Video & On Demand - The Measure of a Man DVD & Download

The Measure of a Man DVD & Download

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At the age of 51 and after twenty months of unemployment, Thierry (Vincent Lindon) starts a new job in security at a supermarket that soon brings him face to face with a moral dilemma.

How much is he willing to accept in order to keep his job is the central question that Measure of a Man (La Loi du Marché) addresses.

For his role as Thierry, Vincent Lindon, who was the only professional actor in the film, was awarded the Palme for Best Actor at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival, as well as the César for Best Actor in 2016, the French equivalent of the British BAFTA.

Best Actor, Competition, Cannes Film Festival 2015

César Award for Best Actor, France, 2016
Special Mention, Prize of the Ecumenical Jury, Cannes 2015

The DVD includes an interview with Stéphane Brizé.

CREW


Director	Stéphane BRIZÉ
Screenplay	Stéphane BRIZÉ and Olivier GORCE
Producers	Christophe ROSSIGNON and Philip BOËFFARD
Associate Producers	Vincent LINDON and Stéphane BRIZÉ
Line Producer	Eve FRANÇOIS MACHUEL
Director of Photography	Éric DUMONT
Editing	Anne KLOTZ
Assistant Director	Émile LOUIS
Sound	Emmanuelle VILLARD
Sound Editing and Mixing	Hervé GUYADER
Production Designer	Valérie SARADJIAN A.D.C.
Costume Designers	Anne DUNSFORD and Diane DUSSAUD
Casting	Coralie AMÉDÉO A.R.D.A.
Production Manager	Kim NGUYEN
Post Production Manager	Julien AZOULAY
A coproduction	NORD-OUEST FILMS – ARTE FRANCE CINÉMA
With the participation of	CANAL+, CINÉ+, ARTE FRANCE
With the support of	The ÎLE-DE-FRANCE Region
In collaboration with	CNC

93 minutes / 2.35 / 2k / 5.1 / 2015



CAST


Thierry Taugourdeau	Vincent LINDON
Employment Agency counselor	Yves ORY
Thierry’s wife	Karine de MIRBECK
Thierry’s son	Matthieu SCHALLER
Union colleague	Xavier MATHIEU
Dance teacher	Noël MAIROT
Bank manager	Catherine SAINT-BONNET
Mobile home buyer	Roland THOMIN
Mobile home buyer’s wife	Hakima MAKOUDI
Employment Agency tutor	Tevi LAWSON
Employment Agency interns	Fayçal ADDOU
	Dahmane BELGHOUL
	Florence HERRY-LEHAM
	Agnès MILLORD
	Irène RACCAH
	Christian RANVIER
	Cyril J. ROLLAND
	Sandrine VANG
Security agent n°1	Stéphanie HUREL
Young shoplifter	Soufiane GUERRAB
Retired woman	Gisèle GERWIG
Supermarket manager	Saïd AÏSSAOUI
Security agent n°2	Rami KABTENI
High school headmaster	Éric KROP
Interrogated cashier n°1	Françoise ANSELMI
Security Agent n°3	Jean-Eddy PAUL
Security Agent n°4	Samuel MUTLEN
Old shoplifter	Christian WATRIN
Human Resources Director	Guillaume DRAUX
Interrogated cashier n°2	Sakina TOILIBOU

★★★★

'This is a film whose subtleties and nuances accumulate; Lindon’s performance won him the best actor award at Cannes in 2015, and it was well deserved. A tough, clear-sighted, compassionate film.'

Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian

★★★★

'Uncompromisingly authentic, impeccably played and quietly compelling.'

Patrick Peters Empire

★★★★

'...at once compassionate, engrossing from start to finish, and utterly relevant.'

Geoff Andrew, Time Out

★★★★

'There is a quiet savagery to Brizé’s treatment of the capitalist machine...A social drama to cherish.'

Donald Clarke, The Irish Times
★★★★
A laid-off factory worker must fight for his dignity in a moving portrait of working-class life

'Vincent Lindon’s careworn, hangdog face has never been better used as Thierry, a former factory worker who finds himself forced into the demeaning circus of job-seeking and the day-to-day struggle to make ends meet. It’s a potent performance.'

