Anatomie (2000)

The Story: A student at an elite medical school stumbles across a secret society of medical deviates.

Paula (Franka Potente), ranked number two in the country in her chosen field of study, has received enrollment into the elite and highly selective Heidelberg Medical Academy. But her family life is less than perfect; she adores her grandfather, who was a world reknown genius in the medical field and who lies near death in a hospital room. Yet her father, who is also a physician, wants nothing to do with him and thinks his daughter is only in the medical field for the money and is disgruntled over Paula wanting to follow in her grandfather's footsteps instead of his own.

Next we find ourselves in an autopsy room where a pair of surgically masked doctors are dissecting a body. The only thing is - the guy's still alive. And conscious.

Soon, Paula and some fellow classmates, including a voluptuous blonde named Gretchen, are on a train on the way to Heidelberg. Paula practices her skills on a young man named David who has a rare, advanced heart condition when he drops from a heart attack. After saving his life, Franka, David and Gretchen become friends and share the rest of the ride together.

After orientation, wherein we're introduced to a creepy instructor named Professor Grombek, the new students all meet at a pub to share a celebratory drink. David is there as well, but he's attacked when he makes a stop in the men's room. When he comes to he finds himself on the slab as the two surgically masked doctors prep in the near distance. His anesthesia having worn off, David manages to put up a fight. But not enough of one. Imagine Paula's surprise when she pulls the white sheet back for her first class autopsy and finds David laying tits up. Goaded on by her instructor, Paula gets up the nerve to begin the autopsy, yet when she finds a pair of stab wounds she sets out to prove that David didn't die from his advanced heart condition.

Her snoopiness soon causes her to cross paths with a psychotic member of a super-secret underground medical society formed during World War II which believes in the cost of the few for the lives of the many as they perform advanced medical experiments on unsuspecting patients. This Anti-Hippocratical Society deviate has a knack for turning his victims into plasticized, dissected anatomy models to display in the class's auditorium, and now he has his eyes on the meddling Paula.

I remember a few years ago when I read about Anatomie, a German film known in the states under the Anglicized title Anatomy, in Fangoria Magazine. The write up, a small paragraph in their annual coverage of the FantAsia Film Festival, mentioned that the film tried so hard to emulate American thrillers that they wouldn't be surprised if a remake popped up with Sandra Bullock. After watching it not long after having read that article, I would agree. But that's not a bad thing - afterall, Sandra Bullock is quite the hottie.

A lot can be said for and against the influence that the "American" style of horror films have had on foreign product, but let's focus for a moment on its influence on this film. Anatomie is a slick little thriller with plenty of style and some moments of great creepiness. Performances by stars Potente and Anna Loos are excellent, though Loos does steal the show at times as the foul-mouthed, over-sexed Gretchen who, as it turns out, is the number one top scorer above Paula. But it's still undeniably American influenced; photography and camera work are slick and glossy and the cast is the prerequisite beautiful group of young actors. The soundtrack is also obviously influenced as is rife with catchy pop songs including a bit by Fatboy Slim, a group whose hits include the video where Christopher Walken danced and flew through the air.

The story is engrossing enough but moves along at almost too quick a pace. This is made evident when the killer is revealed only half way through the film, which subtracts from the amount of suspense the film potentially might have had. Also, when the killer is revealed, it's so blandly done that there's no real shock value to it.

That having been said, there are plenty of gruesome delights along the way, the most impressive being the plasticized anatomy models. So well done are they that you get the creeps just looking at them, and for an extra bit of uneasiness many of them open up like a liquor cabinet to expose the organs inside. Other juicy bits include the scenes of victims being dissected by the two surgically masked fellows. The slicing and dicing is quite realistic (and painful) looking and the aforementioned queasiness really kicks in in these scenes.

But these horrific scenes are surrounded by a clutter of less than interesting expository scenes, or scenes of Paula and Gretchen being attracted (and not attracted) to the plentiful beefcakes in their class. The mystery Paula fights to unravel is given away far too soon with no real build up. If these scenes manage to work at all it's due to Potente's performance, coupled with her unconventional yet oh so lovely "girl next door" looks. The Bourne Identity notwithstanding, Potente's got a big future. Sadly, this future is more evident in the excellent German cult flick Run, Lola, Run than it is here.

Summing up, Anatomie is an at times gruesome though ultimately de rigeur "thriller" which suffers from its own lightning fast pace and the act of ignoring its own potential. Average at best, though I'm sure fans of Potente will likely seek it out. If you do, avoid the English dubbed version - the dubbing is atrocious.