Houellebecq adaptation goes down well

Mo, 13.02.2006, Constantin Xenakis

Produced by a German company, the adaptation of the bestseller by Michel Houellebecq, «The Elementary Particles», is a hit at the Berlin Film Festival.

Financed by the producer of «The Downfall» Bernd Eichinger, the adaptation of the very controversial bestseller «The Elementary Particles» - in which Michel Houellebecq coldly analyzes the loss of power of the Western male after 1968 and the rise of feminism – was a surprise hit at the Berlin Film Festival, despite being more optimistic and less harsh than the original book. Director Oskar Roehler stated that «it was not possible to translate the books pornographic character onto the screen». Houellebecq himself did not collaborate on the movie adaptation of his book and has not commented on it.