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Ressources humaines is a 1999 French film (Human Resources) directed by Laurent Cantet. As the name implies, the subject of the film is the workplace and the personal tragedies that result from the conflicts between management and labour, and corporations and individuals. It stars Jalil Lespert. Most of the other actors are non-professionals. It is the winner of numerous international awards, and is one of the featured films at the 2005 Traverse City Film Festival. Subtitled in English, available on DVD.
[edit] Plot & Theme
Set in Limoges, the movie tells the story of "good son" Franck (Jalil Lespert), who returns to his hometown to do a trainee managerial internship in the Human Resources department of the factory where his anxious, taciturn father has worked for 23 years. At first Franck is lauded by both friends and family for breaking through the glass ceiling and becoming "white-collar". But very soon hidden envy and rivalries erupt. Franck forms a friendship with Alain, a young co-worker whom his father has mentored. This mentoring in the blue-collar workforce is contrasted with the cagier, trust-less mentoring Franck receives in the "white-collar" world from his own supervisor, Chambon.
Franck discovers that his boss is going to use the field study on the "35-hour work week" that Franck implemented to justify downsizing - and that Franck's father is among those to be let go. This leads to a confrontation between the trainee and the management, between the workers and the owners, and ultimately between son and father. In the emotional climactic scene, Franck confronts his father and accuses him of imbuing him with a legacy of shame at being "blue-collar".
The movie ends with Franck asking Alain (and presumably the viewer) : "What is your place? When are you leaving?" placing a clear social and political value judgement upon individual choice in the developmental crisis of life.
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