The Sentinel (1992) (Movie)

La sentinelle (1992)

139 min | Thriller | 16 October 1998 (USA)

Mathias, whose dead father was a diplomat in Germany, decides to study the forensic medicine in Paris. In the train, he has some troubles with the border police, and is insulted and threatened by a strange man, who disappeared quickly. Next day, he discovers in his luggage a shrunken human head. He soons becomes fascinated by it, feeling responsible (sentry of the memory of the head's owner) and starts his own investigation. What will leads him to cope with French secret services.

- Written by Yepok

Director: Arnaud Desplechin

Writers: Arnaud Desplechin (original scenario), Pascale Ferran (adaptation), 2 more credits »

Stars: Emmanuel Salinger, Thibault de Montalembert, Jean-Louis Richard

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0105356/plotsummary?ref_=tt_ov_pl

The Sentinel (French: La sentinelle) is a 1992 French thriller film directed by Arnaud Desplechin. It was entered into the 1992 Cannes Film Festival.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sentinel_(1992_film)

Synopsis by Clarke Fountain

After spending some time with his diplomat father in Germany, a young French medical student returns by train to Paris to resume his studies. He is puzzled by the harsh treatment he receives from customs at the border but doesn't begin to understand why until he gets home and discovers a mummified head in his luggage. He suspects that someone at customs put it there, but is not sure. Instead of reporting the meandering body part, he decides to investigate it using the tools he has as a medical student. It appears to be the head of a Russian who died somewhere in Asia.

http://www.allmovie.com/movie/la-sentinelle-v147079