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Praying Mantis
Echelon Studios // Unrated
List Price: $24.98 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
The Movie
If you've seen more than one film from Europe, then you know that they can often be quite different from American movies. The pacing is often slower, the imagery more important, and the subject matter can be less coherent. If there's any word that I would use to describe many of the European films that I've seen, it would be subtle. In contrast to the loud and brash films to which Americans are accustomed, there's nothing wrong with a film being subtle, as it gives the viewer an opportunity to dig deeper into the movie to find the meaning. But, a movie can be too subtle for its own good and the Belgian entry Praying Mantis is a good example of this.
Yann Chely stars in Praying Mantis (whose on-screen title translates as "The Feast of the Praying Mantis") as a cellist named Julien. While traveling in the south (of Belgium, presumably), he meets a striking and mysterious woman named Sylvia (Lou Broclain) (she's standing by the road and offers him a bouquet of flowers). Entranced by this woman, Julien takes her to his home and the two become lovers. And while Sylvia is a passionate woman, she also exhibits some odd behavior, most notably the effect that she has on animals. Sylvia proves to be a bit unorthodox in the area of relationships as well, as she seduces a local construction worker named Patrick (Sacha Kollick) one day while Julien away. At first, it simply appears that Sylvia is a cruel temptress who simply takes what she wants, but as her relationships with both Julien and Patrick intensify, it becomes clear that Sylvia isn't all that she appears to be and that one person in this love-triangle is destined to be murdered.
Director/co-screenwriter Marc Levie has constructed an interesting film with Praying Mantis. At the outset, this appears to be a common romantic-thriller, perhaps in line with Paul Verhoeven's De Vierde Man or Basic Instinct, as we witness a man becoming the psychological hostage to a temptress. And for much of the film, it looks as if this is the path that the film will take, save for the scene in which Slyvia confronts a dog and another where she sits in a dark basement, allowing spiders to crawl all over her. But, during the final act, the film takes a slight turn into the unknown and the viewer begins to understand that something sinister is taking place in Sylvia's greenhouse and that she gives "using a man" a new meaning.
But, Levie makes a brave choice having 90% of the movie feel like a drama, as opposed to something more supernatural. If anything, the filmmakers seem poised to shock audience (well, American audiences at least) with the nature of the sex in the film, as Slyvia appears to have a penchant for S&M. The movie contains the sub-plots which we would expect to see in a story of this nature, as we meet a concerned co-worker of Julien's and Patrick's jealous girlfriend. The three main actors attack their roles with zeal, especially Broclain, who is able to be both vulnerable and creepy at the same time.
Giving the film a sheen of "normality" may have been used to lull the viewer into a false sense of security, but it also makes one weary of the proceedings. When Sylvia exhibits her odd behavior near the beginning of the film, many members of the audience will suspect that she's more than she seems. However, it's over an hour later that another clue as to her secret is given. By this time, we've sat through many long scenes with no dialogue and even the sex scenes have grown tiresome. When the finale does take place, there are more questions than answers. The film's title hints at what will happen, but we never learn why. This won't matter to some viewers, but even given the generally subtle nature of European films, Praying Mantis is too open-ended.
Video
Praying Mantis prays on viewers courtesy of Echelon Entertainment. The film has been letterboxed at 1.85:1, but the transfer is not anamorphic. The image is dark and somewhat grainy. The bitrate rarely gets above 4 Mbps. The colors are good however, as the film doesn't shy away from bold greens and oranges. There was a noticeable amount of video noise on the image, along with some artifacting.
Audio
The audio on the Praying Mantis DVD is a LPCM 2.0 track. This offers clear dialogue and sound effects, but there is very little presence to this track. The sound is adequate, but the sound effects have an ambience and there is no bass response from the front channels. The subtitles are white and clear, but given the framing of the film, they were a bit hard to read on a widescreen TV.
Extras
The only extra on the Praying Mantis DVD is a trailer for the film, which is presented in a letterbox (1.85:1) format.
On the surface, Praying Mantis looks as if it's going to be a standard European sex-thriller, but it wants to be more than that. Unfortunately, director Marc Levie's slow-burn film fizzles out before the ending and inpatient audience members won't care about the finale.
