Film Review
Modern management theory is a ripe target for comedy, and
Riens du tout is a delightful,
if somewhat restrained, assault on that topic, earning young director Cédric Klapisch
a César nomination for his first film.
Fabrice Luchini is the hot-wired executive who sees people-power as the way to reverse
his company's financial problems. It is a role that mild-mannered yet surprisingly
forceful Luchini carries off with great success. His apparent lack of charisma reinforces
the absurdity of his crusade, although it is his expression of guilt that lends the film
its truly poignant ending.
Klapisch's style of direction is fresh and imaginative, with some very unusual (even disturbing)
camera shots of mundane events (such as that bizarre sequence in an elevator). Less
successful, though, is the characterisation. There are just too many characters
involved, so we hardly seem to get to know any of them, although the viewer can readily
sympathise with their collective fate. Perhaps this is an attempt to reflect how
company executives view their staff - i.e. as a mass of nameless automata rather than
individuals?
The film is a little unstructured and somewhat unevenly paced, but there are some very
funny moments which more than compensate for that. The theme of the film is one
that will strike an immediate chord with anyone who has worked for a firm that has resorted
to the cult of management consultancy to sort out its manpower problems. The next
one on the bungee rope could be you.
© James Travers 2000
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Next Cédric Klapisch film:
Le Péril jeune (1994)
Film Synopsis
The owners of a failing department store are planning to close it down, but offer one
final reprieve. The store will remain open if its new manager, Monsieur Lepetit,
can significantly improve its sales figures. Lepetit decides that the key to success
is the human factor, and so he embarks on a grand campaign to galvanise his staff to work
as a team, by introducing radically new methods. However, the human factor is a
dangerous thing to meddle with...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.