Elementarteilchen (2006)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Oskar Roehler

Writers:

Michel Houellebecq (novel)
Oskar Roehler (writer)

Release Date:

23 February 2006 (Germany)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Plot:

Based on Michel Houellebecq's controversial novel, this movie focuses on Michael and Bruno, two very different...

Plot Keywords:

Biologist | Half Brother | Hippie | Sexuality | Sexual Harassment

Awards:

1 win & 4 nominations

Cast

Moritz Bleibtreu	...	Bruno Klement
Christian Ulmen	...	Michael Djerzinski
Martina Gedeck	...	Christiane
Franka Potente	...	Annabelle
Nina Hoss	...	Jane
Uwe Ochsenknecht	...	Brunos Vater
Corinna Harfouch	...	Dr. Schäfer
Ulrike Kriener	...	Annabelles Mutter
Jasmin Tabatabai	...	Yogini
Michael Gwisdek	...	Professor Fleißer
Herbert Knaup	...	Sollers
Tom Schilling	...	Michael jung
Hermann Beyer	...	Annabelles Vater
Nina Kronjäger	...	Katja
Deborah Kaufmann	...	Hannelore

Also Known As:

The Elementary Particles (International: English title) (USA) (festival title)
Atomised (UK)
Elementary Particles (USA) (festival title)

Runtime:

113 min | 105 min

Country:

Germany

Language:

German | English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Certification:

Germany:12 | UK:15 | Netherlands:12 | Sweden:11 | Hong Kong:III | South Korea:18 | Italy:VM14

Filming Locations:

Bahnhof, Hetschburg, Thuringia, Germany

Company:

Medienfonds GFP

Trivia:

Oskar Roehler had worked on the script for three years before he started shooting the film.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: In the scene where Christiane is waiting for Bruno's phone call in her apartment, the doorstep onto the balcony is clearly visible. A few moments later when she rolls outside in her wheelchair it has been replaced with a ramp.

Soundtrack:

Without You

Read the book

This is a plodding, clueless adaptation of Michel Houellebecq's novel of the same name. It manages to include many of the book's dialogs verbatim, while completely missing its point. The main evidence is the outrageous change of the conclusion - the director just mined the novel for catchy phrases and totally refused to tackle its challenging ideas. Or rather he was not able to notice them. Even apart from that, the adaptation is dumb. One example: when Bruno describes to the psychiatrist the biological details of the decomposition of a human corpse, he uses lines that are there in the book, down to the moths with "the names of Italian starlets" - but they belong to the narrator, not to Bruno! Such knowledge is completely inappropriate for his character.

I don't mind the downplaying of the sex scenes - watch some porn if you have never seen it. The causality of the philosophy and culture of the times and the parents' lives on the lives of the main protagonists, the whole point of Michael's enigmatic life, the desperation of the obsession with sex and narcissism of the body, the sheer horror and cruelty of Bruno's existence, all this is downplayed to the point of absence. Houellebecq created a gripping world in his novel that you cannot shake off even if you think you know that he isn't right. The director produced a made-for-TV movie.