Anatomy

Rating:
Summary: "Scream" with scalpels
Review: "Anatomy" is a limp variation on the slasher flick, giving a medical twist. But most of the horrific moments are based more on body parts than on any genuine suspense, and the only really good performance is Benno Fuhrmann. Americans have seen this sort of movie a thousand times before, and it's no better in German.

Paula Henning (Franka Potente) is a promising medical student, who has won a place at the Heidelberg Medical School. But things start to go awry instantly -- after saving the life of a rocker on the train, she finds him dead at the school, awaiting dissection. She finds that his blood was artificially thickened -- meaning murder.

Soon Henning finds that it's not just one murder: The Anti-Hippocratic Society is at work at the school, an underground bunch who cold-bloodedly dissect living people -- all in the name of science. What is even worse, someone in the Society is killing not for research, but for personal hatred. Now Henning must find out the truth, or face being the next victim.

If you're a buff of shrieky horror movies, then you've probably seen the core of this movie -- contrived chills, screams, and a mysterious psycho killer. The sole new element is the close-ups of doctors dissecting living, conscious victims, and that seems to be just for the shock value. After a few minutes, the shock wears off, and we're back to the formula.

A lot of the chills are deeply contrived -- sure, medical labs and dark corridors are scary, but how many dark hospital clinics do you see? It ends up coming across as "Scream" with scalpels. There's even a scene where Potente is chased through a darkened basement by a knife-wielding baddie -- pure cliche. When it isn't formulaic, it's just silly. Dropping organs on the floor?

Franka Potente, despite being the lead, doesn't do much more than walk around looking befuddled. The deeply talented Benno Fuhrmann gives a layered, nuanced performance, and Anna Loos has a bit of fun as a sex-crazed student. The rest of the cast act more like college students on summer vacation. Not to mention do some very hammy death scenes.

It's somehow reassuring to know that Hollywood isn't the only source of really bad horror movies. At least we got "Sixth Sense." However, the flaccid, forced "Anatomy" is nothing but a collage of various American slasher flicks, and the fact that it's from Germany doesn't make it any better. A sloppy, bloody mess.

Rating:
Summary: Run Lola Run! Run for Your Life !
Review: "One Studies; Another One Is Studied." If I am allowed to translate German tugline for this movie with poor knowledge of the language, this is what you get. And in fact "Anatomy" offers some eerie feelings you might get after hearing those words like "operation" "surgery" or "scapel" that directly attack your nerves.

Franka Potente of "Run Lola Run" fame goes back to German, as an ambitious student at a prestigeous college for doctors. But one day, during the anatomy course regularly done in the study, she finds one dead body she is familiar with. OH! "I know him!" she goes for she met the dead guy on the train on the way to the college. But things don't end here because she notices there is some strange mark on his ankle. And his cause for death is, she thinks, too unnatural while her instructor wouldn't listen to her. Is she just mistaken, thinking too much about dead bodies? Or is there some conspiracy behind the body and this seemingly usual institute?

As the first product of Deutsche Columbia Tristar, new project that one of the Hollywood's major studios set up, it is not so unusual that "Anatomy" looks greatly influenced by Hollywood pictures. You can find some European characteristics here and there, like the film's insistance on dead bodies (which are not shown very much on the acreen, though) or its dry, metalic touch of anatomy room, but overall the film has little difference from American product except its language and slightly irregular development of the story. Even the loud background music sounds familiar, compared with the perfect soundtrack of German techno-pops in "Lola."

Potente, as is expected from her dynamite performance as Lola, is perfect as the heroine of this horror thriller, and the menace you find in her Lola character is totally gone with her red hair. Instead, you will find in that place a rather ordinary girl you might find in young Julia Roberts before the time of "Pretty Woman."

Basically, the premise sounds European like "The Nightwatch" or its original as far as it theme on dead bodies or morgue goes, but the result turns out more American. If you like darker, more original thriller, you might be disappointed, but I admit I was certainly entertained, and at times scared too. This is not a masterpiece of horror, indeed, but shows some scary moments in a unique way as its title suggests. For fans of genre and Franka Potente.

Rating:
Summary: available only English and Franch subtitles!!
Review: a high-quality movie. but, in contrast with spec, other languege subtitle was not available.

