Elementarteilchen (2006) Reviews

• Not for everyone

  Antagonisten2006-10-10

  I watched this movie at a preview here in Stockholm a week or so ago. The theater was filled with people and i must admit i never thought this kind of movie would have that kind of attraction on people. I can start by saying that i really liked this movie. I'm not sure i was entertained by it, and many times it was not a pleasant experience, but still the overwhelming feeling is that i really liked it. This is not a movie for everyone though. A lot of people will probably have a hard time with the strange mix between comedy and tragedy, others will be put off simply because of the themes and the presentation. There is a lot of nudity here, a lot of explicit language and scenes that are disturbing in more ways than one. A lot of people will probably find it gratuitous, although i feel it's more a part of an uncompromising attitude towards the movie and the story. The story revolves around two brothers, Bruno and Michael. Bruno is the brother that really stuck with me. Moritz Bleibtreu is excellent and the character really displays how the complexity of a human being can cause you to both hate and pity him. The other actors are also very good, which is probably necessary considering the subject of the movie. I have to stress one last time that this is not a movie for everyone. And by that i don't mean that it's demanding in the sense that you have to be a film-student to appreciate it. Rather i mean that the themes and the presentation are probably too much for many people. This movie is rough around the edges, very blunt and raw. These are the characteristics i appreciate it for, but i realize other people won't feel the same way. My guess is that either you really like it or you hate it. But you'll never know until you watch it, and therefore i feel it's still a strong recommendation. 7/10.

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• Life IS Random - Ingenious Realism at its Best

  stephparsons2013-04-13

  This raw, disturbing, yet poignant and captivating film caught me by surprise and kept me hooked right through to the bitter-sweet end. Set fifty years in the future, but mostly told through vignettes of the past, one could easily be forgiven for failing to see that it is, in part, a work of science fiction. The Elementary Particles (also known as Atomised) is the film adaption of a novel by French author Michel Houellebecq. The storyline revolves around the bleak, day to day lives of two brothers: Bruno Klement, (an anguished, depressed sex addicted and dysfunctional teacher, played by Moritz Bleibtreu), and Michel Djerzinski , (a painfully shy, introverted scientist played by Christian Ulmen ). Both men's awkward inability to function like 'normal' human beings is palpably exposed as each struggles and stumbles his way through life; the aftermath, it appears, of a chaotic childhood with a mostly absent hippy Mother, Jane, played by Nina Hoss. Bruno is moved from one abusive boarding school to another, eventually finding himself in a loveless marriage while Michel is raised by his paternal grandmother, and determinedly eschews all physical female contact while immersing himself in academia - aptly as a molecular biologist desperate to 'remove love' from the reproduction process through his life's work. Bruno's frantic, uncontrolled need for sex and female company has him lunging into disturbing, unsatisfactory, loveless and often perverted sexual encounters but never finding the 'connection' he so desperately seeks. The boys are unaware of each other's existence until their teens when Jane casually introduces them and they find they are complete opposites in every way; except the most important one - their inability to form healthy, satisfying human relationships - and that's where this movie excels; sensitively and cleverly portraying unvarnished hopelessness, despair and loneliness. Both Bruno and Michel are clearly 'empty of love'; Bruno, crass, sad, isolated, sexually deviant and emotionally broken, Michel painfully shy and scared of human contact. The intelligent script, screenplay and skillful acting allow the viewer a seamless transition between the lives of the two men. Touching, embarrassing, forceful and unforgettable, many scenes depicting the pathos of their existence are simply unforgettable . Bruno's pursuit of sex and the awkward realism of his sordid encounters are both entrancing and repellent; Michel's self-imposed isolation, palpably painful. When the brothers eventually stumble onto the one thing they have been seeking or avoiding all their lives, cruel and random events do not lead to the inevitable ending one might expect. It is enough, it seems, to have finally experienced the one thing that has always eluded them. Although The Elementary Particles is by no means an uplifting movie, its ingenious realism and its utter refusal to portray life as anything other than random, cruel, joyous and challenging is what makes it such a great work of art.

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• Bold & truthful-- It takes us down a new and unknown dramatic pathway

