THE MEASURE OF A MAN

Cinema

The latest movie with Vincent Lindon, directed by Stéphane Brizé, opened in San Francisco. As usual, you will have to act quickly. #frustration #onetheater #oneweek

French actor Vincent Lindon had a busy 2015 year with 2 movies, The Measure of a Man and The White Knights that was part of the selection of the latest San Francisco International Film Festival.

Vincent Lindon was acclaimed at the last Cannes Festival for his outsatnding performance. He also got the Best Actor Cesar Award for this very special part.

The Measure of a Man... that'S exactly what it is all about, the measure of a simple man facing our ruthless and merciless society.

The story, briefly...

Unemployed everyman Thierry must submit to a series of quietly humiliating ordeals in his search for work. Futile retraining courses that lead to dead ends, interviews via Skype, an interview-coaching workshop critique of his self-presentation by fellow jobseekers; all are mechanisms that seek to break him down and strip him of identity and self-respect in the name of reengineering of a workforce fit for a neoliberal technocratic system. Nothing if not determinist, Stéphane Brizé film dispassionately monitors the progress of its stoic protagonist until at last he lands a job on the front line in the surveillance and control of his fellow man and finally faces one too many moral dilemmas.

We watched the movie without reading any reviews or comments. We wanted to see it because of Vincent Lindon of course, and then, because of the interesting casting: Vincent Lindon is the only professional actor. The other ones have been selected to play their real part in life.

It is all about regular people, already having a tough life, who land in a dead-end scenario.

The movie is shocking and leaves you with the bad taste of shame and guilt, shame and guilt to realize what life can be, how people can be lead to poor compromises simply to survive.

The movie happens to sound and look like a documentary, compiling facts without judging them, without givig any perspective nor solution. That is definitely the most frustrating part. Witnessing an unbearable series of facts without satisfying way out.

In this election year, it is worth watching it, to encourage reflection and action against dehumanization in our society, where people give up on their values as if they had to, without flinching or barely.