Selon Matthieu (2000)
Directed by Xavier Beauvois

Film Review

With this, his third film, Xavier Beauvois amply demonstrates that he is one of most promising directors of his generation, a worthy successor to the likes of Renoir, Bresson and Truffaut.  A near-flawless piece of cinema, Selon Matthieu combines social realism and sentimental drama, the result being a sublime film d'auteur which is both socially relevant and brimming with humanity.

In some ways this is a deeply pessimistic work, suggesting that the divide between the working classes and the managerial elite is somehow engrained deep in the psyche of the individual - if you are born working class, you will remain so, and so will all your descendents.  In that respect, the film has some similarity with Laurent Cantet's excellent Ressources humaines (1999).   Selon Matthieu goes one step further and implies that the working classes are singularly incapable of taking control of their destiny - perhaps a variant on the poetic realism favoured by French filmmakers of the 1930s.  Whereas those who belong to the management caste have the privilege of intelligence, money, status and power to improve their fortunes, those at the lower end of the social spectrum are held in check by the lack of these things.  Whilst he may rebel against his social position and his intelligence may be higher than average, the hot-headed Matthieu remains fundamentally a working class man.   His loyalty to his father reveals a humanity which causes him to seek revenge, but the same humanity prevents him from carrying though that same revenge.  He may not realise it, but he is just as much fettered to his social position as his apathetic brother Eric - he merely happens to have a slightly longer chain.

Selon Matthieu is a film with great social relevance, including judicious (and highly topical) references to the harmful effect on society of the latest business ethic - such as the transfer of business from France to the Far East to reduce labour costs.  Yet, more significantly, the film is a powerful study of the human condition - indeed it is arguably one of the most humanist films to have been made in France for some years.  The moody photography brilliantly underscores the film's sombre note, providing a visible reflection of the central character's troubled state of mind whilst reflecting the wider social context.

The main character Matthieu is played by Benoît Magimel, who has in recent years established himself as one of France's leading actors.  Here, as the repressed, angry, emotionally flawed Matthieu, Magimel is a revelation.  His intense, brooding performance is the thing which contributes most to the sombre mood of the film, giving it its haunting, spiritual quality.  His pairing with Nathalie Baye is not only effective, it is a piece of genius.  Baye, equally one of France's most highly rated actresses, doesn't disappoint - her portrayal of Claire is senstitive and intelligent, and subtly illustrates both the similarities and the differences of the two worlds inhabited by the classes who work and the classes who manage.  Claire is a character who is every bit as complex and tragic as Matthieu - perhaps more so, since her position in society requires her to subjugate her basic emotional needs to the obligations of her position.  A less complex individual is Matthieu's brother, Eric, who epitomises the working class mindset against which Matthieu tries to rebel.  Eric is played by Antoine Chappey, an actor with evident talent who, having played this kind of supporting role with distinction in a number of films, looks destined for bigger and better things.

It is not difficult to read some symbolism into the story (Matthieu's failure to avenge his father's death echoing futile attempts since time immemorial for workers to stand up to their employers), yet it is essentially a film about one man's fight - not against some faceless corporation, but against his own personal situation.   The fallacy of what Matthieu is trying to do is only brought home in the final scene, which is played out with a devastating intensity - and quite harrowing naked humanity.  With its dark poetic vision and uncompromising social realism, Selon Matthieu is a profound and poignant piece of cinema, which (thanks to Beauvois' shameless choice of music) evokes the works of Pasolini and Robert Bresson.

Film Synopsis

Matthieu and Éric are brothers who work at the same factory in Le Havre as their 53-year-old father.  It on the night of Éric's wedding that Matthieu learns that his father has just been sacked on the most trivial of grounds - for smoking a cigarette inside the factory.  Appalled by the injustice of this dismissal, Matthieu tries to galvanise support among his co-workers to get his father reinstated, but in vain.  Times are hard and no one wants to risk being fired for being a trouble causer.  With a wife to support and a hefty mortgage to pay, Éric cannot afford to get involved, so his brother is left to carry on his fight alone - without any hope of success.

The sudden death of the brothers' father in a road accident causes Matthieu to redouble his efforts.  He is certain that his father was driven to suicide as a result of losing his job, so immediately he concocts a plan of revenge.  His target is Claire, his boss's wife.  By drawing her into a love affair, Matthieu is certain he can not only ruin his employer's marriage but also make him a laughing stock.  Claire proves to be too easy a victim, and it is with practically no effort at all that Matthieu manages to seduce her.  But things do not pan out as expected.  The one thing that Matthieu had not allowed for is the possibility that he and Claire might actually fall in love...