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Revenge (2017)
REVENGE IS GROUNDBREAKING IN A LOT OF ASPECTS ASIDE FROM ITS TITLE
The film, which was screened in the Midnight Madness section of the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival, deliberately mixes clichés of classical rape-revenge films with twists and new approaches and I personally think that's because of the film's female director, Fargeat. Initially she presents Jen's body like the "eye candy" the male people around her thinks of her as, the camera fixates on her beauty and body and acts just as mesmerized with her as her male company. Therefore, the first act of the film could be described and argued as being shot with a male gaze - something I think is because Fargeat wants to challenge her audience and the stereotypes often surrounding rape-revenge films. However, for instance, then look how she chooses to portray the sexual assault scene. Then Fargeat obviously takes a detour from the conventions of rape-revenge films we've often seen and instead of sexualizing Jen's body at the time of the assault, portraying it as something more erotic than horrifying and violent and/or simply lingering on it an excessive period of time and using it as an excuse to show Jen/Lutz naked, Fargeat instead puts the focus on Jen's pain and makes everything about Jen's (facial) reactions. There's no identifying with the attacker and there's no denying Jen's constant pain and resistance.
The characters in Revenge, and there isn't many, pretty much all play more or less on familiar stereotypes but they also go beyond simply being shallow stereotypes. For instance, take a look at the character Jen. We do not know a lot about her, just like with the rest of characters that's present, but it's very clear from the first second we see her that she is treated by others - and the camera - like this very pretty and sexy yet superficial young woman without much beyond simply her beauty. I think it was interesting to go in this direction when it came to Jen, considering what's about to happen to her. In a lot of rape-revenge films, the girls that are attacked are often initially shy and plain when it comes to physical appearance. Or they might be intellectual, rich and think that they're above certain people. In conclusion, there's a lot of different types of young women that are portrayed in rape-revenge films and I can list a lot more examples - but the main thing I'm trying to say here is that it isn't too often the young woman in question is so well-aware of her own beauty like Jen is and the fact that she doesn't hide it - not even after she's attacked by Stanley - is very refreshing to see. Way too often women are held responsible for what others do to them, even though when they're the victims and didn't do anything wrong and it's interesting to play around with this and to not make the rape seem like something that's either a form of disciplinary act to make the woman in question behave differently afterwards (in other words, "better") or make her appearance and behavior into something that's an excuse to attack her.
No one really cares about Jen, she doesn't have any value beyond her beauty and her body. She's disposable. She's objectified, especially in the beginning of the film. She's put on a pedestal as a sex object by others, and when she doesn't act and react like her surroundings want her to, it results in violence both physical and mental. However, she always stays true to herself and what she's comfortable in and she's comfortable with her body. From the beginning to end she doesn't cover or hide her body, not before the attack and not after it. Often in rape-revenge films there's the vital turning point where the young woman who has been raped more or less goes through a transformation. This transformation often involves the woman changing her physical appearance, mainly with make-up, new hairstyles and, of course, through clothes. After Jen is left for dead and has to pull herself together in order to survive, she doesn't start covering her body which often happens simultaneously when the women becomes stronger and is seeking revenge. I liked that Fargeat skipped that metaphor and created a female character that did become stronger but she didn't become stronger at the expense of what she used to be. Being strong isn't about whether or not you're fully clothed or not, it's about you as an individual. Jen is herself from beginning to end, and that's quite groundbreaking considering how many extreme transformations of female characters that can be found in numerous rape-revenge films that sadly aren't as empowering as they at first glance may seem. Furthermore, in Revenge Jen's power and empowerment doesn't exclusively come from her revenge alone but also in the act of surviving and being a survivor.
I think it all comes down to how the director chooses to portray the woman and, sometimes even more important, how the director chooses to portray the attack. Because, there's no denying that a lot of films that can be described as belonging in the category of rape-revenge films were specifically made to titillate a male heterosexual audience - and the motivation was often to gain economic success. Therefore, scenes involving the rape and attack can be found to be portrayed as something sexual and erotic instead of focusing on the violent and brutal violation and crime. An example out of many is Bo Arne Vibenius film Thriller - en grym film from 1973, which was a pure commercial venture simply trying to relieve the huge loss the director had put himself in with his earlier directorial debut. (Besides its highly sexualization, the film might be best known as one of the many inspirations for Quentin Tarantino and he apparently took the inspiration of the young girl, her revenge and her iconic eye patch when making Kill Bill Vol. 1 & 2 and specifically for the character Elle Driver).
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If you're watching one rape-revenge type of film this year, let it be Revenge. Not only is it very interesting and intriguing seeing this kind of story being told with a woman behind the camera, it's also visually stunning which isn't always the case with these kind of films. The climatic final fifteen minutes are still thrilling when I think about them and the final shot of the film is honestly one of my favorite final shots in a long time. I might actually go back and watch it again simply for that final shot, so now you all know I'm serious.