Director: Rémi Archambeau
Country: France
Release Date: 1981
Runtime:1 hr, 37 min
This is the only known film by the flamboyant director Rémi Archambeau (1954-1981), a never-commercially-released and mostly unknown masterpiece of the French horror genre. The real-life story of Archambeau's tragically short life and grizzly death is enough to make the blood boil, and although his life would make for a fascinating discussion, this entry will focus on his film and the accompanying soundtrack of his Cardiologie Department de Mort.
The film itself is like no other, shot with a precision and directorial flair rarely seen, and it is no leap to suggest Archambeau was well ahead of his time in terms of his approach to cinematography and storytelling. If not for his untimely passing, we might be speaking of Archambeau alongside the likes of Jodorowsky or Bunuel. Unfortunately, only a single reel-to-reel tape of his only film exists, archived in a movie theater in Archambeau's birthplace, Saint-Brieuc, a commune lying on the shores of Brittany in France. The film is ceremoniously unearthed once every decade, on October 31st, to shock and amuse the townspeople of the Saint-Brieuc commune.
Based on a true story, Cardiologie Department de Mort tells the story of a real-life heart surgeon from the city of Rennes, Dr. Gerard Gorin and his assistant and lover, Angélique Lefevre. The two manufactured a killing chamber within the confines of the cardiology department of Renne's now demolished Hospital de la Croix Rouge, where hidden from the watchful eye of the hospital's related departments, dozens of unassuming patients were tortured and mutilated in the most ghastly fashion between 1976-1980. Out of respect for the dead, and to honor the sanctity of the lone copy of this film, this review will not go into the details of the film itself.
But much can be said of the soundtrack, which is one of the greatest ever compiled. Hand-picked from the vast French, Italian and English music libraries by Archambeau himself, the result is a cacophonic wall of sound: actual and musical heartbeats, soundscapes of hospital operating machines and instruments of torture, and brilliantly interpreted electro-instrumentation that invites the listener into the bloody chambers of Dr. Gorin's cardiology department. It allows one, if one dares, to visualize the slow and deliberate tortures of Dr. Gorin's terror chamber. The soundtrack is intended to bring discomfort to the listener, and at this it vastly succeeds; but there is also an underlying melodic melancholy that infuses a unique beauty into an otherwise grim subject. Rhythmic heartbeats, real and interpreted, morph in and out of musical machinery, guiding the listener through a horrifyingly alluring tapestry of electronic beats and sound.
Download this rare treat of a soundtrack mix for a limited time only...
