Variety Critics´ Choice 2001 / Die Gottesanbeterin / Austria 2001
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
93 min / Black & white, 35 mm
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
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