Death Watch (aka La Mort En Direct) (1980)

Set in an unspecified future, death because of illness is quite rare. A television reality program films dying people for entertainment, a soap opera for the masses that gets high ratings. But one dying woman (Romy Schneider) refuses to be a part of the degrading process and flees. But she doesn't know her traveling companion (Harvey Keitel) actually works for the TV program and is secretly filming her last days. Based on the novel THE UNSLEEPING EYE by David G. Compton, the film is no longer science fiction. Today, reality television is the norm and we're used to cameras following people around in their most troubled and intimate moments, recording each teary breakdown and screaming match for the famished public. That being said, Bertrand Tavernier's film is still a disturbing look at humans being robbed of their dignity and offered up as a sacrifice to the lowest common denominator. Schneider is quite good and it's interesting to see the contrast in acting styles between her and Keitel. She's simple and direct and he's busy, busy, busy. With Max Von Sydow, Harry Dean Stanton and Therese Liotard.