La question humaine (2007)

User Rating:

6.2/10   

Director:

Nicolas Klotz

Writers:

François Emmanuel (story)
Elisabeth Perceval (writer)

Release Date:

12 September 2007 (France)

Genre:

Drama | History | Music | War

Plot:

A psychologist discovers troubling links between Nazism and modern-day big business.

Plot Keywords:

Psychologist | Corporation | Nazism | Shoah | Fascism

Awards:

4 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Mathieu Amalric	...	Simon
Michael Lonsdale	...	Mathias Jüst
Edith Scob	...	Lucy Jüst
Lou Castel	...	Arie Neumann
Jean-Pierre Kalfon	...	Karl Rose
Valérie Dréville	...	Lynn Sanderson
Laetitia Spigarelli	...	Louisa
Delphine Chuillot	...	Isabelle
Nicolas Maury	...	Tavera
Rémy Carpentier	...	Jacques Paolini
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Louis Aguettant	...	Le chanteur de fado
Mathieu Césarsky	...	Hurleur 2
Jessica Cohen	...	La jeune fille qui chante
Cyrille Kervestin	...	Walter
Mamadou Steve Koundio	...	Le travesti africain
Julien Lacroix	...	Philippe
Philippe Montaye	...	Hurleur 1
Miguel Poveda	...	Flamenco singer
Olivier Renouf	...	Le danseur after rave
Erwan Ribard	...	Miguel
Jean-Pierre Vigneau	...	Angelino
Patrick Zocco	...	Le flic

Directed by
Nicolas Klotz

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
François Emmanuel		story
Elisabeth Perceval		writer

Produced by
Sophie Dulac	....	producer
Jean-Christophe Gigot	....	executive producer
Michel Zana	....	producer

Original Music by
Syd Matters

Cinematography by
Josée Deshaies

Film Editing by
Rose-Marie Lausson

Casting by
Stéphane Batut
Isabelle Ungaro

Production Design by
Antoine Platteau

Set Decoration by
Romain Scavazza

Costume Design by
Dorothée Guiraud

Production Management
Sébastien Brun	....	assistant unit manager
Pierre Dufour	....	production manager
Adrien Ledoux	....	assistant production manager
Amélie Melkonian	....	assistant production manager
Mélanie Pienne	....	assistant unit manager
Pascal Pons	....	unit manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Emile Louis	....	first assistant director
Fany Pouget	....	second assistant director

Art Department
Laurent Baude	....	assistant art director
William Mordos	....	set dresser
Romain Scavazza	....	assistant art director

Sound Department
Julie Brenta	....	sound editor
Stéphane De Rocquigny	....	sound re-recording mixer
Dominique Eyraud	....	boom operator
Cyril Holtz	....	sound re-recording mixer
Johann Nallet	....	sound recordist
Gadou Naudin	....	foley artist
Brigitte Taillandier	....	sound
Philippe Vandendriessche	....	additional sounds
Jean-Alexandre Villemer	....	sound recordist

Stunts
Gérard Kuhnl	....	stunts
Alain Vanneville	....	stunts
Daniel Vérité	....	stunt coordinator

Camera and Electrical Department
Jean-Marc Dupuy	....	grip
Catherine Georges	....	first assistant camera
Mohamed Khaznadji	....	key grip
Marianne Lamour	....	gaffer
Christophe Larue	....	electrician

Editorial Department
Nadine Mahé	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Loris Bernot	....	music recordist

Thanks
Patrick Zocco	....	special thanks

Production Companies

• Sophie Dulac Productions
• Centre National de la Cinématographie (CNC)
• CinéCinéma
• Conseil Général de la Sarthe
• Conseil Général du Val de Marne
• Conseil Régional des Pays de la Loire
• Région Ile-de-France

Distributors

• New Yorker Films (2008) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Zeta Films (2008) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• Film Distribution (2007) (worldwide) (all media) (International Sales)
• Gativideo (2008) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Imovision (2008) (Brazil) (all media)
• Sophie Dulac Distribution (2007) (France) (all media)

Also Known As:

Heartbeat Detector (International: English title)
The Human Question (USA) (literal title)

Runtime:

143 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Argentina:13

Filming Locations:

Le Mans, Sarthe, France

Company:

Sophie Dulac Productions

I wish more people would see this.

A highly intelligent, interesting film that does a great job of showing the impact that the ripples of Nazi Germany still have on the modern world. It's half a study of that, half a character study of Mathieu Amalric's character, a psychologist for a large, anonymous company. This character is completely breaking down throughout the film as a result of living in such a shady, paranoia filled society. I have to admit that there is some stuff that went over my head. There's a subplot involving an almost underground society of these business types who take these boats to a place where they pop drugs and rave. I'm sure that the whole thing has a symbolic meaning but for me it just provided a stunning catharsis and more depth into Amarlic's character. His performance in the film is absolutely stunning. It's a very quiet, subtle portrayal that is one of the most...calculated performances I've seen in quite a while. You can tell that he put so much thought into every move that the character makes. Every turn of the body, slight movement of the eyes, it's all important for the performance. But the genius of him as an actor is that you realize he is putting importance into all of those moments, but he is so great at putting himself into the character that you just think it's important for the character and don't think about the man acting as the character until after the film is over. A very intelligent, complex performance in an intelligent, complex film.