German broadcasters Zdf and ZDFneo are partnering with Berlin-based Pyjama Pictures to develop a high-end series about notorious scam artist Ruja Ignatova, also known as the Cryptoqueen and the most wanted woman on the planet.
Tentatively titled “Take the Money and Run,” the six-part series will tell the story of Ignatova, who shot to fame in 2014 with the launch of OneCoin, which she described as a cryptocurrency for the masses that promised enormous profits.
The Bulgarian-German Ignatova hyped the cryptocurrency at huge rallies and attracted millions buyers around the globe who invested billions of euros in OneCoin, believing claims that it would become the world’s biggest digital currency. Flush with cash, Ignatova threw lavish champagne parties and acquired luxury properties around the world. It was all a giant fraud, however.
Ignatova suddenly disappeared without a trace in 2017 after defrauding investors of an estimated $15 billion in what was described as...
Tentatively titled “Take the Money and Run,” the six-part series will tell the story of Ignatova, who shot to fame in 2014 with the launch of OneCoin, which she described as a cryptocurrency for the masses that promised enormous profits.
The Bulgarian-German Ignatova hyped the cryptocurrency at huge rallies and attracted millions buyers around the globe who invested billions of euros in OneCoin, believing claims that it would become the world’s biggest digital currency. Flush with cash, Ignatova threw lavish champagne parties and acquired luxury properties around the world. It was all a giant fraud, however.
Ignatova suddenly disappeared without a trace in 2017 after defrauding investors of an estimated $15 billion in what was described as...
- 4/25/2023
- by Ed Meza
- Variety Film + TV
Germany’s ProSiebenSat.1 is bringing together its international production and distribution subsidiaries under a new imprint, Seven.One Studios.
The formation of the new unit comes at the end of a period of change, following the sale of subsidiary Red Arrow Studios’ U.S. production arm and the creation of two German production companies.
The restructure will see eight production companies — from Germany, the UK, Denmark and Israel — bundled together alongside sales arm Red Arrow Studios International.
From Germany comes Cheerio Entertainment, Flat White Productions, Pyjama Productions and Redseven Entertainment, with Cpl Productions and Vienna Blood maker Endor Productions representing the UK, July August Productions hailing from Israel and Snowman Productions Denmark.
Seven.One Entertainment Group Chief Content Officer Henrik Pabst will lead Seven.One Studios as CEO while keeping his existing title, with Alexander Pesch CFO and Martin Metzger COO.
“The demand for content is only increasing,” saiod Pabst. “This makes...
The formation of the new unit comes at the end of a period of change, following the sale of subsidiary Red Arrow Studios’ U.S. production arm and the creation of two German production companies.
The restructure will see eight production companies — from Germany, the UK, Denmark and Israel — bundled together alongside sales arm Red Arrow Studios International.
From Germany comes Cheerio Entertainment, Flat White Productions, Pyjama Productions and Redseven Entertainment, with Cpl Productions and Vienna Blood maker Endor Productions representing the UK, July August Productions hailing from Israel and Snowman Productions Denmark.
Seven.One Entertainment Group Chief Content Officer Henrik Pabst will lead Seven.One Studios as CEO while keeping his existing title, with Alexander Pesch CFO and Martin Metzger COO.
“The demand for content is only increasing,” saiod Pabst. “This makes...
- 11/9/2022
- by Jesse Whittock
- Deadline Film + TV
German media powerhouse ProSiebenSat.1 is bundling its eight production companies in Germany, the U.K., Denmark and Israel, along with its global distribution arm Red Arrow Studios International, under a newly established banner called Seven.One Studios.
The new entity will produce across all key genres for its own platforms as well as external players. In the future, ProSieben says there will be a “clear focus” within the German-speaking territories on content with young talent for the youth-skewing demographic.
The companies that will feed into Seven.One Studios include Cheerio Entertainment (Germany), Flat White Productions (Germany), Pyjama Productions (Germany), Redseven Entertainment (Germany), Cpl Productions (U.K.), Endor Productions (U.K.), July August Productions (Israel), Snowman Productions (Denmark) and Germany and U.K.-based distribution arm Red Arrow Studios International.
The realignment of ProSieben’s production and international distribution arm follows the establishment of two new production companies in Germany over...
The new entity will produce across all key genres for its own platforms as well as external players. In the future, ProSieben says there will be a “clear focus” within the German-speaking territories on content with young talent for the youth-skewing demographic.
The companies that will feed into Seven.One Studios include Cheerio Entertainment (Germany), Flat White Productions (Germany), Pyjama Productions (Germany), Redseven Entertainment (Germany), Cpl Productions (U.K.), Endor Productions (U.K.), July August Productions (Israel), Snowman Productions (Denmark) and Germany and U.K.-based distribution arm Red Arrow Studios International.
