SUBTLE, gripping and devastating in its implications, Nicholas Klotz's masterful corporate thriller plays out like a dramatic reimagining of Mark Achbar and Jennifer Abbott's chilling documentary, The Corporation.
HEARTBEAT DETECTOR (12A) * * * *
DIRECTED BY: NICHOLAS KLOTZ
STARRING: MATHIEU AMALRIC, MICHAEL LONSDALE SUBTLE, gripping and devastating in its implications, Nicholas Klotz's masterful corporate thriller plays out like a dr
amatic reimagining of Mark Achbar and Jennifer Abbott's chilling documentary, The Corporation. That film psychoanalysed the behaviour of modern- day multinationals to conclude that if they were people they would be psychopaths.
Heartbeat Detector takes this a stage further by having a corporate psychologist by the name of Kessler (played by new Bond villain) gradually unravel as he delves into the murky history of the German-owned, French-based petrochemical company he works for.
Ostensibly asked to assess the mental health of the company's increasingly erratic chief executive (played by the great Michael Lonsdale), over time Kessler comes to the painful realisation that his employer's corporate ethos is uncomfortably close to the policies of the Third Reich, with his own skills – in particular his abilities to come up with criteria to make things run more efficiently by weeding out undesirables – forming a key part of their profit- motivated final solution.
Densely layered and richly symbolic, Heartbeat Detector may occasionally be difficult to read, but its enigmatic qualities only add to its power and the quiet, haunting finale will leave you reeling.
The full article contains 241 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
