Review of Atomised

Introduction

Adapting a best selling novel to the big screen is a process fraught with difficulties and pitfalls. For every Jaws, there is a Captain Corelli`s Mandolin. The thing is that the printed word and the film frame are fundamentally different media. Condensing a 500-page novel to a 100-page screenplay means a fair bit has to be dispensed with. Narratives change, points of view lose relevance, internal monologue and motivation vanish. In many ways, it`s a miracle that books do make it to the big screen in any recognisable form. Even then, you aren`t going to please all the fans of the book. When adapting a children`s book like Harry Potter can have fans complaining about what`s left out, doing justice to a more complex, adult piece of fiction is treading dangerous waters. I haven`t read the original work by Michel Houellebecq that Atomised is based on, but the quality of the final film should reflect on the source material, right?

Michael and Bruno are half brothers with little in common. Their mother abandoned them both at an early age, and left them with their respective grandparents so that she could pursue a hippy lifestyle in Poona. Now, Michael is a respected geneticist, who has made pioneering strides in the field of asexual reproduction. His own love life is equally barren, he never got anywhere with childhood sweetheart Annabelle, and expressing his emotions is something he finds impossible. Bruno on the other hand suffers from quite the reverse. He is a reactionary erstwhile writer whose day job as a teacher is less than satisfactory. He stumbles through a series of unfulfilling sexual encounters, never able to connect with anyone, and he`s trapped in a cycle of depression. Yet, now that they are on the cusp of middle age, everything is about to change for them both.

Video

Atomised gets a rather splendid anamorphic transfer from Momentum. The 1.85:1 image is clear, sharp and free of any damage, defects or artefacts. There is some oversaturation of colours, but as this was confined to the flashback sequences, I`m inclined to think this was a deliberate decision on the part of the filmmakers.

Audio

You get a DD 2.0 Surround German track, which is adequate given that this is a dialogue heavy film. There is some surround presence, and the soundtrack has some nice retro pop tunes to it. The only niggle I had was with a rather noticeable layer change. In a nice move, there are optional English subtitles for the scenes with English dialogue, otherwise the subtitles are of the burnt in variety.

Features

When you put in the disc, you get some trailers for L`Enfer and Clean before the menu screen loads, both of which are skippable.

Extras with the film itself include the ubiquitous trailer, as well as a 23-minute making of. This contains the usual behind the scenes stuff, hinting at some scenes that didn`t make the final cut, as well as interviews with the cast and crew. Speaking of interviews, there is a separate section with more in-depth comments from the cast and crew. You can watch them individually, or play all of them together. The total running time is 33 minutes. There is a fair bit of repetition from the making of, but there is significant additional material here as well. The extras are presented in German with English subtitles.

Conclusion

Either the original book`s bestseller status was not based on literary merit, or Atomised has lost something in translation. Not having read the book, I don`t know for sure, but I`m inclined to suspect the latter is the case. This film really isn`t very good. It basically boils down to an examination of the sexual dysfunction of two men, as they stumble their way through life and relationships. It`s like watching a particularly morbid episode of Friends, minus the humour and added naughty bits.

Yet there is something of a fascination with these characters, regardless of how alienated and un-likeable they appear. There`s something of the grotesque about them. They are extremes of the human condition, aggressive sexuality, and timid asexuality, and there is a desire to see just how deep they sink in pursuit of their warped relationships. Unfortunately, it a superficial fascination only, the sort of interest one has at the sight of a particularly gruesome car wreck. The problem is that the film lacks depth. There is no attempt to connect with the characters, no idea of their points of view, little understanding, beyond their absurd childhoods, of why they developed this way. It`s this sort of thing that the novel is ideal for, but film has to work harder to achieve.

I found Atomised to be passably enjoyable. There are moments of bleak humour, and watching Bruno awkwardly try to connect with the opposite sex had a distinct squirm factor to it. However, it`s hardly enough to warrant recommending this film.