Produced by star director Luc Besson (“Léon“, “Nikita“, “The Fifth Element”, “The Big Blue”, “Lucy”, “Anna”), the film “Kamikaze” (German title: “Kamikaze – TV-Tod live” by director Didier Grousset is available from today on the B-Spree Classics label from UCM.ONE as a limited Mediabook in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
Synopsis
Albert (Michel Galabru) is fired from his company, although he is a brilliant computer expert. But now he sits around at home, in a flat with his niece and her husband, falls more and more into alcohol and increasingly loses his sanity. After some time, when he has finally succumbed to madness, he begins to focus his abilities on a murderous plan. Albert develops a technology that allows him to send lethal rays through television cameras without even having to be there. He uses this technique to kill television presenters live on screen, one by one. The police put Inspector Romain Pascot (Richard Bohringer) on the case, and soon the noose seems to be tightening around Albert’s neck…
The film was released in France on 7 March 1958, distributed by Gaumont. In Germany, the film was released on 30 January 1959 by Europa Filmverleih. On 12 November 1988, the film was released by Warner Home Video on VHS video cassette.
Composer Éric Serra created the soundtrack for the film. The main piece is the song “The Kabuki Plan“, sung by Ghida De Palma. Éric Serra also contributed to the soundtracks of many other well-known films, such as “In the Deep” (1988), “Léon the Professional” (1994) and “James Bond 007: GoldenEye” (1995).
Although the basic idea of “Kamikaze” has not been used very often, there are at least two other interesting films that take up this theme. On the one hand, director Giuliano Montaldo made the thriller “The Deadly Circle” in 1978, on the other hand, director Clifford Sanforth created the thrilling crime thriller “Murder by Television” with superstar Bela Lugosi in the male lead as early as 1935.
Comments about the movie
“Kamikaze – TV Death Live is definitely a little insider tip – not only for Luc Besson fans!” (Retro-Film.com)
“Co-scripted and produced by Luc Besson (who gave direction to his former assistant), Kamikaze is an ambitious if somewhat thin satire on a society enthralled by the bland production of cinema.” (timeout.com)
“Impressive French film (from a script by Luc Besson) about an unemployed man who gets so annoyed with television announcers that he invents a gun to kill them by remote control…” (filmblitz.org)
“TV Death Live – Kamikaze is a classic B-movie that combines science fiction with a dash of crime and thriller, and it kicks off with an interesting premise. The idea of killing people over the TV while they are in a live programme is clever…” (sofahelden.com)
“I really enjoyed the film, you can tell a top producer was at work, it was Luc Besson. The film has a great ending, is exciting and in my opinion belongs in every collection.” (mediennerd.de)
“Kamikaze – TV Death Live is a futuristic thriller in which Michel Galabru and Richard Bohringer are convincing leads as outlaw and sheriff.” (poenack.de)
Technical datas
Limited Mediabook | Total running time Blu-Ray: approx. 90 min.; Total running time DVD: approx. 85 min. | Picture format Blu-Ray: WS 2.35:1 / 1080p 23.976; DVD: WS 2.35:1 (anamorphic) | Sound formats Blu-Ray: German DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0, French DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0; DVD: German DD 2.0, English DD 2.0 | Extras: Original trailer, artwork gallery, 16-page booklet | Rating: FSK 18
More information about the movie: Kamikaze
More information about the film label: B-Spree Classics
