Film Reviews

Atomised

• Rating:
• Director: Oskar Roehler
• Starring: Christian Ulmen
• Details: Germany, 105mins, 15.

Since foreign cinema has such a limited appeal here, it's sometimes hard to enjoy a film that doesn't adhere to the normal screenwriting principles of structure the way that those on the continent do. Screenwriters structure a script to give the film focus and allow the audience deliberate emotional hits during the course of the film while all principal characters and storylines are introduced and set up in the first half hour. When Bruno (Bleibtreu) meets Christiane (Gedeck) - the woman that will change his life forever - the film is already half over, so it's safe to say that Atomised does not follow said principles. It is both a success and a failure for these reasons. Based on Michael Houellebecq's controversial novel, Atomised follows the fortunes of two very different half-brothers: Michael (Ulmen) is a molecular biologist who has never slept with a woman while the sex-hungry Bruno is a school teacher on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Through flashback we learn of their difficult upbringing by their selfish hippy mother, the way puberty changed both boys and how they dealt with the aftermath. Michael returns to his hometown to visit his one and only girlfriend Annabelle (Potente) while Bruno takes off for a hippy commune with the hopes of indulging in an orgy but falls for the sexually forward Christiane. Atomised will delight those who enjoy an in-depth character study as their hopes, fears, insecurities and faults are all up on screen but those who like a point A to point B storyline will be disappointed as there is no real plot as such and characters float in and out of the film, leaving it a little lopsided as a result. Director Oskar Roehler's attention to detail is immense - from the cars and the 70s style clothes right up to the goose pimples on Potente's legs as she shares a kiss with her one true love.

Review by Gavin Burke