As this year’s prestigious Cannes Film Festival kicks off, the film that earned its star the Best Actor award at last year’s festival gets a UK release.
Far removed from the glitz and glamour of the French Riviera, writer-director Stéphane Brizé’s gloomy drama sees the aforementioned award-winner Vincent Lindon play Thierry Taugourdeau – a man who has found himself unemployed on the wrong side of middle age, struggling to find his way back into the world of work, and lost amidst a maze of new technologies, pointless training courses, and cringe-worthy group exercises. His labour in maintaining a normal life for his family also includes scraping together enough funds for his disabled son’s special education and care needs. But once he does find a job as a supermarket security guard, he faces a daily dilemma in which he must choose between his morals and the means to support his family.
The Measure of a Man (or La Loi du Marché in its original French) is not an easy watch by any stretch. Directed with a documentary realism (helped in part by a largely amateur cast), scenes linger for an almost uncomfortable amount of time, mirroring the central character’s increasing desperation and disgust.
Thierry’s tale of downtrodden toil also plays out through the minor characters he encounters – from the young man forced to choose between theft and the threat of violence, to the woman retiring after 32 years of working behind a supermarket checkout. However, the film’s focus stays very much on Thierry, and while it’s a shame that we’re not shown more from his wife (Karine de Mirbeck) and son (superbly played by first-time actor Matthieu Schaller), this singular spotlight amplifies the character’s isolation.
Touching, tragic and sometimes terrifying, The Measure of a Man paints a bleak picture of a working class oppressed by economic recession and merciless capitalism.
The Measure of a Man is released in UK cinemas on 3rd June through New Wave Films.
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