The Elementary Particles (film)
| Atomised / The Elementary Particles | |
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Movie poster
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| Directed by | Oskar Roehler |
| Produced by |
Oliver Berben Bernd Eichinger |
| Written by |
Michel Houellebecq Oskar Roehler |
| Starring |
Moritz Bleibtreu Christian Ulmen Martina Gedeck Franka Potente Nina Hoss |
| Music by | Martin Todsharow |
| Distributed by | Momentum Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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113 minutes |
| Country | Germany |
| Language | German |
Atomised (German: Elementarteilchen – The Elementary Particles) is a 2006 German film based on the novel Les Particules élémentaires by Michel Houellebecq. The film was written and directed by Oskar Roehler and produced by Oliver Berben and Bernd Eichinger. It stars Moritz Bleibtreu as Bruno, Christian Ulmen as Michael, Martina Gedeck as Christiane, Franka Potente as Annabelle, and Nina Hoss as Jane.
The film had its premiere at the Berlin Film Festival in Germany in February 2006. In contrast to the book setting in Paris, the film was shot entirely and is mainly situated in various places in Germany. Cities and states in Germany used for filming included Thuringia and Berlin. Contrary to the book, the film does not have cultural pessimism as a main theme, and it has an alternative ending.
The film focuses on Michael (Michael Djerzinski) and Bruno and their disturbed sexuality. They are half-brothers who are very different from each other. They both had an unusual childhood because their mother was a hippie, instead growing up with their grandmothers and in boarding schools.
Michael grows up to become a molecular biologist and in doing so becomes more fascinated with genetics and separating reproduction and sexuality by cloning rather than having actual sexual relationships. He is frustrated by his current job in Berlin and decides to continue his research on cloning at an institution in Ireland. Bruno, a secondary school teacher and unsuccessful author, on the other hand, is obsessed with his own sexual desires and systematically drowns himself in failed attempts with women and nights with prostitutes. He voluntarily checks himself into a mental institution after having sexually harassed one of his students.
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