Anatomie

ANATOMIE is a German horror thriller which main topic is an interesting issue: the ethic and the limits in medicine. The plot isn't very different from the typical horror flick but this specific thematic turns it a bit more interesting. In the film it's described a secret Masonic organization called A.A.A (Age Actabile Antihippocrate) - which I suppose to be fiction – that denies the Hippocrates's ideals of helping and healing. Medicine is a science, and it must be developed without caring about ethical thoughts they say. It's precisely this "implicit debate" what I found more attractive in this film and different from other flicks. I'm not telling it's completely original or brilliant, I just say it's a bit different, in good way... Apart from that it's a typical movie from the "psycho chasing victim type". It has nice suspense scenes, mainly in the last 15 minutes, but nothing outstanding... I score it 6/10.

I had never seen Franka Potente before The Bourne identity, and I fell in love with her immediately. So far, I have only been able to get my hands on one film featuring her, and it's a real winner for those that like mystery/suspense with a little gruesomeness.

No, it doesn't feature her bod, nor that of the incredibly beautiful German TV Star Anna Loos. Anna was hilarious with her "naughty" comments throughout. (As an aside, she is supposedly the lead singer of, or a member of a band called Leck mich am Arsch, which is also the name of a Mozart composition. You can have a lot of fun googling that bit of German.) She does do a song in the movie soundtrack.

She is a doctor doing some research and stumbles on an old German medical society that does autopsies on people while they are still alive, using some sort of paralyzing drug. Lots of suspense as they discover she knows who they are and come after her - sort of like Extreme Measures.

Also stars Benno Fürmann, who was in the superb Joyeux Noël, and who I am sure many will see in next year's Speed racer. Yes, it's not just Frake and Anna; there are plenty of German hunks for the ladies.

"Anatomie" is an OK movie if you have nothing better to do, but it promises a lot more than it delivers. It follows Paula, a brilliant student of anatomy and granddaughter of a famous doctor, at her new, elitist school. The gloomy atmosphere at the school is well made, and the sequence that reveals early on what is really happening there is very effective and chilling.

Unfortunately, the narrative tension goes down quite soon, and the rest of the revelations, the action scenes, etc. come along in blurts. I believe even in horror stories -or maybe especially in horror stories- there must be at least some character development, so that the viewer really relates to the victims and feels the tension, but there's none of that here; and the climatic ending suffers from the poor narrative and the unidimensional nature of characters.

"Anatomie" had potential for a lot more; it was a small disappointment.

Anatomie (Anatomy) is an entertaining and engaging film that falls short of delivering the discomfort that should be connected with the films subject matter. The idea of ethical ignorance in the medical science world is one that pushes the viewer towards discomfort, and the realism of the institutions ('Heidelberg') and the special effects make it a not-entirely easy film to watch.

However, the characters, the script, and the gloss of the film all seem too familiar with the Scream movies that repopularised this sort of genre. Sadly, then, whilst the subject is one to care about, the viewer is presented with another movie full of college student characters that we don't really get a chance to care about, unresolved subplots, and hammy stage-killings that have been reinventing themselves since the memorable Drew Barrymore opening scene in Scream several years back.

Steven Ruzowillzky makes a fair effort of the script and the direction, but pushes no boundaries other than the general theme. Whilst we are presented with an entertaining film with some reasonable performances, we are unfortunately left with the old feeling: nothing is wrong with this film, but nothing is extraordinary either.

An entertaining film, and an interesting chance to see how foreign filmmakers have been influenced by the post-scream 'horror' culture. 6 out of 10

When Medical student Paula Henning (Franka Potente, of "Run Lola Run" fame") wins a highly coveted scholarship, she's understandable enthused. But strange experiments are being done on live sedated bodies somewhere on the premises. When she recognizes a corpse as the boy she met on the train there, she decides to snoop around. What starts of as a reasonably captivating little thriller derails completely by the third act and becomes a carbon copy of any other slasher film made, which is a shame as if the film just stayed on target, it would've been something special, as the acting was good into then and the camera-work was pretty good throughout.

My Grade: C

DVD Extras: Commentary with director Stefan Ruzowitzky; 2 Deleted scenes with commentary by director Stefan Ruzowitzky; Anna Loos - My Truth (music video); 2 & a half minute Make-up featurette; barely 5 minute Making-of featurette; Talent files; Production photos; Storyboard comparisons; Dubbed Teaser & Theatrical trailers; and Trailers for "Circus" (2000) & "Run, Lola, Run"