Minha Vingança

A deeply tense and taught thriller that puts you along side Harry as all the events unfold. I am very accustomed to the actions of characters of your typical Hollywood revenge thrillers that in my mind I was intensely screaming at Harry's actions when the **IT, hit the fan. Then the realization came, this is not a film where the lead character becomes a fuel raged unstoppable hero suddenly becoming an expert on how to kill. But another fantastic element is that he is a dream like state and doesn't really know what is going on around him and hallucinates all sorts of imagery in quiet moments and in violent moment. This is why European thrillers are so cool compared to our USA product and the Brits excel at it.

The surreal quietness is very intense in this film and you just focus everything on the films characters. That is how excellent the directing and the screenplay are, the movie is not afraid of the silence. You become completely aware of how fast your heart is beating in the deadly silence. The direction by Hadi Hajaig was handled expertly and was a true feast for the eyes. Gorgeous cinematography and his utilization of natural light made it easy to get lost in the movie. There are scenes that will make you wriggle and squirm and there are humorous tension releasing moments, that is how tight the script is and you are relieved that you have those moments. Everyone in this cast is on point, I did not feel one off key from any of actors. The gamut of emotions that run through Harry's (Con O'Neill) eyes alone is worth the price of admission. There are some great actor finds Anton Saunders as an unredeemable and terrifying character in the film. Plaudits to the whole unheard of cast. The score from Sarah Lynch is haunting and never over powers a given scene. I know I am gushing over this movie, but if you can talk and truly think about a film long after the lights have come up then gush I must about it!

Do yourself a favor and see it and be kind to your friends and tell them about it and watch it with them. You are guaranteed a long conversation over drinks afterward. This is not a standard revenge film, yes it bleeds a lot of red, but it also bleeds true emotions.

The Europeans have a knack of gripping you in films about lonely disconnected characters who are suffering some sort of crisis who then emerge from ashes of some sort of grief and then seek revenge and it usually takes place slowly and VISUALLY and this is a fine example of that.

Telling a story in pictures seems to be something American film makers have forgotten, they are riddled with tons and tons of dialogue, Irving the explainer film making.

In this film you are given the info and you put the pieces together yourself, treating the audience with respect in that they have some intelligence.

The whole dream thing did occur to me but I continued watching, that shot of the beach at the end could be heaven or it could be just a shot of a beach.

The person with the better weapon and the element of surprise, gets to tell the truth. Because they have the power, and the truth hurts like a broken bone. In the underworld of London, only the possibility of revenge and the telling of such truths stir an impoverished loner named Harry. It likewise motivates his intended target. In a brutal spree, Harry struggles to gain the upper hand over his adversary. In this insightful, vicious and unconventional tale, there are surprising twists and turns. Harry learns some uncommon and profound good sense. Capable acting, an enthralling story and intriguing sights and sounds, kept me at the edge of my seat.

Vengeance is Mine makes it look so simple and effortless. Maybe it's because it is in fact simple and effortless. Con O'Neill the lead looks like a blend of a lawyer and an accountant and he is an inept protagonist that the film explores in all its consequences that other movies skip with an archetype that's usually hugely muscled and wielding machine guns on both arms.

It's subversive and the ending pays off with a gorgeous finale. While some would get tired of the spare and simple plot, it allows the stakes to rise in a true way and the only thing that is missing is a little more juice on all the cast of characters as the film chooses to not speak unless it really has to which I actually liked. However, the authentic leads acting wins you over where the writing is deliberately minimal.

Vengeance is Mine reminds me why I have always loved looking for more obscure and smart indie cinema.

Harry is a loner and, to anyone who would perceive him, a total and utter failure on the bottom rung on society. Living and working in a church as a handyman and cleaner, he occupies his time by reading The Count of Monte Cristo and contemplating suicide in all sort of gruesome ways, throw in visions of his wife an daughter runner in a getaway car by some vicious thieves, you have man at the lowest ebb of his life. Then a private detective he hired brings him news that shakes him from his life ending low. He has been so badly wronged in the past that his life derailed that this is light at tend of the tunnel. The authors of his downfall have now been found. He makes a decision to seek vengeance.

This means having to buy a gun and ammunition, stalking the killers and attacking them although he is completely untrained and totally out of shape an entering a world he does not belong in. Once in this world he sets in motion a chain of events that will build up its own momentum, essentially driven by vengeance, lost love and pure emotion.

Harry is played by Con O'Neill, an outstanding actor. He excels as the frightened, yet driven man, who is essentially a good person, who has been forced into the role of vigilante avenger. He is able to convey so much tormented emotion in his facial expressions and the use of his eyes that his performance on its own would make this a 5 star film. All of the supporting actors are also excellent, one of the villains played bt Anton Saunders is skin tinglingly scary, but O'Neills performance just dwarfs all around him.

This is edge of seat stuff, with brutal violence - intentionally gratuitous, it is the messy sort and sometimes glammed up which at first I thought was strange but then as I watched this over the top violence that SOMETIMES occurred I realised that the film maker was telling us something , THIS IS EITHER A DREAM OR REAL OR BOTH, in that Harry is perhaps committing these acts and exaggerating them in his mind OR in that it is his final thoughts as he lies dying in his room in the church when he tries to commit suicide with a knife strapped to a stool.

The movie has a brooding quality that makes the whole thing have a kind of intense effervescence that just grabs you and takes you along for the ride - and that means the whole journey. I was blown away by this, small film. This is a master class in how to make a thriller. I can not recommend highly enough.