The realignment of ProSieben’s production and international distribution arm follows the establishment of two new production companies in Germany over...
- 11/9/2022
- by Manori Ravindran
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: UK film and TV outfit to be led by Vivien Muller-Rommel.
The Studio Hamburg Production Group has launched a UK production arm, which will be overseen by former BFI executive Vivien Muller-Rommel.
The German production and services centre is now looking to develop and produce a slate of English-language film and TV projects for the international market out of the UK with the former BFI executive in place as its local MD.
Muller-Rommel, a former Universal Pictures International and TWC int’l production and acquisitions assistant, spent five years at the BFI working in the Film Fund and the international department.
She will be building a team out of the company’s Soho office to produce around two features and two-three TV projects per year and will report to chairman of the Studio Hamburg management board, Michael Lehmann.
“We want to make high quality commercially viable English-language film and TV content,” Muller-Rommel told Screen...
The Studio Hamburg Production Group has launched a UK production arm, which will be overseen by former BFI executive Vivien Muller-Rommel.
The German production and services centre is now looking to develop and produce a slate of English-language film and TV projects for the international market out of the UK with the former BFI executive in place as its local MD.
Muller-Rommel, a former Universal Pictures International and TWC int’l production and acquisitions assistant, spent five years at the BFI working in the Film Fund and the international department.
She will be building a team out of the company’s Soho office to produce around two features and two-three TV projects per year and will report to chairman of the Studio Hamburg management board, Michael Lehmann.
“We want to make high quality commercially viable English-language film and TV content,” Muller-Rommel told Screen...
- 7/6/2016
- by andreas.wiseman@screendaily.com (Andreas Wiseman)
- ScreenDaily
German production group Studio Hamburg has taken a 50 percent stake in Ulmen Television and Ulmen Film, the TV and feature film shingles run by German star comedian and actor Christian Ulmen. The deal, announced Thursday, follows a similar deal Studio Hamburg did earlier this year when it took a 49 percent stake in Munich-based Amalia Film, producer of big-screen comedy hit The Break-Up Man. Ulmen is known as an ambush comedian along the lines of Sacha Baron Cohen. He has produced several successful online and TV series, including late-night talker Stuckrad-Barre and the fake
read more...
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- 9/25/2014
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Pawel Pawlikowski’s Ida scored a second top festival prize in one night, after success in London.
The international jury of the Warsaw Film Festival has awarded the City of Warsaw Grand Prix to Pawal Pawlikowski’s Ida, which won Best Film at the BFI London Film Festival on the same night.
The black-and-white film set in the 1960s, which the international jury praised for “the superb combination of script, directing, cinematography, acting and music”, also received the prize of the Ecumenical Jury in Warsaw.
Speaking to ScreenDaily after the awards ceremony, producer Ewa Puszczynska of Lodz-based Opus Film said the film will be released on 90 screens in Poland this Friday (Oct 25) by distributor Solopan Spólka.
Fandango Portobello Sales is handling international distribution, and Music Box Films are planning the North American release for the second quarter of 2014. It debuted at Toronto last month.
Puszczynska was joined on stage to receive the Grand Prix by the non-professional...
The international jury of the Warsaw Film Festival has awarded the City of Warsaw Grand Prix to Pawal Pawlikowski’s Ida, which won Best Film at the BFI London Film Festival on the same night.
The black-and-white film set in the 1960s, which the international jury praised for “the superb combination of script, directing, cinematography, acting and music”, also received the prize of the Ecumenical Jury in Warsaw.
Speaking to ScreenDaily after the awards ceremony, producer Ewa Puszczynska of Lodz-based Opus Film said the film will be released on 90 screens in Poland this Friday (Oct 25) by distributor Solopan Spólka.
Fandango Portobello Sales is handling international distribution, and Music Box Films are planning the North American release for the second quarter of 2014. It debuted at Toronto last month.
Puszczynska was joined on stage to receive the Grand Prix by the non-professional...
- 10/21/2013
- by screen.berlin@googlemail.com (Martin Blaney)
- ScreenDaily
Cologne, Germany -- The Berlin-Brandenburg film board rewarded success in its latest round of subsidy hand-outs, signing checks for new projects from star multi-hyphenate Til Schweiger and production powerhouse Widemann & Berg.
Schweiger picked up €900,000 ($1.1 million) in production subsidies for his latest feature, "kokowaa," in which he will star as a luckless screenwriter and single dad struggling to raise his eight year-old daughter (played by Schweiger's own child, Emma Tiger). Schweiger will also produce "kokowaa."
Widemann & Berg received €750,000 ($918,000) towards the sequel to their rom-com hit "Men in the City." Director Simon Verhoeven returns to helm the new film, which goes under the original title "Mannerherzen...und die ganz, ganz, grosse Liebe." Most of the stars of the orignal "Men in the City," including Christian Ulmen and Justus von Dohnanyi, will reprise their roles in the sequel. The first "Men in the City" earnd some $18 million at the local boxoffice for distributor Warner Bros.
