Directed by:
Oskar RoehlerScreenplay:
Oskar RoehlerComposer:
Martin TodsharowCast:
Moritz Bleibtreu, Christian Ulmen, Martina Gedeck, Franka Potente, Nina Hoss, Uwe Ochsenknecht, Corinna Harfouch, Tom Schilling, Thomas Drechsel (more)Plots(1)
Christian Ullmen and Moritz Bleibtreu portray, respectively, Michael and Bruno, half brothers who have each adjusted poorly to adult life, thanks in no small part to a cracked upbringing by their eccentric, social dropout mother. As the story opens, each brother experiences a personal crisis. Geneticist Michael returns to his work in cloning after an extended period away from his Irish laboratory, but suffers in quiet desperation from his intense inner loneliness; he must soon leave the lab once again and head back to his hometown, where his grandmother's corpse is being disinterred from a cemetery. Upon arrival, he reencounters Annabelle (Franka Potente), an adolescent crush to whom he was never before able to express his romantic yearnings; they consummate an intense erotic affair, and remain together, but a troubled pregnancy renders her infertile and makes family conception an utter impossibility. Meanwhile, high school teacher Bruno (a married husband and father) is driven completely around the bend by sexual yearnings for his female students, and consequently suffers from a nervous breakdown; he checks himself into a sanitarium, then heads off on a bender at a swingers' retreat with a new lover, Christiane (Martina Gedeck) - but their pleasure is all too short-lived. (official distributor synopsis)
(more)Cast
![Moritz Bleibtreu](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/168/790/168790957_jgs7rf.jpg)
Moritz Bleibtreu
West Germany
Best movies:
Knockin' on Heaven's Door (1997)
The Baader Meinhof Complex (2008)
Time You Change (2010)
![Christian Ulmen](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/168/759/168759198_e0kk95.jpg)
Christian Ulmen
West Germany
Best movies:
The Elementary Particles (2006)
Herr Lehmann (2003)
Tough Enough (2006)
![Martina Gedeck](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/168/574/168574516_y2z14s.jpg)
Martina Gedeck
West Germany
Best movies:
The Lives of Others (2006)
The Baader Meinhof Complex (2008)
Life Is All You Get (1997)
![Franka Potente](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/168/790/168790966_5kyqz5.jpg)
Franka Potente
West Germany
Best movies:
The Bourne Ultimatum (2007) - a.f.
The Bourne Supremacy (2004)
The Bourne Identity (2002)
![Nina Hoss](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/158/680/158680067_de1709.jpg)
Nina Hoss
West Germany
Best movies:
Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World (2023)
Tár (2022)
The Elementary Particles (2006)
![Uwe Ochsenknecht](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/168/853/168853822_gxbdj3.jpg)
Uwe Ochsenknecht
West Germany
Best movies:
The Boat (1981)
Ku'damm 56 (2016) (series)
Time You Change (2010)
![Corinna Harfouch](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/168/790/168790833_2d69eb.jpg)
Corinna Harfouch
East Germany
Best movies:
Dying (2024)
Knockin' on Heaven's Door (1997)
Downfall (2004)
![Tom Schilling](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/168/750/168750503_9ydxpq.jpg)
Tom Schilling
East Germany
Best movies:
Generation War (2013) (series)
The Baader Meinhof Complex (2008)
Never Look Away (2018)
Thomas Drechsel
Best movies:
Before the Fall (2004)
The Year of the First Kiss (2002)
The Elementary Particles (2006)
![Herbert Knaup](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/158/721/158721645_0d369f.jpg)
Herbert Knaup
West Germany
Best movies:
The Lives of Others (2006)
Nuremberg (2000) (TV movie)
Run Lola Run (1998)
![Michael Gwisdek](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/000/271/271766_899430.jpg)
Michael Gwisdek
German Empire
Best movies:
No Place to Go (2000)
The Baader Meinhof Complex (2008)
Herzlich willkommen (1990)
![Jasmin Tabatabai](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/168/987/168987838_9jjksb.jpg)
Jasmin Tabatabai
Iran
Best movies:
No Place to Go (2000)
The Baader Meinhof Complex (2008)
Bandits (1997)
![Ulrike Kriener](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/169/037/169037928_57e5mz.jpg)
Ulrike Kriener
West Germany
Best movies:
The Elementary Particles (2006)
Men... (1985)
Landgericht (2017) (TV movie)
Katharina Palm
East Germany
Best movies:
Do Fish Do It? (2002)
The Elementary Particles (2006)
Agnes and His Brothers (2004)
Jelena Weber
Best movies:
The Elementary Particles (2006)
Sommer (2008)
![Jennifer Ulrich](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/159/501/159501585_478fce.jpg)
Jennifer Ulrich
Best movies:
The Wave (2008)
The Elementary Particles (2006)
Diaz - Don't Clean Up This Blood (2012)
![Nina Kronjäger](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/159/415/159415768_d7e572.jpg)
Nina Kronjäger
West Germany
Best movies:
The Hippocratic Silence (2022)
Windstorm (2013)
The Elementary Particles (2006)
![Simon Böer](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/168/458/168458512_ufnvg6.jpg)
Simon Böer
West Germany
Best movies:
The Elementary Particles (2006)
Agnes and His Brothers (2004)
Polizeiruf 110 (1971) (series)
![Franziska Schlattner](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/160/262/160262302_0d1f2c.jpg)
Franziska Schlattner
Romania
Best movies:
The Elementary Particles (2006)
Crazy (2000)
Bella Germania (2019) (series)
![Thorsten Merten](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/147/172/147172485_c44e3c.jpg)
Thorsten Merten
East Germany
Best movies:
Curveball (2020)
Vom Atmen unter Wasser (2008) (TV movie)
The Elementary Particles (2006)