By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Tom Tykwer
Starring: Josef Bierbichler | Juliane Heinemann | Katja Studt | Nina Petri
Original language title: Die Tödliche Maria
Country: germany
Year: 2003
Running time: 106
IMDB: http://us.imdb.com/Details?0108425
Michael says: “Tom Tykwer introduced his first feature film, DEADLY MARIA, to a sold out theatre at the Museum of Fine Arts last night. It was great seeing all those Chltorudis members, including Tim, Sara Rubin and new members Erin Amar and Georgette Gagne! (Welcome Georgette!) Tykwer is a personable, charming and funny speaker as he answered questions and told stories for nearly an hour after the film ended.
“DEADLY MARIA was a terrific film. This dark tale of a women trapped in a household run by her paralylzed father and uncaring husband certainly showed hints of the capable and artistic director Tom Tykwer would become. Maria follows a day-to-day routine, making breakfast for her husband, caring for her bed-ridden father, grocery shopping, and squirreling away the left
over money in the base of a little wooden idol she keeps on her living room table. She also enjoys watching her neighbor as he comes and goes each day. As Maria’s claustrophobic and disturbing life unfolds in flashback, we can see that she is on the edge… of breaking free of a trap partially of her own making. DEADLY MARIA veers into David Lynchian territory from time to time, with Maria’s bizarre dreams and imaginings. How delightful, as Scot pointed out, to see the heroine fall in love with an indexer!
“Much of the visual style Tykwer has mastered in his later movies are evident in DEADLY MARIA , sometimes a bit clumsily, but still effective. DEADLY MARIA was an outstanding start to one of our modern-day directors to take note of.” 4 cats