REVANCHE by Gtz Spiellmann At once a gripping thriller and a tragic drama of nearly Greek proportions, Revanche is the stunning, Oscarnominated, international breakthrough film from Austrian filmmaker Gtz 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 (Irina Potapenko). Their desperate plans for escape unexpectedly intersect with the lives of a rural cop (Andreas Lust) and his seemingly content wife (Ursula Strauss). 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. Darkly compelling Its carefully plotted, convincing scenario will leave you with a lot on your mind. Kenneth Turan, The Los Angeles Times Deserves comparison with grade-A Hitchcock. John Hartl, The Seattle Times Directed with terrific control and economy of means Revanche gets its hooks into you early and leaves them there. Scott Foundas, The Village Voice Recalls a sort of filmmaking out of vogue since Bresson and Kieslowski a cinema of moral consequence. Brian Miller, The Seattle Weekly Admission: Free