The Elementary Particles (2006)

"In the end, there's only death." If you do not bother to read books, this is a naked centerfold of the author's fantasies and shortcomings. Michel Houellebecq's novel shine in new elements. Unusually gifted screenwriter and director, this Oskar Roehler. His innovated remake of "Jud Süss" is well worth two hours of your life. In this film you find an inflamed brilliant ensemble. Try to match this gang. Martina, Nina & Franka is almost too god to be true. And you get all the essential keys to understanding the persona of Houellebecq. Plus an overdose of sadness and grief.

I wasn't expecting much of this film, even knowing what's it about. I was surprised how cleverly it was made. The main themes of this film are sex and love. Though there was a lot of profanity, everything fit perfectly. It's not one of those films where is a lot of unnecessary profanity just to shock audience. Another good thing about this film is, that it's characters always talk openly with each other, so you get to know them in a very short time and even start to like them. Actually this is a sad story, but I found this movie being optimistic sometimes. It's well filmed and there are many good German actors in this film. There were many unexpected twist, even the ending was not like I expected. It's interesting, funny, shocking and really worth your time.

I really looked forward to this film because I've read the book of Michel Houllebecq and this book was quite an interesting piece of literature...written in a very direct and unusual way, compelling, intellectually challenging. But still...this comment is not about the book so a few words about the film: My impression was that they failed to create the typical kind of atmosphere that you experience reading one of Houllebecqs novels. the story often seemed to be an arbitrary mix of some scenes of the book...needless to say - having read the book I knew the deeper sense behind many scenes but I guess without that I would have asked myself quite often...'what has this to do with the rest of the film and why should this be of any interest??' This film never really convinced me nor caught my interest and I think the only remarkable thing about this movie was the solid acting performance of Moritz Bleibtreu in the role as "Bruno". So, all in all it is maybe a better choice for you to grab the book out of the shelf instead of wasting your time with this second-class interpretation.

(excuse me for the lousy use of the English language) A bit in a twist about this one... My experience throughout the movie was a mix of astonishment and confusion. The actors are absolutely brilliant (especially Moritz Bleibtreu and Martina Gedeck) but the story line is a bit of a mess. Must confess that I haven't read the book though, but as an "outsider" i feel as if the director wants to put as much book material as possible into a predefined certain amount of celluloid and thereby losing most of the unprepared audience. It just doesn't work. There are too many loose ends that are never tied together (SPOILER WARNING) e.g. the student that Bruno hits on, Bruno's Oedipus complex, Bruno's father who is introduced and the quickly abandoned again, Bruno's wife and daughter who completely disappears from the plot, Annabelle's ex (who is mentioned to be a serial killer). All together there are "chapters" in the movie but they are not connected well enough - it all just falls short of something great. The main theme (in my eyes) that Bruno himself pursues sexual satisfaction leading him beyond the line of sanity and his brother Michael as the ultra-virgin pursuing a life of fidelity in the name of science suffers quite a bit on this behalf.The use of humor is (to say the least) debatable - and even as confusing as the story line! You never know when to cry or laugh, for example when Bruno masturbates to his own mother and then kills a kitten - too twisted and sad to be really funny - too twisted not to be. This is a major inconsistency. When the nature of a scene is to feel pity for a character, the episode is ridiculed by a somewhat lame (and not very) funny oddity, totally killing the intimacy. This happens several times.All in all the movie is worth seeing but it is definitely the work of the actors who carry the load.