If you were to read in the paper that a man had robbed a local bank and, as he drove away in the getaway car, a woman in the passenger seat had been shot and killed by an off-the-mark shot from a policeman, you would probably think, "Well that's unfortunate, if someone had to get killed, it should have been the robber." That snap judgment is probably as far as you would take it, or about as far as you could take it, with limited facts. But, as this movie illustrates, the details of such an incident and its aftermath can be surprising and interesting.
The movie starts with Alex and Tamara working in a seedy Vienna brothel. Tamara is an attractive Ukranian and it is easy to see why Alex has fallen for her. The realistic behind the scenes look at the brothel, run by a tyrannical pimp, was enough for me to understand why Alex and Tamara were desperate to escape and, when Alex proposed the bank robbery, I could well understand his motivation, since it was not going to be easy for either Alex or Tamara to get out of the rather sorry state they were in.
What sets this thriller apart is that we get to know all of the main players--Alex, Tamara, the policeman and his wife, and Alex's grandfather-- as believable people. Their interactions are well motivated and understandable.
As the title suggests, the movie has important things to say about revenge, about snap judgments and false assumptions.
I found some of the filming techniques interesting. Early on the camera lingered on certain scenes, like a path into some trees or an alleyway, that left me puzzled. The answers to these little teasers appeared later in the film.
I did not know any of the actors, but I found them all to be well cast and quite good.
The movie starts with Alex and Tamara working in a seedy Vienna brothel. Tamara is an attractive Ukranian and it is easy to see why Alex has fallen for her. The realistic behind the scenes look at the brothel, run by a tyrannical pimp, was enough for me to understand why Alex and Tamara were desperate to escape and, when Alex proposed the bank robbery, I could well understand his motivation, since it was not going to be easy for either Alex or Tamara to get out of the rather sorry state they were in.
What sets this thriller apart is that we get to know all of the main players--Alex, Tamara, the policeman and his wife, and Alex's grandfather-- as believable people. Their interactions are well motivated and understandable.
As the title suggests, the movie has important things to say about revenge, about snap judgments and false assumptions.
I found some of the filming techniques interesting. Early on the camera lingered on certain scenes, like a path into some trees or an alleyway, that left me puzzled. The answers to these little teasers appeared later in the film.
I did not know any of the actors, but I found them all to be well cast and quite good.