Die tödliche Maria (1994)
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Directors
Cast
Nina Petri, Josef Bierbichler, Péter Franke, Joachim Król, Rolf Peter "RP" Kahl
A woman trapped in a joyless marriage and the burden of caring for her tyrannical father finds her routine upended when she falls in love with a neighbor.
The story
Forty-year-old Maria’s life is defined by an affectionless, monotonous marriage to Heinz and the daily responsibility of caring for her tyrannical, bedridden father, who lives in the same house. Her closest confidante is a wooden African figurine given to her as a child; she shares her worries, longings, and fears with it and writes letters that she hides away. Her routine changes when she falls in love with Dieter, a shy and gentle neighbor. But as Maria’s feelings open the possibility of a different life, the circumstances around her make a fresh start seem increasingly out of reach.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Forty-year-old Maria lives with her husband Heinz in a frighteningly monotonous marriage. For years, it has been the same daily routine and the same lack of affection. Maria also has to care for her tyrannical, bedridden father, who lives in the same house and with whom she has a kind of love-hate relationship. Maria has a secret: when she was still a little girl, her nanny gave her an African wooden figurine, a fetish. This figurine is Maria’s confidante. She tells it about her worries, longings, and fears, and writes it letters that she keeps in a secret compartment. One day, an event changes Maria’s drab everyday life: she falls in love with her neighbor Dieter, a shy, lovable man. But it is too late for a fresh start. Through a chain of strange circumstances, her father and husband die; Maria hides her husband’s body in the bottom section of the dresser. Dieter finds it and only then understands the full extent of the domestic tragedy.
Genres
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