Revenge (4 Stars)

This is the third film in the Stuttgart Nights Festival.

This is a Canadian rape and revenge film with a minimal cast of only four actors.

Richard goes on a hunting trip every year with his friends Stan and Dimitri. (All three are French Canadians). He has a luxurious house in the middle of the desert. The film doesn't make the location clear. It was filmed in Morocco, but my guess is that the film is supposed to take place somewhere in South America.

Richard arrives a few days early to spend some time with his American girlfriend Jen. It's just a casual affair. He has no intention of leaving his wife. Their love nest is disturbed when Stan and Dimitri arrive earlier than expected.

The next day Richard has to drive to the next town to get supplies. While he's away Stan rapes Jen. Dimitri sees it happening but ignores it. When Richard returns he's angry with Jen for making such a fuss about it. He offers her money and says he never wants to see her again. She makes a scene, so the men throw her off the side of a canyon. They think she's dead, but she comes back to take revenge.

It's a very good film, but I think that the violence is overdone. I don't mean that it's too much to watch, I mean that it's too much to be taken seriously. All of the characters, Jen especially, suffer injuries which would kill a normal person, but somehow they stand up and carry on fighting. Judging by the audience reactions I don't think the film achieved the desired effect. Whenever someone was shot or stabbed the audience laughed. It wasn't intended to the funny, but the audience was thinking "Not again! Isn't he/she dead yet?"

I'm interested to hear the opinion of my readers, if you get a chance to see it.