This Friday, I'll be giving an introduction to Yves Boisset's Le prix du danger (1982) and Paul Michael Glaser's The Running Man (1987) at the Cinematek in Brussels. The films are part of a "Reality TV" double-bill.

About Le prix du danger: In a dystopian future, a television station organizes a manhunt, capitalizing on the low instincts and voyeurism of viewers who closely follow the candidate's elimination. It is reminiscent of what reality TV would become a few years later. Based on a story by American sci-fi writer Robert Sheckley.

About The Running Man: A few years after Le prix du danger, American director Paul Michael Glaser's The Running Man (starring Arnold Schwarzenegger) was released, using exactly the same plot. Yves Boisset files a lawsuit for plagiarism, which lasts 11 years and which he eventually wins. But The Running Man is also an adaptation of a novel by Stephen King. However, Glazer (the Starsky from Starsky & Hutch) goes for a much kitschier, entertaining film, which will have an undeniable influence on the world of video games.