Not many films manage to make a man having a job interview over Skype compelling, but Stephane Brize proves it can be not only compelling but also heartbreaking in his latest film, The Measure of a Man.
In Brize’s current offering we meet Thierry, a working class French mechanic who has been out of work for almost two years and is currently grinding his way through inefficient unemployment training programs in the hopes of finding a job. With a wife and child back home to support Thierry’s predicament is dire. Finally he finds a job as a security guard in a supermarket and has to deal with his new responsibility of apprehending shoplifters and disobedient staff who are as desperate as he was mere weeks before.
The Measure of a Man is not the first film in recent times to deal with the current global economic climate and its ability to erode people’s sense of worth, but it definitely captures this feel better than most. Brize’s understated direction heightens the sense of tedium that Thierry feels while still amplifying the sense of fear and foreboding that builds as his situation becomes more and more hopeless.
Much of the time Thierry is framed in profile, dealing with a presence off screen or lurking in the periphery of the frame, which gives us the sense that he is constantly up against faceless barriers that he can’t seem to penetrate. Most of the film lingers on our hero’s face (Vincent Lindon gives a stellar performance as Thierry) as he is forced to hear bad news from all directions.
There is an element of macabre humour in this film as well, mostly derived from watching Thierry absorb insult upon injury. One particularly delightful scene sees Thierry smile resolutely while the rest of his class pick apart every piece of his performance in a mock job interview.
Even once Thierry lands a job and is making steps towards financial stability, Brize reminds us that the struggle isn’t over. The film keeps its sombre tone as Thierry negotiates his new workplace and colleagues, implying that even after gaining employment there is still little to hope for. The focus of the piece shifts from what it takes to gain stability to what it costs to live in such precarious circumstances.
There is simply nothing like watching a man get slowly torn down by the harsh world he lives in while stoically forging on regardless. The Measure of a Man is the perfect example of this story and deals with the question: how much of our integrity must we compromise to remain afloat?
This film is simple, well constructed and utterly moving. The Measure of a Man is banal, bleak and beautiful.
