Film Review
Laurent Cantet earned instant critical acclaim with this remarkably effective social drama
which is founded on the growing rift between the working and management classes in France.
The late 1990s saw an upsurge in trade union militancy, and the introduction of the 35
hour week, although well intentioned, merely helped to heighten the distrust between workers
and management.
Ressources humaines uses this industrial unrest as a background
to explore the complex relationship between a working class father and his ambitious son.
Whilst the former is trapped in a life of monotony and routine from which there is - literally
- no escape, the latter, through his education, has complete freedom to choose his destiny
- or so he thinks.
Though both the content and narrative style of the film are simple,
Ressources humaines
is a truly compelling work which provokes many questions on a whole raft of complex
sociological issues. Keenly observed, it shows both sides of the equation - workers
and management - in an even-handed manner, without really siding with either. Sure,
it is easier to sympathise with the workers, who are treated - somewhat cynically - as
"resources", just like the inanimate machinery they stand over all day. However,
it is made clear that without the management they would have no jobs, no livelihood.
So, whilst we may question the morality of their methods, the management are at least
partly vindicated in their actions. Whilst the managers are duplicitous, arrogant
and manipulative, the workers are unmotivated, single-minded and submissive. Intelligence
and educational opportunities may have a factor in determining into which camp an individual
ends up, but personal traits are also a dominant factor.
The greatest conflict arises when an individual has both the education of the management
elite and the mentality and sympathies of the working class. This schizoid
dichotomy is represented by the film's lead character, Franck, a bright young business
graduate who ends up having to square his own ambitions with his working class origins.
It makes depressing viewing because there is no neat resolution and, ultimately, the torn
Franck finds himself rejected by the side (the working class) he felt morally obliged
to support. His education has given him a wider perspective - so he can see how
unjust and wasteful the life of a factory worker must be - plus the opportunity to better
himself. Unfortunately, there is nothing he can do help others from his social milieu.
The other tragic irony is that Franck's father's sole dream was to see him become one
of the greasy management elite - the prestige of seeing his son as a boss totally eclipsing
any notion that he might be betraying his own social class. The rapport between
Franck and his father beautifully characterises their own different perspectives and their
fraught relationship. Neither can ever live up to the other's expectations, hence
the gulf between them can only ever increase. Therein lies the tragedy of the film.
The impact of the film stems largely from its striking documentary style, which derives
from it being shot entirely on location with a cast of mainly non-professional actors.
Only the film's central character, Franck, was played by a professional actor - Jalil
Lespert. The rest of the cast was made up of unemployed men and women in the Normandy
region where the film was shot. It is this, more than anything, which gives
the film its sense of authenticity - these are living, breathing individuals, not stock
characters played by skilled actors. From the relentlessly bellicose Madame Arnoux
to the creepily manipulative director of human resources, all of the characters are well-drawn
and believable - simply because the actors are playing themselves in real life.
Rightly, the focus of the film is the relationship between Franck and his father, and
it is thanks to two remarkable performances - from Jalil Lespert and Jean-Claude Vallod
- that the film achieves such an immense impact. When he first appears, Jalil Lespert
is every inch the cocky young student, who thinks that textbook answers can solve all
the world's ills. Although he perhaps lacks the experience to be totally convincing,
Lespert conveys some measure of the internal conflict his character experiences when he
realises how complex and insoluble his situation has become. Lespert benefits
from Jean-Claude Vallod's poignant portrayal as Franck's father. Not only is Vallod
one hundred per cent convincing in his role but he persuades us that Lespert is indeed
his son and pours out so much of his own personal feeling in his performance, remarkably
with so little dialogue and physical movement. In one touching scene, Franck's father
is seen labouring alongside his son in his garden shed - a striking contrast to an earlier
scene where he is performing a solitary repetitive chore on the factory floor. In
the former, the fruit of his labours is a beautiful piece of furniture, in the latter
a nondescript piece of metal in a soulless piece of machinery. Another poignant
reminder that talent is not enough to succeed in this life.
By any standards,
Ressources humaines is a moving and provocative piece of cinema.
Its effect is amplified by its intelligent even-handedness, apparent simplicity and naturalistic
performances. Life, it tells us, is complex, unfair and often difficult - it offers
no simple solutions. The role of a good social drama is to inform, to increase our
awareness of social issues so that we may collectively strive to improve things.
Ressources
humaines is precisely that kind of film - an insightful and thought-provoking work
which offers an eloquent no-nonsense reflection of the kind of world we now live in -
a world still torn by social divisions.
Possibly the film's most controversial statement concerns the role of education in breaking
down the class barriers. Far from solving the problem, universal education appears
to be aggravating the situation - not just increasing the rift between the classes, but
also providing an unwholesome justification for its existence. Undoubtedly, a fortunate
minority will escape the lower class they are born into and become craftsmen, businessmen,
politicians or scientists. But, inevitably, the rest are destined to end up as no
more than human resources, and that is something the current education system will never
resolve.
© James Travers 2003
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Next Laurent Cantet film:
L'Emploi du temps (2001)