Rating:
Summary: heidelberg horror
Review: After living in Heidelberg Germany for ten years, I was pleased to see a horror movie come out of such a beautiful city. Franke Potente does a good job as the main character who discovers the secrets that exist in the medical college where she's been given acceptance to. Although the story is standard medical horror; it is nonetheless entertaining... certainly what types of medical research is going on. Watch this without dubbing. As with most foreign movies, it's best watched in its native tongue. Check out Franka Potente is "The Princess and the Warrior" as well... an even better movie. Viel Vergnuegnen!

Rating:
Summary: Same-Old Same-Old Horror Flick
Review: After seeing Potente and Furmann together in Tom Tykwer's riveting "Princess and the Warrior," it was a bit of a novelty to watch them slum their way through this Hollywoodish teen horror film. Unfortunately, that's no reason to see it--beyond its one or two sparsely distributed gore sequences, it doesn't offer anything very disturbing or engaging. By now I've accepted that American film-makers believe that every modern horror tale must have a mediocre college romance plot at its center, but when exactly did the Germans pick up on the habit?

Rating:
Summary: ack, dont watch while eatting....
Review: Although this is a horror, the scary live-autospy didnt take first seat here. I felt through out the entire movie that it wasnt its major theme. Im not a big fan of Potente, and never saw her other movies, but im a huge fan of medical thrillers. The "scary scenes" were done so that the audience only got to watch the poor humans face as he contorted as he was beeing cut, not much else, so this wasn't really that scary.
this felt more like one of those scary wanna be teen flicks, and the secret AAA! society wasn't talked about or shown much! This is a pretty weak movie in my opinion, although it had my mom gasping, but shes a bigger scardy kat then anyone else out there. Most of the movies was about mediacl students chasing each other with scalepels and sedatives.......

Rating:
Summary: Cuts like a knife and feels so right
Review: Anatomy has a lot of good things to offers viewers: it's a horror film featuring red-hot German actress Franka Potente of Run, Lola, Run fame, and it quite ably delivers the goods. While not as groundbreaking as Run, Lola, Run, Potente's cinematic journey into the darker side of humanity is well-plotted and beautifully shot. Still being somewhat new to foreign films, I always find it fascinating to see how a foreign director molds and shapes a story. The look and feel of Anatomy is well-nigh perfect, and only a few minor issues with the plot and characterization keep it from earning five stars in my book. If you only familiarize yourself with one German actress, Potente is definitely the number one choice; she may be young, but she is a wonderfully developed actress who, I am sure, could carry the burden of a bad movie quite far on her own. Such an effort on her part is not needed in Anatomy, though, as this movie is quite good from start to finish, even turning out to be far less predictable than I was expecting.

Franka Potente plays Paula Henning, a young doctor-to-be who earns the right to study at a highly respected medical school in Heidelberg, the very school her proud, aging grandfather taught at years ago. She wants only to study and learn, but she ends up living with a fellow student from Munich named Gretchen (Anna Loos), who is quite a character in and of herself, and taking up with a strange fellow student named Caspar (Sebastian Blomberg) . The new students get an electrifying introduction to life at Heidelberg and soon begin their studies. When a young man whose life Paula had saved just days earlier turns up in the form of a cadaver on her lab table, she begins to grow uneasy. Convinced that the lad could not have died of his specific medical condition, she does a little research of her own and finds out that the guy was shot up with a substance that turns the blood into a rubbery substance. We the audience already know what happened to the poor guy; in fact, the opening scene of the movie takes us directly to a surgeon's table where a confused patient wakes up to find doctors basically turning his abdominal contents upside down. Such a scene might be a little disturbing to some, but the gore is, sadly, kept rather to a minimum throughout the entire movie.

A three-letter marking on her friend-turned-cadaver's body leads Paula into a realm of mystery, cruelty, and inherent danger. The Anti-Hippocratic Society, supposedly banned long ago, is apparently still operating under the noble auspices of Heidelberg's respected medical school; the members of this "secret lodge" don't let ethics or even common decency get in the way of their medical research, making a habit of dissecting human beings while these subjects are still alive. It's a pretty unpleasant business. To make matters worse, there is seemingly a rogue element of the Society at work, leading to several medical students themselves being killed not for dastardly research purposes but for emotional reasons. Yes, there is a madman somewhere out there, and Paula finds herself drawn farther and farther into his dangerous web. The genuine suspense that builds up over the last half of the film is energized further when Paula makes a shocking discovery that really hits her in the emotional gut.