Schweiger picked up €900,000 ($1.1 million) in production subsidies for his latest feature, "kokowaa," in which he will star as a luckless screenwriter and single dad struggling to raise his eight year-old daughter (played by Schweiger's own child, Emma Tiger). Schweiger will also produce "kokowaa."
Widemann & Berg received €750,000 ($918,000) towards the sequel to their rom-com hit "Men in the City." Director Simon Verhoeven returns to helm the new film, which goes under the original title "Mannerherzen...und die ganz, ganz, grosse Liebe." Most of the stars of the orignal "Men in the City," including Christian Ulmen and Justus von Dohnanyi, will reprise their roles in the sequel. The first "Men in the City" earnd some $18 million at the local boxoffice for distributor Warner Bros.
- 6/29/2010
- by By Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Italian comedy Kiss Me Again has triumphed at the 2010 Shanghai International Film Festival in China after winning a trio of top awards.
The sequel to The Last Kiss, directed by Gabriele Muccino, was honoured with the Golden Goblet Best Picture prize and Best Screenplay, while its star Vittoria Puccini took home the Best Actress accolade.
Chinese filmmaker Liu Jie was named Best Director for Deep in the Clouds and the film claimed the Best Music honour as well as the jury prize, which was headed by Hong Kong moviemaker John Woo.
Christian Ulmen landed the Best Actor title for his performance in Wedding Fever in Campobello, and Colin Farrell's Ondine won Christopher Doyle the Best Cinematography prize.
The nine-day festival wrapped on Sunday.
The sequel to The Last Kiss, directed by Gabriele Muccino, was honoured with the Golden Goblet Best Picture prize and Best Screenplay, while its star Vittoria Puccini took home the Best Actress accolade.
Chinese filmmaker Liu Jie was named Best Director for Deep in the Clouds and the film claimed the Best Music honour as well as the jury prize, which was headed by Hong Kong moviemaker John Woo.
Christian Ulmen landed the Best Actor title for his performance in Wedding Fever in Campobello, and Colin Farrell's Ondine won Christopher Doyle the Best Cinematography prize.
The nine-day festival wrapped on Sunday.
- 6/21/2010
- WENN
Cologne, Germany -- Sonke Wortmann's "Pope Joan" crowned Germany's boxoffice this weekend, one of seven German productions or co-productions to make the top ten.
The Constantin Film production, which stars Johanna Wokalek as a 9th century female pontiff, grossed $4.4 million in its first four days, with 370,000 admissions over 461 theaters. The German-Spanish-Italian co-production was shot in English and also stars John Goodman and David Wenham. Summit Entertainment is handling international sales.
German productions crowded out most imports. Simon Verhoeven's romantic comedy "Men In the City," came in at number three, just behind Disney animated family feature "G-Force." A Warner Bros. release, "Men" stars Christian Ulmen, Til Schweiger and Nadja Uhl and has grossed more than $10 million in its first three weeks.
Besides "G-Force," only two other Hollywood titles made the German top ten: "Up," which came in at number five in its fifth week in release and Sony's romcom "The Ugly Truth,...
The Constantin Film production, which stars Johanna Wokalek as a 9th century female pontiff, grossed $4.4 million in its first four days, with 370,000 admissions over 461 theaters. The German-Spanish-Italian co-production was shot in English and also stars John Goodman and David Wenham. Summit Entertainment is handling international sales.
German productions crowded out most imports. Simon Verhoeven's romantic comedy "Men In the City," came in at number three, just behind Disney animated family feature "G-Force." A Warner Bros. release, "Men" stars Christian Ulmen, Til Schweiger and Nadja Uhl and has grossed more than $10 million in its first three weeks.
Besides "G-Force," only two other Hollywood titles made the German top ten: "Up," which came in at number five in its fifth week in release and Sony's romcom "The Ugly Truth,...
- 10/26/2009
- by By Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
MUNICH - The government of Bavaria, Germany's biggest and wealthiest state as well as a major media center, held its annual TV awards -- the "Blue Panthers" -- on Friday in Munich.
As usual, the extensive German pubcasting system picked up on most of the awards, wrapping up nine of the 13 Panthers on offer.
But there were a few surprises. Small-time commercial channel Vox won a special prize for an episode of its travel show Voxtours about Ethiopia's Surma tribe called Journey to the Last Gladiators. And Friedemann Fromm was named best director for two different episodes of two different shows.
This year's prizes were awarded for the first time in five categories: informational broadcasts, television films, series, entertainment programs and cultural/educational offerings.
