"Vengeance" is a quiet film. There are many long shots with fixed camera positions in the film, which never dangle, giving a sense of visual stability. Coupled with the green space, apple trees, lakes, and forests in the Austrian countryside, the film makes the film It exudes a style of prose poetry, which is not commensurate with the tension of the film's title. The drama of the film is restrained, the protagonist gradually relaxes from the critical point of emotional explosion, and finally the anger subsides, leaving only a few circles of ripples on the tranquil lake.
Alex does everything sneakily. Meeting his girlfriend over a wall in a brothel, robbing a bank with a mask on, going through a window in the country to pay his respects to his girlfriend in the forest, going through the back door to meet the police wife Suzanne, aiming a pistol behind the policeman Robert, this man's life is depressing, his love and Hatred cannot be exposed. The coercion of the environment caused people to be closed. When Alex was in the brothel, Tamara could still love each other. When Tamara died, he was completely closed. His secrets could not be told to anyone. He embraced Working in the countryside with his pain and hatred, like a stuffy gourd, the meaning of life is lost, and revenge has become the only spiritual support. According to normal logic, Alex will kill the police couple and then commit suicide. Alex's grandfather, Hausana, will die of illness after hearing about the tragedy. Five people will die in the whole film. However, the scenery and people in the countryside dispelled Alex's hostility, especially the communication with others, which pulled the brake valve on Alex's revenge impulse. The French proverb says that everything is understood, and everything is forgiven, and Alex cancels the revenge operation through getting along with his grandfather and communicating with the police couple.
----It can be seen that the rural life is enough to be happy and supportive. In order to escape the pursuit of the police, Alex hid at his grandfather's house in the countryside and helped the old man chop wood, feed the cows, and harvest apples. The film spends a lot of shots showing Alex cutting logs and splitting log piers into firewood. These labor scenes are not optional, but have an important function. First, it expresses Alex's state of mind. Alex had nowhere to tell, so he had to work to smother his heart and quell his anger. He almost cut wood as an enemy, and he chopped wood like a rehearsal for revenge. Second, through labor, Alex's understanding of his own dignity has been deepened. When Alex was working, he was open and visited. He was not as shameful as stealing and robbery. During his work, he was upright, valuable and dignified. In the brothel, he was just a handyman. In his grandfather's house, he was the mainstay of the family. The labor improved his status and his sense of self-identity. Third, labor awakened Alex's understanding of family affection. Alex is helping his grandfather by chopping firewood. In the care of the old man, the family love in his heart has returned. The grandfather and grandson have eliminated the estrangement and get along well. This is the gentle part of Alex's life, which is very precious. Alex realized that the old man needed relatives to take care of him, otherwise the night scene would be too lonely and desolate, which deepened his apprehension about taking risks and revenge. He once aimed at Robert, but finally gave up. Fourth, labor brought peach blossoms to Alex. Alex's grandfather said that women of all ages like men who can work. Alex carried wood, cut wood, and chopped wood with ease, showing a strong physique. When his neighbor Suzanne saw it, he thought of borrowing seeds from him. Alex and Susannah had sex, and it was revenge at first, but it turned into an affair. Physical contact is also a kind of communication. This kind of communication further broke his closedness and allowed him to communicate with others. Under Suzanne's questioning, he revealed his thoughts bit by bit like squeezing toothpaste. In the end, he even had a face-to-face communication with the police officer Robert, realizing that he was also responsible for his girlfriend's death, and that Robert's shooting was originally aimed at the tire, which was a manslaughter. So he gave up his revenge and threw the pistol into the lake. After a few waves of ripples, the tranquil and quiet lake returned to calm. The last scene of the film is also about labor. Alex picks up a basket of apples and puts them at the door, enters the house, and the play ends. We can see that the key words of the film are: labor, communication, not: bloodshed, revenge.
There are no killing scenes with corpses everywhere in the film, only the labor scenes of chopping firewood all over the place. Only one person died in the whole film, and it was a manslaughter. If there is any revenge in "Revenge", it is only revenge on the audience, revenge on the audience's aesthetic taste.
View more about Revanche reviews
