Death Watch Officially Announced

British distributors Park Circus have officially announced its upcoming Blu-ray release of director Bertrand Tavernier's La Mort En Direct a.k.a Death Watch (1980), starring Romy Schneider, Harvey Keitel and Harry Dean Stanton. Street date is November 5th. This special release showcases a brand new digital restoration of the film that was personally approved by director Bertrand Tavernier. The extras include an in-depth interview with the director (The Morality of Filmmaking), filmed in Glasgow to coincide with the restoration's world premiere at Glasgow Film Festival 2012 plus a personal letter sent from Harvey Keitel (who plays the lead role) to Tavernier before the shooting of the film and sourced from the Institut Lumière's archive. A behind-the-scenes image gallery and new trailer for this year's theatrical release also feature.



Death Watch is a mad, twisty dystopian sci-fi noir. Starring Harvey Keitel, Romy Schneider, Harry Dean Stanton and Max Von Sydow plus an early screen appearance by Robbie Coltrane, Death Watch is a lyrical, haunting and deeply prescient work ripe for rediscovery.

Roddy (Keitel) has a camera implanted in his brain. He's been hired by a television producer to film a documentary of terminally ill Katherine (Schneider) without her knowledge. His footage will then be run on the popular TV reality show, but Katherine has other plans. Opaquely scripted by David Rayfiel (Valdez is Coming, Jeremiah Johnson) and filmed in Glasgow while it was undergoing massive renovation, Death Watch is a bizarre, brilliant and prophetic fantasy.

Special Features:

• Behind-the-scenes photos
• Personal letter from Harvey Keitel to Bertrand Tavernier
• Interview with Bertrand Tavernier – 'The Morality of Filmmaking' (39-mins)
• Image gallery
• New theatrical trailer