Heartbeat Detector

Simon works as the in-house psychologist at a chemical firm in Paris. The company has a recruitment policy based on his assessment of potential employees, and he organises motivational workshops for the staff. He is something of a company man, self-assured, ambitious, trusted by his superiors. When one of those superiors gives him the assignment of assessing the mental health of the firm's director, it leads Simon to some disturbing revelations which radically challenge his beliefs and perceptions.

Following the poetic, pertinent observation of contemporary immigration contained in 2004's The Wound, Heartbeat Detector confirms Nicolas Klotz as one of the most politically engaged, provocative and intellectually rigorous filmmakers working in France (or indeed, anywhere) today.

A collaboration with screenwriter Elisabeth Perceval (who also wrote The Wound), Klotz' film is a searing comment on modern capitalism, and a reflection on how ghosts of the 20th century haunt us still.

Mathieu Amalric, also seen at the Festival in The Diving Bell and the Butterfly and A Secret, gives a selfless and quite brilliant performance in the lead role, giving Simon's character, a damaged yuppie and vulnerable gumshoe, real depth and dignity.

Michael Hayden