The Measure of a Man
The Measure of a Man • 1h 31m
Stéphane Brizé • France • 2015 • A powerful, deeply troubling vision of modern labor.
Middle-aged Thierry is unemployed. Despite working the same job for many years, he has been laid off, and is now being subjected to the humiliating spectacle of searching for new employment. Virtual interviews, retraining courses, interviews in which he is subject to critique by fellow interviewees—all this, it seems, is engineered to break his morale. Finally, Theirry catches a break, earning gainful employment as a supermarket security guard. Soon enough, he realizes he is being paid to spy on his colleagues, putting him on a collision course with all the ethical convictions he held until now.
With a powerful central performance by Vincent Lindon, The Measure of a Man offers a deeply troubling, nuanced critique of the human cost of our present neoliberal economic order. Stéphane Brizé’s sixth film premiered at Cannes, where it won Best Actor and a Prize of the Ecumenical Jury.