Wendy Ide, The Observer

'Over three features starring Lindon (this one and Mademoiselle Chambon, 2009, and A Few Hours of Spring, 2012), director Stéphane Brizé has become a champion of ordinary people confronted with the mundane and yet tragic problems of everyday life – a happy couple breaking up, a terminally ill mother opting for assisted suicide, unemployment. In the new film, Brizé further develops his semi-documentary technique to explore the world of work.'

Ginette Vincendeau, Sight & Sound

'Lindon exudes ordinary, everyday decency and no-nonsense intelligence – qualities that sit perfectly with Brizé’s sharply observed study of professional integrity and moral compromise. Such is Lindon’s skill in the realist mode that he is entirely one with a cast which is, except for him, entirely non-professional'.

Geoff Andrew, Sight and Sound

★★★★
The Measure of a Man is a dour, slow-burning slice of life that gradually turns into a modern morality tale. It is sustained throughout by the depth of feeling in Lindon’s granite-like, hangdog performance – as he steps into the shoes of a man forced to decide what is truly important in his life.
Allan Hunter, The List

'Brilliant Lindon, whose eloquent subtlety has propelled him to the top  of most tipsters’ lists of the race for best actor at Cannes'.

Donald Clarke, The Irish Times

"Tremendous...absorbing and heartbreaking."

Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian

★★★★ 'A slow-burning slice of life that turns into a heartbreaking modern morality tale'

Allan Hunter, The Daily Express

★★★★ Anticipation ★★★★ Enjoyment ★★★★ Retrospect

'Vincent Lindon excels as an ill-fated factory worker in this engaging social drama... An absorbing and enraging look at a broken system.'

Phil Concannon, Little White Lies

★★★★

EYE FOR FILM (also see interview with Vincent Lindon under links)

★★★★

THE UPCOMING

CINEVUE (see interview with Vincent Lindon under links)

'Lindon brings gravitas and pathos to this role as the French everyman trying to stay afloat in a society that has spurned him.'

Geoffrey Macnab THE INDEPENDENT

"Excellent… superbly composed and performed"

Peter Bradshaw on Twitter

"While the competition’s French content was shaky, I admired immensely Stéphane Brizé’s The Measure of a Man (the French title actually means The Law of the Market). About the travails of a middle-aged jobseeker, it’s a low-key Dardennes-style social drama that has some very angry things to say about the dehumanising effects of management and recruitment cultures, and of CCTV cameras in supermarkets. See it, and you’ll feel decidedly nervous on your next trip to Waitrose."

Jonathan Romney, The Observer

"Featuring an extraordinary, almost inexplicably riveting lead performance from Vincent Lindon, who earned a Best Actor award at the Cannes Film Festival for his work here, Stéphane Brizé's "The Measure of a Man" is a terrific addition to the low-key social realist genre."

Jessica Kiang, The Playlist

"Potent, quiet protest against capitalist dehumanisation.  Lindon one of the most authoritative screen presences..."

Jonathan Romney (on Twitter)

"French social critique at its finest... Veteran French actor Vincent Lindon delivers a sterling performance in Stéphane Brizé’s low-key but devastating drama...Lindon’s heart-wrenching performance, is as restrained as it is moving"

Benjamin Dodman, The Atlantic

'Powerfully affecting... Compelling. A sharp and devastating force...Lindon excels... (He) is simply heartbreaking to watch.'

Scott Foundas, Variety

'This gripping, fiercely intelligent drama by Stéphane Brizé (I'm Not There To Be Loved) is of a piece with recent investigations by Laurent Cantet, the Dardennes et al into the dehumanizing effects of both unemployment and the workplace. Vincent Lindon, the recipient of the Best Actor prize at the Cannes Film Festival, gives a quiet performance of depth and authority imbuing his Everyman hero with emotional and existential heft.'

Jonathan Romney, LFF 2015 Programme

'It's a memorable portrait of a man whose dignity and humanity are slowly pried away from him, until he snatches them back at the end.'

J. R. Jones, The Chicago Reader

'Stéphane Brizé's humanist drama tallies the slow drip of dignity in a downsized world.'

Peter Howell, Toronto Star

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