A complete list of winners follows:
Best screenplay: Daniel Speck for Meine verruckte turkische Hochzeit (My Crazy Turkish Wedding) -- ProSieben
Best informational report: Ralf Benkoe for "Ein Deutscher im All (A German in Space) -- RTL
Best camera work: Holly Fink for Die Flucht (The Escape) -- ARD, Arte
Best direction: Friedemann Fromm for Vom Ende der Eiszeit (On the End of the Ice Age) / NDR, ARD, Arte and Tatort (Crime Scene) -- BR, ARD
Best sports documentary: Manfred Oldenburg for "Das verflixte dritte Tor - Wembley '66: Die wahre Geschichte" (The Cursed Third Goal -- Wembley '66: The True Story) - ZDF
Best documentary: Juliane Schuhler for "Marcel - Ein Kampfchen, das war' schon" (Marcel - A Little Fight Would Be Nice) -- BR
Best performance in a comedy series: Cordula Stratmann for "Schillerstrasse" (Schiller Street) -- Sat.1
Best actress in a TV film: Rosemarie Fendel fur Das zweite Leben (The Second Life) -- ARD/BR
Best actor in a TV film: Friedrich von Thun for Helen, Fred und Ted -- ARD/BR/NDR
Best actress in a series: Saskia Vester for KDD - Kriminaldauerdienst (Criminal Investigations) -- ZDF
Best actor in a series: Christian Ulmen for Dr. Psycho -- ProSieben
Best upcoming actor/actress: Rosalie Thomass for her role in Polizeiruf 110 (Police Emergency 110) -- BR, ARD
Special prize: Richard Gress, Producer, Author, Director, Cameraman and Editor for "Voxtours: Reise zu den letzten Gladiatoren" (Journey to the Last Gladiators) -- Vox"...
As usual, the extensive German pubcasting system picked up on most of the awards, wrapping up nine of the 13 Panthers on offer.
But there were a few surprises. Small-time commercial channel Vox won a special prize for an episode of its travel show Voxtours about Ethiopia's Surma tribe called Journey to the Last Gladiators. And Friedemann Fromm was named best director for two different episodes of two different shows.
This year's prizes were awarded for the first time in five categories: informational broadcasts, television films, series, entertainment programs and cultural/educational offerings.
A complete list of winners follows:
Best screenplay: Daniel Speck for Meine verruckte turkische Hochzeit (My Crazy Turkish Wedding) -- ProSieben
Best informational report: Ralf Benkoe for "Ein Deutscher im All (A German in Space) -- RTL
Best camera work: Holly Fink for Die Flucht (The Escape) -- ARD, Arte
Best direction: Friedemann Fromm for Vom Ende der Eiszeit (On the End of the Ice Age) / NDR, ARD, Arte and Tatort (Crime Scene) -- BR, ARD
Best sports documentary: Manfred Oldenburg for "Das verflixte dritte Tor - Wembley '66: Die wahre Geschichte" (The Cursed Third Goal -- Wembley '66: The True Story) - ZDF
Best documentary: Juliane Schuhler for "Marcel - Ein Kampfchen, das war' schon" (Marcel - A Little Fight Would Be Nice) -- BR
Best performance in a comedy series: Cordula Stratmann for "Schillerstrasse" (Schiller Street) -- Sat.1
Best actress in a TV film: Rosemarie Fendel fur Das zweite Leben (The Second Life) -- ARD/BR
Best actor in a TV film: Friedrich von Thun for Helen, Fred und Ted -- ARD/BR/NDR
Best actress in a series: Saskia Vester for KDD - Kriminaldauerdienst (Criminal Investigations) -- ZDF
Best actor in a series: Christian Ulmen for Dr. Psycho -- ProSieben
Best upcoming actor/actress: Rosalie Thomass for her role in Polizeiruf 110 (Police Emergency 110) -- BR, ARD
Special prize: Richard Gress, Producer, Author, Director, Cameraman and Editor for "Voxtours: Reise zu den letzten Gladiatoren" (Journey to the Last Gladiators) -- Vox"...
- 5/28/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Screened at the Berlin International Film Festival
BERLIN -- Oskar Roehler has shunned a literal page-to-screen film adaptation of Michel Houellebecq's controversial 1998 novel "The Elementary Particles". Instead, using characters and story lines from the French writer's book, the German filmmaker follows two half brothers as they struggle with horrific intimacy issues in an often compelling though uneven tale of fate, fortune and self-destruction. Elements of the characters' sexuality, which scandalized some readers, have been retained but in a toned-down form, so the film stays sharply focused on character.
Nevertheless, these characters prove elusive, slippery sorts, who are tormented by demons that seem a little too convenient. Featuring a starry German cast that includes Martina Gedeck ("Mostly Martha") and Moritz Bleibtreu and Franka Potente from "Run Lola Run", "Particles" should do well in European cinemas. The film also could attract a U.S. distributor for an art house release.
