Revanche is a 2008 film from Austria, directed by Gotz Spielmann.
Alex Hausner is a small-time criminal, an enforcer for Konecny, who runs a brothel in Vienna. Alex has fallen in love with Tamara, a Ukranian prostitute who works at the Cinderella brothel. When Konecny starts talking about putting Tamara in an apartment and making her a High-Class Call Girl as well as his personal sex slave, Alex decides to take action. He will rob his hometown bank, use the money to pay off Tamara's debts (like many prostitutes she is being held more or less captive by debt), and they will go away together. Tamara is nervous about the plan and insists on going with him.
Alex goes home to rob the bank, his excuse being a visit to see his frail, lonely grandfather. Grandpa Hausner is often visited by Susanne, a neighbor who checks in on Grandpa as he lives alone at an advanced age. Susanne is mourning her recent miscarriage, a sad event which is even sadder because Susanne's husband Robert has fertility problems and the couple weren't expecting her to get pregnant in the first place.
Tamara sneaks away from her captors in Vienna. She meets Alex and they go off to rob the bank. Unfortunately, while Alex is robbing the bank and Tamara is waiting in the car, she meets Robert—who is a policeman. Tragedy ensues.
Tropes:
- Belligerent Sexual Tension: Alex is rude and scowling to Susanne when she visits Grandpa, until he finally confronts her and demands to know why she's visiting. She calls him rude. He tells her not to come over anymore. Then, out of nowhere, she tells him to come to her place, and that her husband won't be home that night. He comes over and they have sex, though he's still scowling and rude.
- Bittersweet Ending: Tamara, of course, is still dead, and Grandpa doesn't seem long for this world. But Susanne is pregnant again, even if the baby is almost certainly Alex's, and Alex has gotten past his rage and desire for revenge.
- Call-Back: The first shot of the movie is somebody chucking an object into the lake. Near the end we find out that it was Alex, throwing away his gun.
- "Could Have Avoided This!" Plot: A rather crushing example when Alex realizes his role in Tamara's death, having brought her along to the bank robbery when she never had to be there.
- Dies Wide Open: Poor Tamara. Robert, consumed with guilt over the shooting, carries around a crime scene photo of Tamara's lifeless face.
- Fan Disservice: Tamara's nudity when she is being exploited, beaten, and abused by her captors and by the johns at the brothel. A gross, slimy customer tells her to spread her legs and expose herself.
- Fanservice: Tamara's naked for most of her scenes with Alex.
- Indentured Servitude: How Tamara is kept as essentially a Sex Slave at the brothel, and Alex's motive for the bank robbery, to pay off her debt.
- Oh, Crap!: Susanne when she sees the photo of Tamara that Alex keeps and realizes that he is the bank robber.
- Revenge: Revanche is the French word for "revenge". Alex, filled with rage at Robert for killing his girlfriend, lies in wait along the jogging trail with a gun, but can't bring himself to pull the trigger. Eventually some pointed questions from Alex cause Robert to reveal his guilt and anguish, but Robert also points out that it was partly the bank robber's fault for stupidly bringing his girlfriend along.
- Sex Slave: The Eastern European prostitutes at the Cinderella. They are held captives in hotel rooms when they aren't working at the brothel. They are imprisoned by debt. Konecny has Tamara beaten when she doesn't follow orders.
- Shower of Love: Alex and Tamara take a shower together, sex ensues.
- A Simple Plan: Alex will make a quick stick-up of the local bank, and zip away. He won't even load his gun, so he can't possibly shoot anyone. What could go wrong? Well, first, his girlfriend could insist on going with him, and second, he could park the car in a no-parking spot...
- Streetwalker: Sort of. Tamara's stationed outside the brothel as a sort of living billboard. When potential clients stop, she brings them into the brothel.
- These Hands Have Killed: Robert absolutely cannot deal with it when he shoots at the tires of the getaway car, but winds up fatally shooting Tamara instead. He starts carrying around the crime scene photos of Tamara's corpse. He's put on leave because he's unfit for duty. Eventually he breaks down sobbing at home, showing Susanne the photo, much to her horror.
- Your Days Are Numbered: Alex's grandpa, who starts suffering dizzy spells, is having headaches, and faints while he's playing his accordion. He's quite aware that his time is almost up.