  bopdog2006-07-30

  CAUTION: MAJOR SPOILERS!!! This is a 'foreign' movie to me--- it is German. I am not. I think British and American audiences will really like it, find much to admire and enjoy here--- but a bit of explanation will help. I will strive to be succinct. I've seen a couple dozen German movies over the years, but do not know German media--- TV, books, pop movies, etc. Maybe 'Atomised' is standard fare in Germany? But to me it was unusual. The story was not predictable. It was not yet another version of the same old things. Maybe it is in its homeland, but not here in the UK. So 'Atomised' was a bit exciting and engaging simply for its freshness and uniqueness. And--- it was also very well acted, and the story was compelling as well. So all that adds up to a movie that keeps your attention. Not 'nail-biting', perhaps, and maybe not 'on the edge of your seat', but keenly and raptly attentive. The story is about two half brothers-- Brother number one a brilliant (and eventually Nobel Prize winning) scientist going through a 3-year detour in his comet-rise to genetic engineering stardom. Brother number two, played by the male lead from Tom Tykwer's 'Run Lola Run', Moritz Bleibtreu, is a charming and probably (?) good looking school teacher--- married, with a baby in the house. But he is a very disturbed sex addict, in the worst meaning of the term. He's also a writer--- maybe an essayist, maybe short stories--- the movie doesn't make that very clear. But it does show him as a neo-Nazi of sorts, producing well-written but unpublishable tracts that rail against blacks and other 'sub races' (sic). Brother two is incapable of receiving any love or happiness or fulfilment from his wife, and he makes lewd and overtly sexual advances towards his 15 year-old female students. As a teenage boy, in a flashback, he even has a sexual encounter with his own sleeping mother. Very creepy. Worse, if that's possible, he brutally smashes a cat to death during his sexual 'assault' on his mother, simply because the cat closed its eyes when he reached sexual climax--- indicating, evidently, that the cat was judging the boy as disgusting. For that, the adult brother two recalls with a satisfied rage, the ****ing cat had to die. Was the darkness of brother two over the top? Was it too dark? I don't know. It felt realistic, but was the portrayal intrinsic to the story? I had sympathy for brother two--- he was obviously 'lost', in the worst way. he cried a lot, and the look of despair and horror in his eyes was so intense that one had to feel compassion for the guy. But then the cat killing episode turned me off, and turned me against him, so I felt horror AT him, rather than WITH him. The women in the movie were fantastic actresses. Brother two meets a woman who is probably 4 or 5 years older than he, and she too is a sex addict. She takes him to weird 'leather bar' kind of sex clubs, and they trade partners and engage in wild and sordid sex. But she does seem to care for him, maybe even love him. Brother two and this lady certainly seem to need each other--- and we get the feeling that they are, somehow, very good for each other. But then she has had some disease of the bones for a long while, but it had been in remission--- but she had not told brother two about it. The disease flares up, and she is left paralyzed in the legs for life--- and we suspect maybe her life is going to be short, as well. Brother two is confused, and while he eventually decides to take the woman in, and live with his love, even if she is crippled, he dithers long enough for her to get depressed and kill herself. Brother two goes permanently nuts, hallucinates his dead lover's presence (oddly, even though he is halucinating, and could therefore dream up any pleasant reality he wanted, no matter how 'rosy' or fantastic it might be, he STILL chooses to see her crippled, in her recently acquired wheelchair, rather than as a whole person), and spends the rest of his life in the loony bin. Brother one, meanwhile, meets childhood sweetheart Annabelle, played extremely well by Franka Potente, also of 'Run Lola Run' (and small parts in 'The Bourne Identity' and 'The Bourne Supremeacy', as well as the lead in 'The Princess and the Warrior'). Potente is amazing here. This is obviously the kind of part she does best, because here she was believable, compelling, and wonderful. Her character also has some disease, and when she gets pregnant by bother one, she has to have an abortion and a hysterectomy. But it all turns out well in the end--- and she and brother one live happily ever after. Whew! Oh wait--- the brothers' mother is shown in flashbacks as a crazy and irresponsible slut, who is probably singlehandedly responsible for the brothers' hesitations and mental problems. The movie is not perfect. but it does get points for being innovative, and new. For me, anyway, it was a fresh and intriguing look into a believable world of some very intense people. Creepy in parts--- redemptive and inspirational in other parts. I wouldn't want to see this kind of movie every week--- but once in a while this dark and intense artsy look at things is probably good. Like eating fiber in your diet. I gave this an 8 out of 10.

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• French novel softened and moved to Germany

  gb-412006-03-05

  Elementarteilchen is Roehlers reinterpretation of Houellebecqs novel "particules elementaires". While certainly not a faithful adaption in terms of the level of hardness and nihilism (the biggest point of criticism by other reviewers and critics), i was surprised how many details and scenes of the book he got right, and i was even more surprised to see how well he was able to move the very french setting to Germany, that is, the special parallel Roehler-Germany depicted in all of his movies. Recasting the french nudist camps of the Cote d'Azur to the campsites next to the reservoirs of East Germany was really a stroke of genius that impressed me. The casting is a bit problematic: Ulmen is a former German music television clown jock, and Bleibtreu was mostly seen in stupid German comedies. In the beginning it was hard for me to get used to watch them in serious roles. Additionally my viewing experience was significantly impaired by complete morons in the audience who thought they were watching a comedy and laughed at about every line delivered (completely independent of what was said). Also, the actors taken for the main characters at young age were too different from those playing the grown ones. The young Annabelle was as beautiful as described in the book, and the grown one was just Franka Potente again, a woman who does not fit that role at all. I think Germany really needs more different actors, its just subideal to take the same 10 people (half of them television presenters) over and over again. But regardless of the poor material Roehler had to work with, he really has created a movie worth watching, IF you are ready to accept it as a commentary on Houellebecqs novel, which does accept the problems are there and cause human tragedies, but refuses to be the same extremist nihilistic whining and see no solution at all, not even a partial one. The limited luck granted to the brothers and their women in the end is quite similar to the luck granted to the lovers Robert and Marie in Roehlers earlier film "Der alte Affe Angst" of 2003. The treatment of the book reminded my a bit of Soderbergh's "Solaris" of 2002, where the setting and prevailing mood were completely changed, but details were so surprisingly accurate, that there is no doubt that the director highly respects the original text. Recommended for people with brains, a history of dysfunctional relationships and deeply-rooted European angst inside them.

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• you should try this one

  moritzbonn-12006-03-09

  only if you are able to deal with its strong topic. It's about the meaninglessness of being depressed in an unsatisfying environment built up by oneself. Two brothers Michael and Bruno grow up with different characters and backgrounds. What keeps them together is the inability to create a stable life on their own what can be predominantly deduced on a lack of mother love or interest. I don't want to go into detail or present any spoilers. Therefor check out other reviews. What I really appreciate is the surprisingly good work of all actors who do great in this movie. Especcially Christian Ulmen (who needs little words to say a lot)knows how to present Michael's character so perfectly that it's really a pleasure to watch him on the screen. I also like the development of the plot. You don't know how the characters will develop and how their story will end. Both brothers are not changing in big steps within the movie but in the end you are surprised how far they have drifted from each other. Just watch it yourself to make your own opinion but please don't expect it to be to entertaining.

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