"Particles" introduces the two brothers as each hits a crossroads in his life. While they share the same mother, their differences are extreme. Michael (baby-faced Christian Ulmen), an introverted molecular biologist, cuts himself off emotionally from people. He has just quit a prestigious job to return to his beloved research, perhaps even taking up a project involving asexual reproduction -- the symbolism isn't too heavy, is it? -- that he abandoned three years earlier.
Bruno (Bleibtreu), a high school literature teacher with an unfortunate eye for coeds, has seen his life fall apart. Sexual fantasies have destroyed his marriage, depriving him of a chance at fatherhood, and his own writing is too racist and reactionary for even a sympathetic publisher to touch.
Flashbacks in a deeply saturated imitation of Technicolor fill in the details of the brothers' pasts: a terrible, selfish mother (Nina Hoss) who abandoned them to be raised by different grandparents so she could pursue a hedonistic lifestyle; their meeting as teens, neither being aware of the other's existence until that moment; and Michael's childhood friend, Annabelle, who has loved him since they were 5 yet could never induce Michael to touch her.
Bruno's mental breakdown, after exposing himself to a female student, allows a shrink (Corinna Harfouch) to explore this Freudian minefield further. But even here a viewer grows wary: Surely, a bad mother can't explain and excuse all the sexual frustration and psychological damage. It's too pat and easy, and doesn't allow these grown men to take responsibility for their own lives.
The need to relocate his grandmother's grave brings Michael Back to his hometown and to a surprising face-to-face encounter with Annabelle (Potente) after two decades. Later, over dinner at her Berlin flat, she seduces him, which turns out to be the first time he has slept with a woman.
Released from a psychiatric clinic, Bruno takes off for a nudist camp, where even free love eludes him as the aging feminists scorn his nervous sensitivity and crude machismo. Then he connects, in a hot tub, with Christiane (Gedeck), a lovely woman whose own neuroses and bad relationships equal his. They fall in love and into a lifestyle of swingers' clubs and partner-swapping in which both thrive.
The schematic plotlines insist that both women fall seriously ill so we can see how the brothers handle each situation. It's pretty predictable since the authors -- the tag team of Houellebecq to Roehler -- display a heavy hand. Indeed, these characters suffer less from a bad mother than the authors' preordained approach to their lives.
Roehler's direction is erratic. He sustains superb performances from actors, especially Bleibtreu as the emotional wreck who evokes sympathy and Gedeck, who makes us understand the amount of neediness and vulnerability that goes into a passion for group sex. But then Roehler allows melodrama to intrude, almost crudely so, as his directorial hand proves even heavier than his literary one. He overreaches the greatest at the conclusion of the ill-fated Bruno-Christiane relationship.
Technical credits on this Bernd Eichinger/Oliver Berben production are excellent, including Carl-Friedrich Koschnick's inventive cinematography, Manfred Banach's lively score and Ingrid Henn's sets that speak volumes about the characters' lives. n
THE ELEMENTARY PARTICLES
Constantin Film presents a Bernd Eichinger/Constantin Film production in association with MOOVIE -- the art of entertainment
Credits:
Screenwriter-director: Oskar Roehler
Based on the novel by: Michel Houellebecq
Producers: Bernd Eichinger, Oliver Berben
Director of photography: Carl-Friedrich Koschnick
Production designer: Ingrid Henn
Composer: Manfred Banach
Costume designer: Esther Walz
Editor: Peter R. Adam. Cast: Bruno: Moritz Bleibtreu
Michael: Christian Ulmen
Christiane: Martina Gedeck
Annabelle: Franka Potente
Jane: Nina Hoss
Bruno's father: Uwe Ochsenknecht
Dr. Schafer: Corinna Harfouch
No MPAA rating
Running time -- 111 minutes...
BERLIN -- Oskar Roehler has shunned a literal page-to-screen film adaptation of Michel Houellebecq's controversial 1998 novel "The Elementary Particles". Instead, using characters and story lines from the French writer's book, the German filmmaker follows two half brothers as they struggle with horrific intimacy issues in an often compelling though uneven tale of fate, fortune and self-destruction. Elements of the characters' sexuality, which scandalized some readers, have been retained but in a toned-down form, so the film stays sharply focused on character.
Nevertheless, these characters prove elusive, slippery sorts, who are tormented by demons that seem a little too convenient. Featuring a starry German cast that includes Martina Gedeck ("Mostly Martha") and Moritz Bleibtreu and Franka Potente from "Run Lola Run", "Particles" should do well in European cinemas. The film also could attract a U.S. distributor for an art house release.
"Particles" introduces the two brothers as each hits a crossroads in his life. While they share the same mother, their differences are extreme. Michael (baby-faced Christian Ulmen), an introverted molecular biologist, cuts himself off emotionally from people. He has just quit a prestigious job to return to his beloved research, perhaps even taking up a project involving asexual reproduction -- the symbolism isn't too heavy, is it? -- that he abandoned three years earlier.
