Death Watch (1980)
La mort en direct (1980)
A Film by Bertrand Tavernier
DVD9 | VIDEO_TS | PAL 16:9 | Cover | 02:04:30 | 7,66 Gb
Audio: #1 English, #2 French - AC3 2.0 @ 192 Kbps (each) | Subs: French
Genre: Drama, Sci-fi
A Film by Bertrand Tavernier
DVD9 | VIDEO_TS | PAL 16:9 | Cover | 02:04:30 | 7,66 Gb
Audio: #1 English, #2 French - AC3 2.0 @ 192 Kbps (each) | Subs: French
Genre: Drama, Sci-fi
Director: Bertrand Tavernier
Stars: Romy Schneider, Harvey Keitel, Harry Dean Stanton
Roddy has a camera implanted in his brain. He is then hired by a television producer to film a documentary of terminally ill Katherine, without her knowledge. His footage will then be run on the popular TV series, "Death Watch"…
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Death Watch (1980)
I saw this film in May 1980, loved it, and immediately became a Harvey Keitel and Romy Schneider fan. I was shocked and saddened to read the next week in the newspaper that Romy Schneider had died suddenly. This was haunting – especially since in this film she plays a woman who is dying and just wants to be left alone. Harvey Keitel plays a reporter working for a TV station who wants to up their ratings by filming raw drama. Harvey follows her, befriends her, and secretly films her on the run as she falls sicker and falls in love with Harvey.
Death Watch (1980)
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There are wonderful twists in the plot and technology ground breakers. Harvey has a camera lens implanted in his eye but the side effect is that he can never sleep. When I saw the Truman Show, it reminded me of this film from so long ago whose treatment of the subject matter (filming someone's life who is unaware of the fact) was such a new and exciting concept. Check this film out. You will not be disappointed!IMDB Reviewer
Death Watch (1980)
Finally given the digital restoration it so thoroughly deserves (and with the personal blessing of its director), Bertrand Tavernier's immensely prescient sci-fi parable Death Watch (Le Mort en Direct, 1980) makes its way back into select cinemas this week courtesy of a Park Circus rerelease. An oft-forgotten cult masterpiece, the French filmmaker's dystopian neo-noir - shot entirely on location in Scotland - presents a dark, twisted future where reality TV is the new opiate of the masses and extreme voyeurism is king - sound familiar?
Death Watch (1980)
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In a not-too-distant future (adapted from the world of D.G. Compton's 1974 novel The Continuous Katherine Mortenhoe), Roddy (Harvey Keitel) - a cameraman who has his recording equipment implanted into his brain - is commissioned by network producer Victor (Harry Dean Stanton) to shoot the inaugural series of 'Death Watch', a new reality TV show where a terminal ill patient's arduous demise is broadcast to millions of expectant viewers. The programme's first victim is Katherine Mortenhoe (Romy Schneider) who, after initially accepting Victor's enticing cash pay-off, escapes her constraints to die alone in peace. Roddy is compelled to follow, whilst his unsuspecting subject blindly welcomes his companionship with open arms.
Death Watch (1980)
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It's often very difficult to effectively capture the essence of 'near-future' existence. We commonly see too large a jump in too short a timescale, with levitating cars and holographic supercomputers jarring against almost every other element of a film's mis-en-scene. With Death Watch, Tavernier instead focuses on one little high conceptual hook - Roddy's internal camera (created, one assumes, through nanotechnology). Through this device, the French filmmaker carefully constructs a world where natural death has become exotic and distant, social unrest is rife yet everyday (contracted protesters are referred to as 'marchers', kicking up a fuss for the highest bidder) and artistic creativity is now firmly in technology's silicone grip. Katherine herself operates a machine (named 'Harriet') that sifts through dramatic structures and devices, highlighting there previous use - "Fuck you Harriet" is her frustrated response.
Death Watch (1980)
![Death Watch (1980)]()
Like all of the best works of science fiction, Death Watch operates near-flawlessly as a biting satire on our times, highlighting humanity's own cruel obsession with suffering, manipulation and greed. Nowhere is this better encapsulated than in the Stanton's Victor, a not-altogether-unlikeable character who nevertheless is in the business of profiting from death. Tavernier also points the accusatory finger at filmmakers themselves, who after all have the capacity to misuse their camera lens to devastating effect. In one Promethean soliloquy, a repentant Roddy describes his all-seeing eye as "the toy to end all toys".
Death Watch (1980)
![Death Watch (1980)]()
Throw in some striking cinematography, capturing everything from Glasgow's industrial plants to the great Scottish wastes, as well as a sweeping score, and Death Watch sets itself apart from the chasing pack. Unlike some other sci-fi directors who could be mentioned, Tavernier manages to thread through his concerns surrounding the vanishing gap between reality and artifice, whilst at the same time producing a taught, tense cat-and-mouse thriller set in an uncanny future, both familiar and alien. If you see one sci-fi film this week, make sure it's Death Watch.
Death Watch (1980)
Special Features (in French only):
- B. Tavernier et P.W. Glenn (chef operator) talks about the film (48:46)
- Archives: On the set (36:50)
- Photo gallery
- Filmography
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