Die Tödliche Maria

Young German director Tykwer embraces a panoply of cinematic possibilities. In this story of a wife and daughter's drudgery-filled existence, he finds much light and shade, for, as Petri's put-upon heroine sacrifices her own liberty to the demands of her husband and father, you'll find a Fassbinder-like vision of domestic dystopia, Hitchcockian suspense, the tenderness of a Truffaut, and a whole lot more besides. A compassionate, sometimes shocking, very substantial achievement - with one truly gobsmacking sequence (you'll know when you get there).