Synopsis

< Heartbeat Detector>, based on ‘La Question Humaine’, a novel by Francois Emmanuel, examines the profound question -- will an atrocity continue to haunt the present? No matter how much time has been passed? For 7 years in Paris, Simon has worked as a psychologist in the human resource department of a German petrochemical corporation where he''s in charge of staff selection. When management tells him to investigate Mathias, one of the factory’s executives, Simon’s perception goes disturbingly chaotic and cloudy when his investigation delves into the Nazi era. The people are inescapably involved in Holocaust, whether directly or indirectly, with their children the inheritors of the guilt of the former generation, and Simon who holds the power of destiny over employees in a free market system. By connecting Simon to the WWII war criminals, the film underscores its point of view that history keeps repeating itself and the Holocaust persists even today. Solid performances by Mathieu Amalric, Michael Lonsdale, Lou Castel are particularly noteworthy. Music by Schubert, the New Waver Ian Curtis and other techno sounds capture the characters’ multiple states of madness, anxiety, guilt and confusion -- sometimes even endangering Simon’s state of mind.

감독

니콜라 클로츠

1987년부터 <모래와 별의 노래>(1996)를 비롯한 다수의 음악 다큐멘터리와, <벵골의 밤>(1988), <신성한 밤>(1993), <외톨이>(2000) 등의 작품을 연출했다. 각본가인 엘리자베스 퍼시발과 함께 기존의 영상 언어에 도전하거나 현대적인 주제를 다루는 작품들을 구상해 오면서 2004년 ‘작고 큰 새들'이란 제작사를 차린다. 그들은 영화뿐만 아니라 연극 작업 또한 공동으로 활발하게 벌이고 있다.