Machine, La |
France / Germany • 1994 • 96m •
  • Directed by: François Dupeyron. • Starring: Gérard Depardieu, Nathalie Baye, Didier Bourdon, Natalia Wörner, Erwan Baynaud, Claude Berri, Marc Andréoni, Alain Azerot, Wilfred Benaïche, Christian Bujeau, Julie Depardieu, Patty Hannock, Arsène Jiroyan. • Music by: Michel Portal.      The psychiatrist Marc Laxroix is a studious scientist of the brains of criminals. He has an unhappy and loveless marriage with his wife Marie Lacroix and they have a boy, Léonard Lacroix. Marc has also a mistress, Marianne, who is also his confidante. Marc has secretly built a machine to study the mind of a person to another one in his old house, but he has not tested it yet, and Marianne is the only person who knows. When the serial-killer Michel Zyto is sentenced to life in the institution where Marc works, he decides to study the mind of the psychopath. Then he brings Zyto to use the machine and their minds are exchanged. When Marc asks Zyto to press a green button to restore their minds, Zyto refuses and uses Marc's body to lock up Marc trapped in his body in the institution. Further, he goes to Marc's house to stay with his family. Will Marc retrieve his body?
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Review:
Brain specialistpsychiatrist Marc Lacrox has developed a groundbreaking machine that can transfer parts of the human brain between two people. He's looking to test it out on someone, and that's where he becomes infatuated by one of his patients (a deranged serial killer of the criminally insane). Wanting to cure, and understand his patient the two secretly perform the experiment and it was successful, but to Marc's surprise after the body swap his prisoner decides that he's going to keep Marc's body.
The machine itself gets little screen time, let alone any sort of background, where after the pointless prologue, it gives out a minor rundown on what drives the principal character, a surely performance by Gerard Depaedieu. Early on we watch Marc interact with his chosen patient, philosophical conversations, but once the transformation takes place it becomes hamstrung, dumb and over-the-top. It really does rely on the illogical and ludicrous plotting to sell the high stakes. It left me questioning why would the doctor be so naive and put so much trust in a convicted serial killer, especially when he knows about the man's deteriorating health.
The pulp material does offer up in and out obstacles for the characters, especially the toxic surprise that is awaiting them once they swapped bodies. There it becomes a searing battle of wits between two men. One on the run, desperately trying everything to get his actual body back to reverse the experiment and the other fighting knife happy temptations that saw him put away, while also adapting to his new family life. Honestly not much happens, well not until three quarters in when the two men come face to face again. Then it leads to a couple vicious, bloody attacks and deliriously twisted climax that showed some guts to end the way it did. Good psychologically building first act and a live-wire third act, but what's in between simply goes through the motions.
Review by lost-in-limbo from the Internet Movie Database.
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