Anatomy (film)
Encyclopedia
Anatomy is a 2000 German
horror film
written and directed by Stefan Ruzowitzky
that stars Franka Potente
. A sequel, Anatomy 2
(Anatomie 2) was released in 2003. The film enjoyed a huge box office success in Germany, and Columbia Pictures
released the film's English-dubbed
version in the United States
theatrically.
) wins a place in a summer course at the prestigious University of Heidelberg Medical School. Her grandfather had a great name there before retiring, including being the discoverer of a useful drug, Promidal. They are tutored by Professor Grombek, who announces the hard work ahead. He also tells them that he will be using the elimination system, where the six lower grades will be periodically discarded. During one of their courses on anatomy, the body of David, a young man that Paula met and helped on the train trip, turns up on her dissection table. She is then humiliated by Professor Grombek, who dares her to cut and dissect the heart. She remarks that the body presents strange cuts, but this is dismissed as bad handling by the morgue caretaker. She decides to investigate the mysterious circumstances surrounding his death. When she goes to cut a sample for an independent test she is amazed to find a triple "A" mark near David's ankle. She is then startled by the medical school's mortuary preparetor, who wants to know if Professor Grombek is aware of her acts.
Following her investigations, she begins to connect the facts with an ancient group, known as the Anti-Hippocratic Society –a secretive society of medical investigators that is not ethically-restrained. They perform gruesome experiments using living persons, especially when they consider those persons useless. Paula also comes across research about the rituals that they perform on transgressors of their rules, or those that inquire too much.
Meanwhile, the relationship between Hein and Gretchen becomes strained, and Gretchen begins to go out with another man. This greatly affects Hein.
One night, Paula is sitting on her bed when she feels wetness. Shocked, she discovers that the bed has been soaked in blood, and tapers had been left under it, a sign of warning from the Society. She then attacks a figure that enters her room, but the figure is revealed to be Hein, who is desperate for Gretchen and wants someone to talk to. At that time, Casper, Paula's romantic interest, enters and is furious that she is not alone. Hein leaves, apparently more at peace.
Gretchen and her new boyfriend go to the city for a dinner, and return to the dorms for a romantic encounter. Hein kills Gretchen's lover in a jealous rage, while they are preparing to have sex in one of the morgue halls. He then injects Gretchen with a poison and taunts her as she is dying, telling her that he will preserve her body. He drags her body into the corpse room, and hides it in a plate, removing the head to prevent identification. He is so absorbed in the labor that he falls asleep without having dispatched the other body.
The next day Paula confronts Hein about her findings on the society but he only menaces her, saying that it's dangerous to know too much. Then Grombek reveals that her grandfather was a member, and the drug he developed was made based on his work on Nazi Concentration Camp prisoners. She flees to the hospital where her grandfather is, but is told he died.
At the assembly of the society, Hein is unrepentant for the deaths, saying that his previous work as a preserver has been more than outstanding. Defiantly, he accepts the customary punishment that the Society inflicts on transgressors, and slashes himself three times in the face. Grombek says that a passion-driven homicide is not what the Society strives for, takes the responsibility on himself for those misgivings, and leaves to call the authorities to take Hein into custody.
Later, while Paula destroys the diplomas granted to her grandfather, the crazed Hein kills Grombek in his house. Paula gets back to the school, but is trapped by Hein and his accomplice. While they are preparing her for preservation, her bindings are partially cut by Casper who is then trapped by Hein and Phil. Paula escapes, poisoning one of her captors, and runs away until Hein strikes a high voltage cable and dies. Casper and Paula then escape together and the credits roll.
Half way through the end credits, there is a sequence shown where two of Paula's college mates are discussing how Hein was brilliant in his work in dissection and preservation, how Professor Grombak is going to be substituted soon, and how in their respective practices they will keep a low profile while experimenting for the Anti-Hippocratic Society.
s during World War II
.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
horror film
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
written and directed by Stefan Ruzowitzky
Stefan Ruzowitzky
Stefan Ruzowitzky is an Academy Award-winning Austrian film director and screenwriter.-Early life:Ruzowitzky was born in Vienna...
that stars Franka Potente
Franka Potente
Franka Potente is a German film actress and singer. She first appeared in the comedy After Five in the Forest Primeval and gained critical recognition in the action thriller Lola rennt . Potente received Germany's highest film and television awards for her performances in Run Lola Run and...
. A sequel, Anatomy 2
Anatomy 2
Anatomy 2 is a 2003 German thriller film written and directed by Stefan Ruzowitzky that stars Franka Potente. It's the sequel to the 2000 film Anatomy...
(Anatomie 2) was released in 2003. The film enjoyed a huge box office success in Germany, and Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
released the film's English-dubbed
Dubbing (filmmaking)
Dubbing is the post-production process of recording and replacing voices on a motion picture or television soundtrack subsequent to the original shooting. The term most commonly refers to the substitution of the voices of the actors shown on the screen by those of different performers, who may be...
version in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
theatrically.
Synopsis
Medical student Paula Henning (Franka PotenteFranka Potente
Franka Potente is a German film actress and singer. She first appeared in the comedy After Five in the Forest Primeval and gained critical recognition in the action thriller Lola rennt . Potente received Germany's highest film and television awards for her performances in Run Lola Run and...
