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Death Watch (1979)
Director: Bertrand Tavernier
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
As so often with Tavernier, a film that promises more than it delivers. Science fiction set in a near future, it starts from the intriguing premise that, in a society from which death has been effectively banished or at least tucked out of sight, a TV network plans to transmit a real-life soap opera for the benefit of curious viewers. A network employee (Keitel) has a miniature camera planted in his brain to record everything he sees, and the subject of his death watch (Schneider) is told she has an incurable disease. But as rebellious emotions begin to rage in both parties, the humanist in Tavernier gets the better of his fantasy, leading to some windy preachment and loss of credibility. A film to be seen, nevertheless, strikingly cast and with Glasgow lending its persuasive presence as a city of the future.Author: TM
Cast & crew
Director: Bertrand Tavernier
Producer: Gabriel Boustani, Janine Rubiez
Cast: Romy Schneider, Harvey Keitel, Harry Dean Stanton, Max von Sydow, Thérèse Liotard, Caroline Langrishe, Robbie Coltrane full cast
Duration: 130 mins
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