Heartbeat Detector film review
This is a review of the film Heartbeat Detector, a French film known originally as La Question Humaine, starring Mathieu Almaric - star of The Diving Bell and the Butterfly and the new Bond villain.
Heartbeat Detector is a drama about the inner workings of a German multi-national based in France. It doesn’t sound like it could get get that dark, but it certainly does and turned out to be one the most intense and harrowing films of the past few years.
I was expecting an American style thriller, in the vein of Tell No One (which is still better than most American films). This was more in keeping plot wise with Michael Haneke’s Hidden, and stylistically was reminiscent of a Bertolucci. The fact it was unexpected increased the impact of the well covered subject matter (I’m not going to spoil things by revealing the actual topic), and prompted me to think about things from a different angle.
Heartbeat Detector contains a number of surprisingly surreal sequences,which some will love and others might find more than a little confusing. It is very unclear who some of the characters are and what their role in the film is, particularly the women in the lead characters life. There a lot of scenes where I had no idea what was going on, although that seemed intentional. Dreams appeared to merge in with reality and the lines between truth and fiction became blurred, and obviously the film itself is all fiction, which made for a rather existential experience.
Two main sub themes worth touching on were running throughout the film; smoking and music.
Its unusual to see smoking in films these days, but the lead character chain smokes throughout this film with the camera often lingering on the cigarettes for quite some time. Smoking is often mentioned and discussed. Why is this so prominent?
There are also 2 almost full length musical performances in the film as well, very unusual. A traditional Flamenco song (where one man sings without accompaniment rather than the dancing type) and a live electro track performed at a rave. Both last for almost 5 minutes, and are starkly different in style. I have never seen this kind of thing in a film before.
I have no idea if these elements are supposed to be metaphors but you could certainly get some traction from wondering.
In summary you will likely either get this film or not. Nothing is explained, and if you don’t like working at your films you will likely feel alienated and deeply unsatisfied by Heartbeat Detector. If you prefer your metaphors to be a little less obvious than Hollywood’s, and are in the mood for concentration and something very unusual then this will provide a unique and memorable experience.
Heartbeat Detector Trailer
Watch Heartbeat Detector
If you’re in Brighton you can see Heartbeat Detector at the Duke of Yorks cinema until Thursday 29th May, screenings in London should be found until June.