The prominent bad guy sort of reveals himself a little early in the game, warning our heroine to stop nosing around, but his mysterious partner remains a mystery until the final moments. Bad Guy Number One, I think, goes a little overboard in his whole cool, calm, and collected closet psychotic behavior. I think he patterns much of his character's traits and behaviors on those of Herbert West of Reanimator fame, but these two characters are working at separate ends of the whole "life and death" spectrum and this guy is certainly no Jeffrey Combs. Still, it's fun to see a mad scientist-type villain take pride in his work.

Much of the gore involved in this subject matter presented on film is implied but not actually shown; while I personally would like to have been visually saturated in blood and guts, I think the lack of gore for gore's sake lends the movie a level of integrity that many a horror film cannot claim. The whole atmosphere of the film is palpable, the suspense builds up quite nicely, the ending comes with a potential little surprise, and Franka Potente is amazing. What's not to like? I should mention that this German film is dubbed in English, and while the dubbing isn't bad it necessarily denies us a complete sense of our characters' feelings at important moments. In the final analysis, this is quality dark entertainment that should please horror buffs as well as all Franka Potente fans in general.

Rating:
Summary: Cuts like a knife and feels so right
Review: Anatomy has a lot of good things to offers viewers: it's a horror film featuring red-hot German actress Franka Potente of Run, Lola, Run fame, and it quite ably delivers the goods. While not as groundbreaking as Run, Lola, Run, Potente's cinematic journey into the darker side of humanity is well-plotted and beautifully shot. Still being somewhat new to foreign films, I always find it fascinating to see how a foreign director molds and shapes a story. The look and feel of Anatomy is well-nigh perfect, and only a few minor issues with the plot and characterization keep it from earning five stars in my book. If you only familiarize yourself with one German actress, Potente is definitely the number one choice; she may be young, but she is a wonderfully developed actress who, I am sure, could carry the burden of a bad movie quite far on her own. Such an effort on her part is not needed in Anatomy, though, as this movie is quite good from start to finish, even turning out to be far less predictable than I was expecting.

Franka Potente plays Paula Henning, a young doctor-to-be who earns the right to study at a highly respected medical school in Heidelberg, the very school her proud, aging grandfather taught at years ago. She wants only to study and learn, but she ends up living with a fellow student from Munich named Gretchen (Anna Loos), who is quite a character in and of herself, and taking up with a strange fellow student named Caspar (Sebastian Blomberg) . The new students get an electrifying introduction to life at Heidelberg and soon begin their studies. When a young man whose life Paula had saved just days earlier turns up in the form of a cadaver on her lab table, she begins to grow uneasy. Convinced that the lad could not have died of his specific medical condition, she does a little research of her own and finds out that the guy was shot up with a substance that turns the blood into a rubbery substance. We the audience already know what happened to the poor guy; in fact, the opening scene of the movie takes us directly to a surgeon's table where a confused patient wakes up to find doctors basically turning his abdominal contents upside down. Such a scene might be a little disturbing to some, but the gore is, sadly, kept rather to a minimum throughout the entire movie.

A three-letter marking on her friend-turned-cadaver's body leads Paula into a realm of mystery, cruelty, and inherent danger. The Anti-Hippocratic Society, supposedly banned long ago, is apparently still operating under the noble auspices of Heidelberg's respected medical school; the members of this "secret lodge" don't let ethics or even common decency get in the way of their medical research, making a habit of dissecting human beings while these subjects are still alive. It's a pretty unpleasant business. To make matters worse, there is seemingly a rogue element of the Society at work, leading to several medical students themselves being killed not for dastardly research purposes but for emotional reasons. Yes, there is a madman somewhere out there, and Paula finds herself drawn farther and farther into his dangerous web. The genuine suspense that builds up over the last half of the film is energized further when Paula makes a shocking discovery that really hits her in the emotional gut.

The prominent bad guy sort of reveals himself a little early in the game, warning our heroine to stop nosing around, but his mysterious partner remains a mystery until the final moments. Bad Guy Number One, I think, goes a little overboard in his whole cool, calm, and collected closet psychotic behavior. I think he patterns much of his character's traits and behaviors on those of Herbert West of Reanimator fame, but these two characters are working at separate ends of the whole "life and death" spectrum and this guy is certainly no Jeffrey Combs. Still, it's fun to see a mad scientist-type villain take pride in his work.