Bruno (Bleibtreu), a high school literature teacher with an unfortunate eye for coeds, has seen his life fall apart. Sexual fantasies have destroyed his marriage, depriving him of a chance at fatherhood, and his own writing is too racist and reactionary for even a sympathetic publisher to touch.
Flashbacks in a deeply saturated imitation of Technicolor fill in the details of the brothers' pasts: a terrible, selfish mother (Nina Hoss) who abandoned them to be raised by different grandparents so she could pursue a hedonistic lifestyle; their meeting as teens, neither being aware of the other's existence until that moment; and Michael's childhood friend, Annabelle, who has loved him since they were 5 yet could never induce Michael to touch her.
Bruno's mental breakdown, after exposing himself to a female student, allows a shrink (Corinna Harfouch) to explore this Freudian minefield further. But even here a viewer grows wary: Surely, a bad mother can't explain and excuse all the sexual frustration and psychological damage. It's too pat and easy, and doesn't allow these grown men to take responsibility for their own lives.
The need to relocate his grandmother's grave brings Michael Back to his hometown and to a surprising face-to-face encounter with Annabelle (Potente) after two decades. Later, over dinner at her Berlin flat, she seduces him, which turns out to be the first time he has slept with a woman.
Released from a psychiatric clinic, Bruno takes off for a nudist camp, where even free love eludes him as the aging feminists scorn his nervous sensitivity and crude machismo. Then he connects, in a hot tub, with Christiane (Gedeck), a lovely woman whose own neuroses and bad relationships equal his. They fall in love and into a lifestyle of swingers' clubs and partner-swapping in which both thrive.
The schematic plotlines insist that both women fall seriously ill so we can see how the brothers handle each situation. It's pretty predictable since the authors -- the tag team of Houellebecq to Roehler -- display a heavy hand. Indeed, these characters suffer less from a bad mother than the authors' preordained approach to their lives.
Roehler's direction is erratic. He sustains superb performances from actors, especially Bleibtreu as the emotional wreck who evokes sympathy and Gedeck, who makes us understand the amount of neediness and vulnerability that goes into a passion for group sex. But then Roehler allows melodrama to intrude, almost crudely so, as his directorial hand proves even heavier than his literary one. He overreaches the greatest at the conclusion of the ill-fated Bruno-Christiane relationship.
Technical credits on this Bernd Eichinger/Oliver Berben production are excellent, including Carl-Friedrich Koschnick's inventive cinematography, Manfred Banach's lively score and Ingrid Henn's sets that speak volumes about the characters' lives. n
THE ELEMENTARY PARTICLES
Constantin Film presents a Bernd Eichinger/Constantin Film production in association with MOOVIE -- the art of entertainment
Credits:
Screenwriter-director: Oskar Roehler
Based on the novel by: Michel Houellebecq
Producers: Bernd Eichinger, Oliver Berben
Director of photography: Carl-Friedrich Koschnick
Production designer: Ingrid Henn
Composer: Manfred Banach
Costume designer: Esther Walz
Editor: Peter R. Adam. Cast: Bruno: Moritz Bleibtreu
Michael: Christian Ulmen
Christiane: Martina Gedeck
Annabelle: Franka Potente
Jane: Nina Hoss
Bruno's father: Uwe Ochsenknecht
Dr. Schafer: Corinna Harfouch
No MPAA rating
Running time -- 111 minutes...
- 2/13/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Screened at the Berlin International Film Festival
BERLIN -- Oskar Roehler has shunned a literal page-to-screen film adaptation of Michel Houellebecq's controversial 1998 novel, "The Elementary Particles". Instead, using characters and story lines from the French writer's book, the German filmmaker follows two half-brothers as they struggle with horrific intimacy issues in an often-compelling though uneven tale of fate, fortune and self-destruction. Elements of the characters' sexuality, which scandalized some readers, have been retained but in a toned-down form so the film stays sharply focused on character. Nevertheless, these characters prove elusive, slippery sorts, who are tormented by demons that seem a little too convenient.
Featuring a starry German cast that includes Martina Gedeck ("Mostly Martha") and Moritz Bleibtreu and Franka Potente from "Run Lola Run", "The Elementary Particles" should do well in European cinemas. The film could also attract a U.S. distributor for an art-house release.
"Particles" introduces the two brothers as each hits a crossroad in his life. While they share the same mother, their differences are extreme. Michael (baby-faced Christian Ulmen), an introverted molecular biologist, cuts himself off emotionally from people. He has just quit a prestigious job to return to his beloved research, perhaps even taking up a project involving asexual reproduction -- the symbolism isn't too heavy, is it? -- which he abandoned three years earlier.
