section of Vienna, hardened ex-con Alex (the mesmerizing Johannes Krisch) works as an assistant in a brothel, where he falls for Ukrainian hooker Tamara. Their desperate plans for escape unexpectedly intersect with the lives of a rural cop and his seemingly content wife. With meticulous, elegant direction, Spielmann creates a tense, existential, 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.

Stills from Revanche

Director Götz Spielmann's Revanche, Austria's 2009 Academy Awards selection for foreign film, is quite a unique movie for its sensitive, empathetic portrayal of hard-boiled activity. Its gorgeously austere cinematography not only serves this sad story well but also makes the viewing experience more touching than one would expect from such a bleak narrative. Revanche, which means in German both "revenge" and "second chance," focuses on swarthy ex-con Alex (Johannes Krisch) and his girlfriend, Ukrainian prostitute Tamara (Irina Potapenko), a tender couple who are as naive as they are streetwise. Scenes set in the Viennese brothel in which they are both employed by a sleazy boss, Konecny (Hanno Pöschl), depict a couple stranded in financial ruin and dreaming of an exit plan. Meanwhile, a second story unfolds featuring Alex's aging grandfather, Hausner (Johannes Thanheiser), and his neighbors in their small village--Robert (Andreas Lust), the local policeman, and his wife, Susanne (Ursula Strauss). When Alex and Tamara's plan goes awry, the two couples' lives intersect in drastic ways. Not until their joint story becomes more grossly intertwined do they discover how much they all have in common. Revanche is a story about a struggle to repress vengeance and about how to redeem oneself after accidents occur. The acting in this film is astoundingly real, so the guilt that each character feels is crystal clear to the viewer. Crime, here, is so realistically complex that by the end it hardly seems like a crime has been committed at all. Moreover, as each character digs deeper into their sources of loss, one understands the humanity of such dire circumstance and learns about the overlap between urban chaos and the solace of nature via Austrian farm life. The second disc on this Criterion release contains excellent interviews with this insightful, intuitive director as well as his beautifully scenic student short film, "Foreign Land," about a boy in the Tyrolean Alps who learns how to manage his family farm. --Trinie Dalton

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Revanche (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]