Jack is a striking biopic that forays into the enigma of controversial criminal Jack Wunterberg whose case of the early ’90s went largely unresolved. In fact, sophomore director Elisabeth Scharang (In Another Lifetime) is so flexible and supplementary in her approach to telling the ghastly tale, that it feels like a mockery of the incident, or perhaps even a merciless exploitation of Jack. However, this is an effective approach, as the psychographic pieces are powerful and go the distance of novelty.

Jack is a killer. He is first convicted of murder in 1974 and sentenced to 15 years in prison. This initial murder is the launching point. From then on, the narrative coils between a few brash scenes in prison, many sexual encounters with women upon release, and triumphant times of success with the intellectual elite in Vienna. Jack becomes a writer, his typewriter is his saviour and words are his freedom. “Time is running… but my time stands still,” Jack narrates as he sits engulfed in the writing of his novel. Despite the public knowing of Jack’s earlier crime, they are clearly able to look beyond it and take the man as an artist devoid of circumstance. The revolving point for Jack’s story comes when prostitutes begin to go missing again in Vienna. Is Jack still a killer? “Once a murderer, always a murderer?” Jack asks his fellows in his feverish tone and his sunken cheekbones expressing a callous look.

Johannes Krish (Revanche) plays Jack with as much virtuosity as you’d expect from a psychopathic character. Although he is never labelled as a psychopath, Scharang is careful to raise more questions than she answers about the man. Bold colours, costumes, Austrian pop music (Naked Lunch mix the soundtrack), devilish performances, and candid material seek to match this film with the likes of other psycho-thrillers, such as the work of Nicolas Winding Refn (Bronson, Drive, Only God Forgives) and even the deftly affecting films of Alejandro González Iñárritu (21 Grams, Babel, Biutiful). The linchpin with all these films is in the distressing performances. And here, Krish is so volatile that we can never second-guess his actions and where the plot will lead him.

As gripping and haunting as sequences of the film may be, it isn’t without a fair share of laughs, most of which place the audience right along the mischief of Jack’s own rotten behaviour. His charm for the truth and poetry in all things can become attractive, which would explain his relentless womanizing qualities. An elderly architect falls deeply for Jack. He is boundless in expressing his desire for her and making her feel wanted, but he quickly becomes reproachable, as games turn sour with a severe disposition of rage. Jack’s feelings have been bottled since childhood—no surprise there—but he is adamant to find success by following his own path in life. In fact, Jack is so obstinate that he will become noted that he does indeed claim that title, hence the success of his writing. It is slightly ironic, but persistence often meets great reward.

This character study seems like familiar territory, Jake Gyllenhaal’s recent performance in Nightcrawler comes to mind. But Jack is a biopic that doesn’t just wish to track a narrative of one insane man, it’s far more interested with bigger questions and in actually hiding the facts (an interesting dichotomy considering much of the film was developed on factual evidence). There’s very little exposition in the film and things end up piecing together as it goes. There’s a beautiful Terrence Malick quality of well-poised shots of nature and wilderness, which makes a stirring mix with the precariously sadistic tone of the film. Human beings all warrant their shades of grey, and Scharang isn’t afraid to question the status quo.

Revanche is a foreign thriller from director Götz Spielmann which focuses heavily on the characters than it does with narrative. Unique circumstances bring two separate characters together that allows one to commit a sin and the other is setup for a sweet revenge. The film simmers rather than boils as shows that all actions create ripples in the water.

Alex (Johannes Krisch) works as a bouncer at a brothel where his girlfriend Tamara (Irina Potapenko) works as a prostitute. They must keep their relationship a secret from their bosses as they want her to move up on the prostitution ladder but she wants out. That is when Alex comes up with what he considers a foolproof scheme.

He plots out a bank heist to assist the couple financially for a proper escape. He repeats the fact that nothing can go wrong. Tamara is naturally skeptical as it sounds way more dangerous than Alex is making it seem. Alex tries to explain that it is an in and out operation. The gun he plans on using to hold up the bank will not even be loaded, so no one gets hurt.

She waits in the getaway car as he goes into the bank to execute his plan. Everything is going exactly as planned, he points the gun at the banker and she stuffs his backpack full of cash. The other people in the bank that come into view calmly obey his request to get on the floor.

Tamara’s hesitation to believe a flawless robbery is possible proves to be valid. As she is waiting for Alex to return from the bank a policeman knocks on the car window. He explains to her that they are parked in a loading zone. It is at this moment that Alex is returning to the car. He was able to get the policeman on the ground while they drive off but as they do the policeman was able to fire off a few shots.

Turns out that one of the shots fired remarkably hits and kills Tamara. Caught off guard by the whole situation is Alex. So he goes to hide out on his grandfather’s farm which is part of a small town outside the city. It just so happens to also be the same town that the policeman is from.

Susanne (Ursula Strauss) is the wife of the policeman who is practically neighbors to Alex’s grandfather. Because the town is so small it does not take long for Alex to find out this information. Susanne comes to over to visit which makes things interesting.

Enough though Alex is very stand-offish to Susanne, she is turned on by him. Perhaps it is due to the sexual problems between her and her husband. She invites Alex over when her husband is gone to take part in intercourse. Alex has a few angles he could use this opportunity for, the suspense builds up as he decides how to proceed.

The literal English translation of revanche is “revenge” yet there is not an abundance of revenge in the film. Well at least not as elaborate as the titles found in the “Vengeance Trilogy” by Park Chan-Wook. But the translation has a double meaning and the other one is, “a second chance”, which the film leans more toward. It aptly shows how opportunities can arise from tragedy.

The film received a nomination for an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in 2009 as Austria’s official submission. The cast was wonderfully selected and each seemed to be made for their role, looks and all. The cinematography was precise and well executed using techniques to imply foreshadowing through visuals.

Revanche was much more character driven than it was concerned with plot. Even though there is technically not always a lot happening on the screen, due to the excellent tension the film contains you find yourself immersed in it. That being said, there may be just one too many scenes of Alex chopping up wood pieces on the farm.

I could not help but wonder if the character chose to take a slightly different path towards the end the film could have been slightly more appealing. I suppose the point of the film though was to keep it more open ended. The beauty part of doing this is it makes you thinking long after the credits roll. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. It is one of those films that you will appreciate more in time than you do immediately after watching it.