Bruno (Bliebtreu), a high school literature teacher with an unfortunate eye for coeds, has seen his life fall apart. Sexual fantasies have destroyed his marriage, depriving him of a chance at fatherhood, and his own writing is too racist and reactionary for even a sympathetic publisher to touch.
Flashbacks in a deeply saturated imitation of Technicolor fill in the details of the brothers' pasts: a terrible, selfish mother (Nina Hoss), who abandoned them to be raised by different grandparents so she could pursue a hedonistic lifestyle; their meeting as teens, neither being aware of the other's existence until that moment; and Michael's childhood friend Annabelle, who has loved him since they were 5 yet could never induce Michael to touch her.
Bruno's mental breakdown, after exposing himself to a female student, allows a shrink (Corrinna Harfouch) to explore this Freudian minefield further. But even here a viewer grows wary: Surely, a bad mother can't explain/excuse all the sexual frustration and psychological damage. It's too pat and easy, and doesn't allow these grown men to take responsibility for their own lives.
The need to relocate his grandmother's grave brings Michael Back to his hometown and to a surprising face-to-face encounter with Annabelle (Potente) after two decades. Later, over dinner at her Berlin flat, she seduces him, which turns out to be the first time he has slept with a woman.
Released from a psychiatric clinic, Bruno takes off for a nudist camp, where even free love eludes him as the aging feminists scorn his nervous sensitivity and crude machismo. Then he connects, in a hot tub, with Christiane (Gedeck), a lovely woman whose own neuroses and bad relationships equal his. They fall in love and into a lifestyle of swingers' clubs and partner swapping in which both thrive.
The schematic plotlines insist that both women fall seriously ill so we can see how the brothers handle each situation. It's pretty predictable since the authors -- the tag team of Houellebecq to Roehler -- display a heavy hand. Indeed these characters suffer less from a bad mother than the authors' preordained approach to their lives.
Roehler's direction is erratic. He sustains superb performances from actors, especially Bleibtreu as the emotional wreck who evokes sympathy and Gedeck, who makes us understand the amount of neediness and vulnerability that goes into a passion for group sex. But then Roehler allows melodrama to intrude, almost crudely so, as his directorial hand proves even heavier than his literary one. He overreaches the greatest at the conclusion of the ill-fated Bruno-Christiane relationship.
Technical credits on this Bernd Eichinger/Oliver Berben production are excellent including Carl-Friedrich Koschnick's inventive cinematography, Manfred Banach's lively score and Ingrid Henn's sets that speak volumes about the characters' lives.
THE ELEMENTARY PARTICLES
Constantin Film presents a Bernd Eichinger/Constantin Film production in association with MOOVIE – the art of entertainment
Credits: Writer/director: Oskar Roehler; Based on the novel by: Michel Houellebecq; Producers: Bernd Eichinger, Oliver Berben; Director of photography: Carl-Friedrich Koschnick; Production designer: Ingrid Henn; Music: Manfred Banach; Costumes: Esther Walz; Editor: Peter R. Adam.
Cast: Bruno: Moritz Bliebtreu; Michael: Christian Ulmen; Christiane: Martina Gedeck; Annabelle: Franka Potente; Jane: Nina Hoss; Bruno's father: Uwe Ochsenknecht; Dr. Schafer: Corinna Harfouch.
No MPAA rating, running time 111 minutes.
BERLIN -- Oskar Roehler has shunned a literal page-to-screen film adaptation of Michel Houellebecq's controversial 1998 novel, "The Elementary Particles". Instead, using characters and story lines from the French writer's book, the German filmmaker follows two half-brothers as they struggle with horrific intimacy issues in an often-compelling though uneven tale of fate, fortune and self-destruction. Elements of the characters' sexuality, which scandalized some readers, have been retained but in a toned-down form so the film stays sharply focused on character. Nevertheless, these characters prove elusive, slippery sorts, who are tormented by demons that seem a little too convenient.
Featuring a starry German cast that includes Martina Gedeck ("Mostly Martha") and Moritz Bleibtreu and Franka Potente from "Run Lola Run", "The Elementary Particles" should do well in European cinemas. The film could also attract a U.S. distributor for an art-house release.
"Particles" introduces the two brothers as each hits a crossroad in his life. While they share the same mother, their differences are extreme. Michael (baby-faced Christian Ulmen), an introverted molecular biologist, cuts himself off emotionally from people. He has just quit a prestigious job to return to his beloved research, perhaps even taking up a project involving asexual reproduction -- the symbolism isn't too heavy, is it? -- which he abandoned three years earlier.
Bruno (Bliebtreu), a high school literature teacher with an unfortunate eye for coeds, has seen his life fall apart. Sexual fantasies have destroyed his marriage, depriving him of a chance at fatherhood, and his own writing is too racist and reactionary for even a sympathetic publisher to touch.
