The Measure of a Man

LA LOI DU MARCHÉ's main quality is its honesty. Lindon, as the cdntral character, portrays the current Everyman, with the added burden of a handicapped child, which makes things that much more difficult. Lindon's performance is first class in its simplicity and honesty, but his wife, and his fellow workers also do very well in their smaller parts.

Direction is interesting, often using cinema verité moves, and it keeps targeting the sordid nature of human survival in the current world.

This is the problem we all face: we work to survive and, as we do, we compete with others also trying to survive, and we survive by ratting on them, and exposing the illegalities they commit. Given that no human is a saint, it is obvious that it is only a matter of time before you find somehing to send someone out of the "paradise" of employment. And once that has happened, the way back into the job market is well nigh impossible.

That is the law of the market, a law where human rights are easily trampled under the weight of economic and performance considerations, and where spying on, and suspecting, fellow human beings is bread and butter.

Lindon's character is looking hard for a job to meet his child's treatment's costs, and he has to accept duties that most of us would probably feel dismayed about. And so does he, and that is his moral dilemma by movie's end.

LA LOI DU MARCHÉ is not easy to watch, but its honesty makes it a must.

This is less a 'drama' than a documentary of what happens to people when their already difficult lives are made worse by thoughtless organizations and stupid funding regimes. Thierry has been laid off from his factory job. Presumably, he has stuck this sort of mindless work because he has a disabled son who needs constant care. Thierry is doing everything he can to keep his family together whilst barely scraping together an income. Unemployment is made worse by the organisations who are supposed to be there to help him back to work. They send him on inappropriate training schemes wasting everyone's time and effort as there is no work to be got afterwards. After numerous humiliations Thierry gets himself a shop security job and finds he's forced into making judgements about others that are, in reality, in as dire straights as himself. We wonder at what point he will break, and what he will do when he breaks? Its not a good ending but then, this is all too real for far too many people.

This is a Mike Leigh/Ken Loach-style drama, great contemporary social realism, French style, and all the better for it.

A middle-aged man's existence becomes precarious after he's laid-off from his skilled job. Transitioning via the unemployment industry to supermarket security guard is the challenge for our hero. His dialogue with petty bureaucracy is obviously the same in France as it is here. There is claustrophobia and frustration with the relentless, compassionless uselessness of the so-called support.

Witnessing with him a check-out worker's send-off after a lifetime on the job is suitably excruciating. The young, new boss has the honour of fare-welling simple, loyal Gisele who always smiles and was never late in 32 years; a career trajectory from the check-out to the deli section.

The little guy or gal, when he falls out of work, is screwed, especially if he's in his 50's. There are themes of the exploitation and degradation of working life and also of the demands of caring for a disabled dependent.

The story evolves slowly, documentary style, long takes in naturalistic settings. We experience the frustrations and humiliations of the unemployment industry through his jobnetwork appointments and programs. Futlity is a theme.

There are many lovely features and brilliant, understated acting mainly from Vincent Lindon who received a five-minute standing ovation at the Cannes premiere and went on to win the best actor prize both there and in the Cesar Awards.

This is a story about personal principles in our times; a disturbing look at the banal cruelty of modern employment and the struggles and battles of life more generally. When Mike Leigh and Ken Loach have lost their mojo, director Stéphane Brizé picks up the baton for the prols and gives the audience a measured, low-key, steadily building drama with big pay-offs.

The Measure of a Man is quite gut-wrenching and brilliant in its simultaneous simplicity and complexity. It should be compulsory viewing for all supermarket managers & Centrelink and Jobnet (Australia) employees.

Let's Go To The Pictures, Three D Radio, Andrew Bunney

The French Film La loi du marché was shown in the United States with the title The Measure of a Man (2015). It was co-written and directed by Stéphane Brizé.

In a short introduction before the film began, the presenter pointed out the the actual translation of the French title would be "The Law of the Market." Both titles tell us something about the plot of the movie. "The Measure of a Man" emphasizes the basic humanity of the protagonist. "The Law of the Market" emphasizes the basic inhumanity of the marketplace-driven society in which he lives.

Vincent Lindon plays Thierry Taugourdeau, who has lost his skilled labor job because of a factory closure. (Other displaced workers want to sue the company for pulling out of France to go elsewhere. Apparently, this isn't legal if the company is making a profit in France. However, Thierry isn't interested.)

Thierry is accustomed to getting a good salary in a respected job. As the film opens, we learn that he has taken a three-month course in order to learn how to be a crane operator. He informs the government employment counselor that the course was worthless. Companies will only employ crane operators that are already experienced construction workers. Why did they advise him to take a course that couldn't lead to employment?

The film continues in the same vein. Thierry truly wants to work to support himself, his wife, and his son with cerebral palsy. (The son is portrayed by Matthieu Schaller, who does indeed have cerebral palsy.)

We follow Thierry from frustration to frustration as nothing he does brings him employment. Finally, he obtains employment, and that is where the measure of a man begins.

This is a fascinating--but painful--movie to watch. We're accustomed to unhappy stories in which the protagonists are down-and-out, and the situation is hopeless. This plot doesn't fit into that mold. Thierry has had a comfortable, middle-class life. He's intelligent and resourceful. Even so, he can't counter the forces of society that tell him that he and his family have to move down a notch--or more--in order to survive.

Vincent Lindon is brilliant in this role. We can identify with him and it is not a comfortable feeling. Lindon won the Best Actor award at Cannes for this portrayal, and I'm not surprised. It's worth seeing this film just for an opportunity to watch a superb actor succeeding in a difficult role.

We saw this film in the excellent Dryden Theatre in Rochester's George Eastman Museum. It was shown a part of the outstanding Rochester Labor Film Series.

For reasons I don't understand, this movie has a dismal IMDb rating of 6.8. Possibly, reviewers found it simply too depressing. Yes, it's depressing, but it reflects reality, and I think it's definitely worth seeking out. It's available on DVD and Blu-Ray. It's too important a film to miss.

I had the honor to watch the premiere of this beautiful film in Cannes. I am glad to see that there are still experienced directors that can make film like this one: relatively low budget, simple cinematography, a few but good actors, few locations but with a very good story telling. Stephane Brize' is able to tell his story in an entertaining way even if mainly using long uncut scenes and very simple camera setting. No shot and counter shot, none of the usual Hollywood techniques. The director take his time lingering to build tension and emotions.

Everything is based on the skills of the actors, with witty dialogues and situations that recalls the sitcom but with a dramatic treatment. It's an intelligent critic to the French society. Every young filmmaker should watch and learn from this film.