Revenge

SPOILERS AHEAD (though most of the essential bits are revealed in the trailer). Revenge is a stylish and intense ecofeminist rape-revenge flick whose protagonist could be the younger sister of Furiosa from the last Mad Max (rather than the new Lara Croft, who isn’t nearly so cool). Coralie Fargeat does not deny her heroine the right to behave provocatively, but she definitely does not claim to be responsible for the rape either (as indicated by the person from whom she would expect support and who turns out to be the cruellest bastard). Fault lies solely with the frustration of a man who needs to assert his dominance. The only witness to the crime, which basically takes place in the environment of home, pretends not to see or hear anything. Similarly, all evidence of the rape is subsequently destroyed, as if it had never happened, which is still rather characteristic of society’s approach to sex crimes. ___ In any case, the extreme experience initiates the woman’s transformation from a sexy object into an agent. (In the conclusion, particularly during an extraordinarily long one-shot walk through the house, when together with the hitherto fearless male antagonist we are afraid of what might be lying in wait around the corner, the object becomes a [completely nude] man.) During most of the film, however, she acts frightened, occasionally bursting into tears and the recoil of first rifle shot throws her back several feet. In short, she is not an inhumanly infallible and cold-blooded murderer, even after she becomes an avenger. At the same time, however, she can bear more than an ordinary mortal, thanks to which she can properly exact bloody revenge. ___ The varying degree of her vulnerability corresponds to the needs of the narrative rather than to reality. Nit-pickers who do not recognise the ontological peculiarity of the fictional world may object that if a twenty-six-year-old woman loses so much blood, she is done for (not to mention the impossibility of her other actions), but dealing with realism in a deliberately exaggerated exploitation flick (offering, among other things, a splatter homage to the scene in Die Hard in which McClane pulls glass shards out of his foot) seems rather misguided to me. Similarly out of line are criticisms about the predictability of the story, which is basically summarised by its one-word title. What happens isn’t important, because we already know what happens (and the director knows that we know and therefore constantly plays with conventions and the viewers’ expectations); what’s important is how it looks. ___ Revenge is one of those films in which even a shot of a corpse with its eyes gouged out floating on the surface looks “nice” and you want to enjoy it for a moment (which you can do thanks also to the unusually long duration of the shots). Subjective perspectives, large details in addition to large units, the visceral effect enhancing amplified sounds, ironic cuts from one event to another... Besides some extreme European and Belgian horror movies, the film is artistically reminiscent of the work of Tom Ford or Nicolas Winding Refn and, furthermore, has a perfect soundtrack from the person who created the no less wonderful music for the remake of Maniac. Therefore, it is a pleasure to just watch and listen to it. ___ If that’s not enough for you, you can consider the film’s biblical symbolism (the bitten apple of sin, the protagonist’s rebirth begins with a burning bush and she blinds her first victim) and the conflict between technology and nature. On the one hand, there are men with their cars, walkie-talkies and guns who rape women and hunt animals (and drown spiders in their urine). They subjugate the world around them and destroy it. On the other hand, the woman is gradually helped by fire, water and the “Indian drug” peyote, under the influence of which she brands herself on her abdomen with an eagle from a beer can in one of the film’s wildest scenes, which stylishly begins with Mozart. The technology repeatedly lets her down (she runs out of gas on the four-wheeler, the first rifle is not loaded, the second sends her flying). She does not conquer the landscape, but rather blends into it and draws from it the strength that had been taken from her by men. ___ If you do not approach Revenge as a silly B-movie from the outset, you will find that it is a relatively clever film from a director who learned from (especially) European exploitation flicks and is not afraid to touch a raw nerve. I’m quite curious as to what she will make next. I highly recommend Revenge, especially to horror fans. Viewers who have the compulsive need to express their alleged intellectual superiority by laughing out loud even during scenes that are supposed to be serious would be well advised to stay home. 80% (20.04.2018) (minder) (meer)