Flashbacks in a deeply saturated imitation of Technicolor fill in the details of the brothers' pasts: a terrible, selfish mother (Nina Hoss), who abandoned them to be raised by different grandparents so she could pursue a hedonistic lifestyle; their meeting as teens, neither being aware of the other's existence until that moment; and Michael's childhood friend Annabelle, who has loved him since they were 5 yet could never induce Michael to touch her.
Bruno's mental breakdown, after exposing himself to a female student, allows a shrink (Corrinna Harfouch) to explore this Freudian minefield further. But even here a viewer grows wary: Surely, a bad mother can't explain/excuse all the sexual frustration and psychological damage. It's too pat and easy, and doesn't allow these grown men to take responsibility for their own lives.
The need to relocate his grandmother's grave brings Michael Back to his hometown and to a surprising face-to-face encounter with Annabelle (Potente) after two decades. Later, over dinner at her Berlin flat, she seduces him, which turns out to be the first time he has slept with a woman.
Released from a psychiatric clinic, Bruno takes off for a nudist camp, where even free love eludes him as the aging feminists scorn his nervous sensitivity and crude machismo. Then he connects, in a hot tub, with Christiane (Gedeck), a lovely woman whose own neuroses and bad relationships equal his. They fall in love and into a lifestyle of swingers' clubs and partner swapping in which both thrive.
The schematic plotlines insist that both women fall seriously ill so we can see how the brothers handle each situation. It's pretty predictable since the authors -- the tag team of Houellebecq to Roehler -- display a heavy hand. Indeed these characters suffer less from a bad mother than the authors' preordained approach to their lives.
Roehler's direction is erratic. He sustains superb performances from actors, especially Bleibtreu as the emotional wreck who evokes sympathy and Gedeck, who makes us understand the amount of neediness and vulnerability that goes into a passion for group sex. But then Roehler allows melodrama to intrude, almost crudely so, as his directorial hand proves even heavier than his literary one. He overreaches the greatest at the conclusion of the ill-fated Bruno-Christiane relationship.
Technical credits on this Bernd Eichinger/Oliver Berben production are excellent including Carl-Friedrich Koschnick's inventive cinematography, Manfred Banach's lively score and Ingrid Henn's sets that speak volumes about the characters' lives.
THE ELEMENTARY PARTICLES
Constantin Film presents a Bernd Eichinger/Constantin Film production in association with MOOVIE – the art of entertainment
Credits: Writer/director: Oskar Roehler; Based on the novel by: Michel Houellebecq; Producers: Bernd Eichinger, Oliver Berben; Director of photography: Carl-Friedrich Koschnick; Production designer: Ingrid Henn; Music: Manfred Banach; Costumes: Esther Walz; Editor: Peter R. Adam.
Cast: Bruno: Moritz Bliebtreu; Michael: Christian Ulmen; Christiane: Martina Gedeck; Annabelle: Franka Potente; Jane: Nina Hoss; Bruno's father: Uwe Ochsenknecht; Dr. Schafer: Corinna Harfouch.
No MPAA rating, running time 111 minutes.
- 2/12/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
COLOGNE, Germany -- Doris Doerrie's The Fisherman and His Wife: Why Women Never Get Enough will open the 13th Hamburg International Film Festival on Sept. 22, organizers announced Tuesday. The relationship comedy is loosely based on the Brothers Grimm fairy tale about a fisherman who catches a wish-granting fish only to find that, despite providing untold wealth and luxury, his demanding wife is never satisfied. In Doerrie's retelling, rising star Christian Ulmen (Berlin Blues) plays Otto, a fish doctor who travels to Japan to buy rare Koi carp for wealthy fish collectors. There he falls in love with fashion designer Ida, played by Downfall star Alexandra Maria Lara. Later in Germany, Ida's career takes off while Otto stays at home to raise their young child. But the more Otto gives up for his wife, the less she respects him. The Hamburg screening will serve as the European premiere of Fisherman, which debuted at the Montreal Film Festival. The festival runs Sept. 22-29.
- 8/16/2005
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
COLOGNE, Germany -- MTV Germany veejay Christian Ulmen has been cast to star in the title role of Leander Haussmann's upcoming comedy Herr Lehmann, the film's producers, Boje Buck Produktion and Pandora Filmproduktion, said Tuesday. The film is Haussmann's first project since the surprise success of his debut feature, Sun Alley, also from Boje Buck. Alley was one of the top-grossing German films of 1999. Ulmen will play the titular Lehmann, a 30-year-old bartender in West Berlin in 1989, before the fall of the Berlin Wall. Boje Buck co-head Detlev Buck, who co-scripted and starred in Sun Alley, will play Lehmann's best friend, Karl. Katja Danowski will star as love interest Katrin.
- 10/2/2002
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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