Brainwash - Ein Mann in Bestform

Paradise for all:that's what a doctor gives to his patients.They have to undergo a special treatment,the "flash",and presto!gone are stress,blues and worries like that!So why didn't this marvelous scientist say so before?

A miserable insurances rep (Dewaere)tries to commit suicide:then he is cured by the doctor and he becomes "happy".Always smiling,always even-tempered,he tastes a brand new life,and is highly successful in his job .Little by little,we understand something is wrong with this "paradis pour tous".The other people cannot stand these happy people (Leotard's character).Under his smile,Dewaere hides a terrifying insensitivity.Quite legally,he "helps" his mother-in-law and his colleague to die "properly".These beaming zombies recall sometimes the "new" people in "invasion of the body snatchers".

The movie is not always successful though:there are clichés like the exasperating mother-in -law(played by a miscast Stephane Audran,the famous heroine of "Babettes gaetesbud").But Dewaere finds here one of his best parts.Sadly ,it was to be his last movie:he committed suicide a few months after;sometimes truth can be stranger than fiction.

NB:Compare with Jessua's earlier "Traitement de choc",about the body!This one deals with the mind.