Much of the gore involved in this subject matter presented on film is implied but not actually shown; while I personally would like to have been visually saturated in blood and guts, I think the lack of gore for gore's sake lends the movie a level of integrity that many a horror film cannot claim. The whole atmosphere of the film is palpable, the suspense builds up quite nicely, the ending comes with a potential little surprise, and Franka Potente is amazing. What's not to like? I should mention that this German film is dubbed in English, and while the dubbing isn't bad it necessarily denies us a complete sense of our characters' feelings at important moments. In the final analysis, this is quality dark entertainment that should please horror buffs as well as all Franka Potente fans in general.

Rating:
Summary: Bound to Induce a Healthy Case of the Heebie Jeebies
Review: Egads, this movie will creep you out. It's got all the things that make a good cheesy horror flick: the somewhat believable plot with just the right number of twists, the pinch of gruesome (but not too terribly gory) gross-out stuff, and the "I'm-Not-Going-To-Take-This-Crazy-Stuff-Lying-Down" chick (who, in the case of this movie, is portrayed by actress Franka Potente) who discovers that some of the students in her med school program at Heidelberg University are doing some unauthorized experimentations and surgeries on random -- and sometimes not-so-random -- young people.

Because this is a German film, the DVD offers viewers the option of watching the film in the original language (with subtitles) as well as in dubbed over English and French. Having watched the film both ways, I can easily suggest that it's a far superior experience if you watch it with subtitles as the translation isn't precise in some areas. The DVD also includes your standard fare of extras -- nothing too exciting to write home about, though.

QUICK TAKE: $$$ Average price
. Compared to new releases ... it may seem a little steep. But considering that it is a movie less than five years old, imported from Germany, and that it includes a bevy of extras, the price is pretty fair.

VERDICT: **** For fans only!
Sometimes when people hear "foreign movie" they either make the assumption it's going to be better or far worse than their American counterparts. I'm happy to say that this movie falls into the former category. Anatomy is not going to rival American classics like Psycho, but for uber-fans of Potente and Furmann, Anatomy does offer a nice alternative to purchasing Scream or I Know What You Did Last Summer to round out your dvd collection with a little cheesy horror.

Rating:
Summary: Gothic visuals and supercharged shocks
Review: Exploiting all our worst fears about human corpses and invasive medical procedures, the German thriller "Anatomy" (Anatomie, 2000) pitches brilliant med student Franka Potente ("Run Lola Run") into a centuries-old conspiracy at Heidelberg University involving a secret fraternity of medical deviates who practice dissection on living subjects! Photographed in widescreen Super 35 by Peter von Haller ("Stalingrad"), this straight-faced shocker displays all the confidence of its US counterparts - it's actually the first entry in Columbia's newly-created European production outfit - whilst remaining true to its Germanic origins: The picture-postcard views of Heidelberg (described as 'kitsch' by debut writer-director Stefan Ruzowitzky ["All the Queen's Men"] during this DVD's audio commentary) contrasts abruptly with the specially constructed anatomy class - a silver-grey nightmare dominated by dozens of gruesome anatomical displays - where most of the film's action takes place.

Potente, a huge star in her home country, is quietly effective as the heroine who traces the central conspiracy back to its origins in the 16th century, raising the inevitable spectre of similar state-sanctioned atrocities during the Nazi era (an unavoidable detail which has nevertheless provoked criticism from various quarters, particularly in Germany). Strong support is offered by singer-actress Anna Loos (playing a sex-mad student whose encounter with the film's primary villain is genuinely scarifying), Sebastian Blomberg (the potential love-interest), and second-billed Benno Furmann ("The Princess and the Warrior"), the 'token' beefcake who emerges as a key player around the movie's halfway mark (beginning with a nerve-shredding set-piece which evokes chilling memories of the potato truck sequence in Hitchcock's "Frenzy" [1972]). In a happy turnabout from standard practices, all the nudity in the film is male-oriented, including what Ruzowitzky describes as Furmann's "famous butt shot"!! Great fun.

Aside from the aforementioned commentary, Columbia Tristar's region 1 disc - which runs 99m 15s - reproduces the film in letterbox format (2.35:1), anamorophically enhanced, and provides a number of audio options: The English language print is OK but prone to all the drawbacks associated with dubbed movies, while the optional subtitles which accompany the original (and much superior) German version may interfere with your appreciation of the widescreen visuals. Take your pick - both options are available in thunderous 5.1 or 2.0 Dolby surround. Amongst various other supplemental features, there's a couple of trailers and a surprisingly tolerable music video in which ultra-sexy Anna Loos dances around in a leather outfit, surrounded by a gang of similarly attired muscle boys. Who says modern horror movies aren't camp?...