Synopsis
In this bleak SF film, which has the characteristics of the film noir, we are confronted with the blood-curdling picture of the future as we follow the story of one man who gets caught in the web of dilemma. The atmosphere of future Vienna depicted in this film, when compared to the gloomy portrayal of the post-war Vienna in The 3rd Man, has even stronger elements of fatalism and defeat, without the sentimentalism. In this futuristic city, where the currency is obsolete, the two most valuable goods traded in the black market are the human organs and drugs. Doctors, who handle these items by profession, rule all sections of the City. Karter loses a large sum of money in the rat race and is subsequently threatened by the vicious race mob to pay back the debt. When he is unexpectedly shot, he is given a new body by the evil doctor who is in charge of the greatest section of the city. The doctor's chief interest lies in the manipulation of the human memory system. Karter begins working for him as the 'brainpusher', which requires him to steal the brains from people. When his lover Maria becomes the subject of doctor's terrifying experiment, however, he is fearful of the consequences for he would no longer exist in her world once she is implanted with the manufactured memory. By presenting the subject of eternal physical youth versus the manufacture of the human memory, this nightmarish love story told on the rough black and white screen asks a crucial question regarding the complex relationship between the memory and existence. (HONG Sung-Nam)