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Information

A.k.a.
Death Watch
Year
1980
Runtime
130 min.
Director
Bertrand Tavernier
Genres
Drama, Sci-Fi
Rating *
7.0
Votes *
1,554
Checks
274
Favs
13
Dislikes
7
Favs/checks
4.7% (1:21)
Favs/dislikes
2:1
* View IMDb information

Top comments

  1. Siskoid's avatar

    Siskoid

    Great premise in Bertrand Tavernier's Death Watch, one that foresees the ghoulish nature of Reality TV and still pushes it to enough of an extreme to still be science-fiction today. But barely, and that's one of its problems. Harvey Keitel is a human camera tasked with following a dying woman (Romy Schneider) in a world where such things are rare indeed. So cybernetic implants and all diseases have been cured, and yet it looks like 1980 Scotland in every other respect. There's no world-building beyond its core concepts. And if it's a little dull and uninvolving, it's that it doesn't hammer home any of its points. Keitel falls in love with her? If you say so. All the stuff about his fear of the dark is innate of what, exactly? She's seeking her ex-husband? Sure okay, and always happy to see Max von Sydow, but what was the point there? And indeed, why does she make that decision at the end? With the talent involved, including Harry Dean Stanton (probably the best character in the film) and Doctor Who alumni William Russell, it should have sung. Instead, it seems loathe to develop its intriguing premise and ends up feeling like any old drama about a dying woman escaping a hospital (instead of a TV program). 1 month 1 week ago
  2. MilenaFlaherty's avatar

    MilenaFlaherty

    Should be on some official list, science fiction perhaps. Very prescient. 10 years 1 month ago
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