If you've seen more than one film from Europe, then you know that they can often be quite different from American movies. The pacing is often slower, the imagery more important, and the subject matter can be less coherent. If there's any word that I would use to describe many of the European films that I've seen, it would be subtle. In contrast to the loud and brash films to which Americans are accustomed, there's nothing wrong with a film being subtle, as it gives the viewer an opportunity to dig deeper into the movie to find the meaning. But, a movie can be too subtle for its own good and the Belgian entry Praying Mantis is a good example of this.
Yann Chely stars in Praying Mantis (whose on-screen title translates as "The Feast of the Praying Mantis") as a cellist named Julien. While traveling in the south (of Belgium, presumably), he meets a striking and mysterious woman named Sylvia (Lou Broclain) (she's standing by the road and offers him a bouquet of flowers). Entranced by this woman, Julien takes her to his home and the two become lovers. And while Sylvia is a passionate woman, she also exhibits some odd behavior, most notably the effect that she has on animals. Sylvia proves to be a bit unorthodox in the area of relationships as well, as she seduces a local construction worker named Patrick (Sacha Kollick) one day while Julien away. At first, it simply appears that Sylvia is a cruel temptress who simply takes what she wants, but as her relationships with both Julien and Patrick intensify, it becomes clear that Sylvia isn't all that she appears to be and that one person in this love-triangle is destined to be murdered.
Director/co-screenwriter Marc Levie has constructed an interesting film with Praying Mantis. At the outset, this appears to be a common romantic-thriller, perhaps in line with Paul Verhoeven's De Vierde Man or Basic Instinct, as we witness a man becoming the psychological hostage to a temptress. And for much of the film, it looks as if this is the path that the film will take, save for the scene in which Slyvia confronts a dog and another where she sits in a dark basement, allowing spiders to crawl all over her. But, during the final act, the film takes a slight turn into the unknown and the viewer begins to understand that something sinister is taking place in Sylvia's greenhouse and that she gives "using a man" a new meaning.
But, Levie makes a brave choice having 90% of the movie feel like a drama, as opposed to something more supernatural. If anything, the filmmakers seem poised to shock audience (well, American audiences at least) with the nature of the sex in the film, as Slyvia appears to have a penchant for S&M. The movie contains the sub-plots which we would expect to see in a story of this nature, as we meet a concerned co-worker of Julien's and Patrick's jealous girlfriend. The three main actors attack their roles with zeal, especially Broclain, who is able to be both vulnerable and creepy at the same time.
Giving the film a sheen of "normality" may have been used to lull the viewer into a false sense of security, but it also makes one weary of the proceedings. When Sylvia exhibits her odd behavior near the beginning of the film, many members of the audience will suspect that she's more than she seems. However, it's over an hour later that another clue as to her secret is given. By this time, we've sat through many long scenes with no dialogue and even the sex scenes have grown tiresome. When the finale does take place, there are more questions than answers. The film's title hints at what will happen, but we never learn why. This won't matter to some viewers, but even given the generally subtle nature of European films, Praying Mantis is too open-ended.
Video
Praying Mantis prays on viewers courtesy of Echelon Entertainment. The film has been letterboxed at 1.85:1, but the transfer is not anamorphic. The image is dark and somewhat grainy. The bitrate rarely gets above 4 Mbps. The colors are good however, as the film doesn't shy away from bold greens and oranges. There was a noticeable amount of video noise on the image, along with some artifacting.
Audio
The audio on the Praying Mantis DVD is a LPCM 2.0 track. This offers clear dialogue and sound effects, but there is very little presence to this track. The sound is adequate, but the sound effects have an ambience and there is no bass response from the front channels. The subtitles are white and clear, but given the framing of the film, they were a bit hard to read on a widescreen TV.
Extras
The only extra on the Praying Mantis DVD is a trailer for the film, which is presented in a letterbox (1.85:1) format.
On the surface, Praying Mantis looks as if it's going to be a standard European sex-thriller, but it wants to be more than that. Unfortunately, director Marc Levie's slow-burn film fizzles out before the ending and inpatient audience members won't care about the finale.
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