) wins a place in a summer course at the prestigious University of Heidelberg Medical School. Her grandfather had a great name there before retiring, including being the discoverer of a useful drug, Promidal. They are tutored by Professor Grombek, who announces the hard work ahead. He also tells them that he will be using the elimination system, where the six lower grades will be periodically discarded. During one of their courses on anatomy, the body of David, a young man that Paula met and helped on the train trip, turns up on her dissection table. She is then humiliated by Professor Grombek, who dares her to cut and dissect the heart. She remarks that the body presents strange cuts, but this is dismissed as bad handling by the morgue caretaker. She decides to investigate the mysterious circumstances surrounding his death. When she goes to cut a sample for an independent test she is amazed to find a triple "A" mark near David's ankle. She is then startled by the medical school's mortuary preparetor, who wants to know if Professor Grombek is aware of her acts.
Following her investigations, she begins to connect the facts with an ancient group, known as the Anti-Hippocratic Society –a secretive society of medical investigators that is not ethically-restrained. They perform gruesome experiments using living persons, especially when they consider those persons useless. Paula also comes across research about the rituals that they perform on transgressors of their rules, or those that inquire too much.
Meanwhile, the relationship between Hein and Gretchen becomes strained, and Gretchen begins to go out with another man. This greatly affects Hein.
One night, Paula is sitting on her bed when she feels wetness. Shocked, she discovers that the bed has been soaked in blood, and tapers had been left under it, a sign of warning from the Society. She then attacks a figure that enters her room, but the figure is revealed to be Hein, who is desperate for Gretchen and wants someone to talk to. At that time, Casper, Paula's romantic interest, enters and is furious that she is not alone. Hein leaves, apparently more at peace.
Gretchen and her new boyfriend go to the city for a dinner, and return to the dorms for a romantic encounter. Hein kills Gretchen's lover in a jealous rage, while they are preparing to have sex in one of the morgue halls. He then injects Gretchen with a poison and taunts her as she is dying, telling her that he will preserve her body. He drags her body into the corpse room, and hides it in a plate, removing the head to prevent identification. He is so absorbed in the labor that he falls asleep without having dispatched the other body.
The next day Paula confronts Hein about her findings on the society but he only menaces her, saying that it's dangerous to know too much. Then Grombek reveals that her grandfather was a member, and the drug he developed was made based on his work on Nazi Concentration Camp prisoners. She flees to the hospital where her grandfather is, but is told he died.
At the assembly of the society, Hein is unrepentant for the deaths, saying that his previous work as a preserver has been more than outstanding. Defiantly, he accepts the customary punishment that the Society inflicts on transgressors, and slashes himself three times in the face. Grombek says that a passion-driven homicide is not what the Society strives for, takes the responsibility on himself for those misgivings, and leaves to call the authorities to take Hein into custody.
Later, while Paula destroys the diplomas granted to her grandfather, the crazed Hein kills Grombek in his house. Paula gets back to the school, but is trapped by Hein and his accomplice. While they are preparing her for preservation, her bindings are partially cut by Casper who is then trapped by Hein and Phil. Paula escapes, poisoning one of her captors, and runs away until Hein strikes a high voltage cable and dies. Casper and Paula then escape together and the credits roll.
Half way through the end credits, there is a sequence shown where two of Paula's college mates are discussing how Hein was brilliant in his work in dissection and preservation, how Professor Grombak is going to be substituted soon, and how in their respective practices they will keep a low profile while experimenting for the Anti-Hippocratic Society.
Note
The film briefly mentions that the Antihippocratics were involved with the Nazi human experimentationNazi human experimentation
Nazi human experimentation was a series of medical experiments on large numbers of prisoners by the Nazi German regime in its concentration camps mainly in the early 1940s, during World War II and the Holocaust. Prisoners were coerced into participating: they did not willingly volunteer and there...
s during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
Cast
- Franka PotenteFranka PotenteFranka Potente is a German film actress and singer. She first appeared in the comedy After Five in the Forest Primeval and gained critical recognition in the action thriller Lola rennt . Potente received Germany's highest film and television awards for her performances in Run Lola Run and...
as Paula Henning - Benno FürmannBenno FürmannBenjamin "Benno" Fürmann is a German film and television actor.-Life and work:Fürmann was born in Berlin-Kreuzberg. By the age of 15 he had lost both his parents. At 17, he had a serious accident while train surfing, and had to spend six weeks in the hospital as a result...
as Hein - Rüdiger VoglerRüdiger VoglerRüdiger Vogler is a German film and stage actor.-Biography:Rüdiger Vogler attended acting school in Heidelberg from 1963 to 1965...
as Dr. Henning - Anna Loos as Gretchen
- Oliver Wnuk as Ludwig
- Arndt Schwering-Sohnrey as David
- Sebastian Blomberg as Caspar
- Holger Speckhahn as Phil
- Traugott BuhreTraugott BuhreTraugott Buhre was a German actor.Buhre was born at Insterburg, East Prussia, Germany the son of a Lutheran Pastor. His parents divorced in his childhood and after World War II he started his actor's education at the stage school of Hanover.Buhre appeared at the Frankonian Theater of Wetzhausen...
as Prof. Grombek - Gennadi Vengerov as the Preparateur