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French film (1994). France 2 Cinéma, Hachette Première, M6 Films. Directed by François Dupeyron. Written by René Belletto and François Dupeyron. Cast includes Nathalie Baye, Erwin Baynaud, Didier Bourdon, Gérard Depardieu and Natalia Wörner. 96 minutes. Colour.
Psychiatrist Marc Lacroix (Depardieu) secretly devises a Machine which will link his mind to another person, allowing him to study their thought processes more closely. He attempts to link up with the psychopathic Zyto (Bourdon), who has murdered three women. However, the experiment goes wrong and their minds are switched (see Identity Exchange). Zyto (in Lacroix's body) overpowers the doctor and locks him up, returning to Lacroix's house to take his place. Lacroix's son Léonard (Baynaud) immediately senses something is wrong, and it is not long before Zyto's unpredictable behaviour comes through, culminating in him murdering Lacroix's mistress. Lacroix (in Zyto's body) escapes the asylum and attempts to come to the rescue. Zyto kidnaps Léonard, and performs the experiment to switch his mind to the boy. This works, and he returns to Lacroix's house (in Léonard's body) to kill Lacroix's wife. This is foiled by another doctor who has found Lacroix's body with Leonard's mind in it and discovers the truth.
In spite of the highly distinguished cast, this is as absurd and nonsensical as it sounds in synopsis. The cheap effects and synth music give the film the look and feel of a 1980s B movie, and there is some unpleasantly leering emphasis on sexual violence in some of the scenes. Presumably the chief appeal of the part for Depardieu was the opportunity to ham it up playing several characters in one body. [CWa]
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Entry from The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (2011-current) edited by John Clute and David Langford.
Accessed 12:16 pm on 8 October 2024.
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