Archive of films The Praying Mantis / Die Gottesanbeterin
Austria
2001, 93 min
Section:
Variety Critics´ Choice
Year: 2001
Synopsis
An aging hausfrau finds hobby-murder an intoxicating sport in The Praying Mantis, an expertly played black comedy that´s beautifully lensed in widescreen and casts an ironic eye on Austria´s parochial mindset. Mantis recalls some adaptations of German novelist Ingrid Noll´s dark comedies featuring murderous women, especially Rainer Kaufmann´s The Pharmacist. Christiane Höerbiger is terrific as Trixi, a still-trim grandmother who escapes her dull home life with Siggi (Klaus Ofczarek), a model airplane enthusiast. You know the pic is not going to be your average middle-class drama when she´s spotted one day by Karli (Peter Faerber), a sleazy friend of her husband´s, and she calmly gives him oral sex to ensure he´ll keep her secret. Derek Elley
About the film
Black & white, 35 mm
Section: | Variety Critics´ Choice |
---|---|
Director: | Paul Harather |
Screenplay: | Susanne Freund, Gerda E. Grossmann, Paul Harather |
Dir. of Photography: | Fabian Eder |
Music: | Mona Davis Music |
Editor: | Andreas Kopriva |
Producer: | Helmut Grasser |
Production: | Allegro Film |
Cast: | Christiane Hörbiger, Udo Kier, Jan Niklas, Simon Schwarz, Ursula Koban, Klaus Ofczarek, Gerhard Ernst, Tanja Petrovsky, Rainer Egger |