Laetitia Spigarelli and Mathieu Amalric in Heartbeat Detector Courtesy of Sophie Dulac Distribution

Talking about Simon's escape to the techno clubs, music also plays a key role as a humanizing factor. Jüst favors Schubert, and Kessler dances off his tensions at a rave or listens to flamenco-singing. At one point someone says music doesn't tolerate hierarchy. And is described by Jüst as a virus. The film also has a great soundtrack. What do you think is Klotz's message about music?
Yes, well, in fact it took more than four years before finding the money to make this film. Yeah, so I got to spend a lot of time with Nicolas Klotz. I don't even know if we're actor [and director] anymore because we've become so close and so friendly and we not only spoke about the film but about our fathers or about our loves, and so some [of these] things just sort of nourish the film. Elizabeth, his wife, wrote the script from a book. And for the music process, he made me listen to a lot of music before he discovered Syd Matters who did all the music. And while he knew that there would be German classical music of course because of Michael Lonsdale's character, who has this sort of obsession with perfection, almost like Simon has in his job. I loved the things between Michael and Simon like when he says: "Your files are so well done. I mean, so perfect." So they seem to have this sort of same sickness that is the seeking of perfection but forgetting what it was for. And you can get crazy. [For example, look] what happened with the subprime loans. We don't even know who decides. Where do they come from? Everybody can say: "Oh, I just did my job!" You don't even know where the responsibility is anymore. Nobody wants to take the responsibility for anything.

The film also touches on illegal emigration. We see emigrant workers being arrested in a pub and the film's English title references technology that can trace humans in transportation vehicles such as heartbeat detectors. How important are these ideas to the film?
Well yes, because you know it's not just an idea. You can't walk in Paris without seeing that every day. In the school of my children, the friends and parents of kids that are in the class of my children are kicked out of the country. And those kids are born in France. People who've live here for 15 years. But they "have to finish the plan," like I said. You see that every day in Paris. It's tough. It does exist... The heartbeat detector machine does exist — that's where some of human knowledge is [being expended] right now.

PART 2 Coming soon: Amalric dishes on working with Daniel Craig and director Marc Forster on the set of Quantum of Solace in Panama.