S.L.I.F.F. Review: ‘The Heartbeat Detector’

Jeremy:

Nicolas Klotz’s new film, ‘The Heartbeat Detector’ (or ‘La Question humain’/’The Human Question’ as it is know in France), is a quasi-thriller about the dishonesty and immorality surrounding the corporate world.   In a sense, it is much along the same lines as ‘Michael Clayton’ only there are no car explosions, no hitmen rubbing people out, and no implausible, Hollywood ending to spoil what has come before.   In a nutshell, it’s considered a thriller, but there is very little intensity to be found here.   That’s not necessarily a bad thing.

Mathie Amalric (‘The Diving Bell and the Butterfly’ and ‘Quantum of Solace’) stars as Simon Kessler, a company psychologist who is asked to look into the eccentric activities of the company’s CEO, played by Michael Lonsdale (‘Moonraker’ and ‘Ronin’).   During his investigation, Kessler uncovers much history pertaining to the CEO and to the company, some of which begins to unravel Kessler’s own sense of being.

‘The Heartbeat Detector’ is a film that forces you to pay very close attention to what it is saying.   The way Klotz composes each scene and the way each character speaks and acts is all working towards the film’s final moments.   In those moments, the whole of the film is wrapped up in an understanding.   It becomes more of a philosophical study on the nature of human beings, both in history and in the corporate structures that thrive today.   In the end, Kessler is left to question everything he holds dear, what it means to be human.

The film deals with many idealistic issues.   What is our purpose in life?   Are we just cogs in a wheel that makes up an even bigger machine?   What is that machine’s ultimate purpose?   How much of our authority should we question before giving in and stepping in line with everyone else?   As Kessler begins to ask those questions of the world and of his own company, we begin asking those same questions of ourselves and the lives we lead.   It becomes a heady analysis of the way the corporate structure has developed and how history can repeat itself in so many different ways, none of which are inherently decent.   In order to create the perfect corporation, the perfect organization, the perfect, well-oiled machine, certain ideals must be sacrificed for efficiency and stability.   This is at the center of the perspective ‘The Heartbeat Detector’ takes.

And the film’s underlying themes do not even stop there.   In the film’s final moments, Kessler begins talking with a man whom the CEO knew years before.   The man brings up another interesting point, that of the way language is used to affect the way something is viewed.   Just in the way the term “shell shock” has become “battle fatigue” and lost all harshness in its understanding, so too have terms relating to our consumer-driven and corporate ran society.

“We no longer have poor people, only those on modest incomes,” says the man.   Hearing this after hearing the story he has told of what he saw as a child and after witnessing the way Kessler’s corporation is run, we begin to wonder what term “downsizing” is a replacement for.

‘The Heartbeat Detector’ is a haunting film, one that raises many questions without the audacity to think it has the answers for them.   It is not a film for casual film-goers to think they can view on a Saturday afternoon without walking away unscathed.   The structure of the film is anything but based out of Hollywood.   The film runs 140 minutes, and there are several scenes that seemingly have no bearing on the story as a whole.   Like Michael Haneke’s ‘Cache’, its suspense is derived from the things we never see, the things that happen between the lines.   It is ironic that a film that deals with corporate efficiency and, essentially, the things that must be sacrificed in order to achieve that efficiency would have some fat to trim.

If this were ever remade, like the corporate downsizing, and the downsizing of an entire civilization, the story would be cut down to make the story more succinct and, yes, efficient.   All meaning would be lost, because those who make it would not understand the ideas that drive the film.   They would essentially be feeding the monster that the film warns us of.

It’s a film whose central ideas are best described by the film itself.   There are feeling and suggestions ‘The Heartbeat Detector’ conveys better than I ever could.   It is a film worth seeing for anyone who wants a deeper meaning with their film than what is just seen on the surface.   It is one of the best written films of the year, one whose haunting nature is sure to stick with you long after you leave the theater.   In fact, much of what ‘The Heartbeat Detector’ is trying to say might not sink in until days after viewing it.   In the end, it is the absolute perfect example of a psychological thriller, a sheer definition of the term.

[Overall: 4.75 stars out of 5]

Festival Screening Date: Tuesday, November 18 @ 6:30 pm + Wednesday, November 19 @ 1:30 pm (Frontenac)