LA LOI DU MARCHÉ

At 51, Thierry Taugourdeau is unemployed after being laid of by a profitable company. For 20 months, he has bounced between pointless on-the-job training programs, depressing visits to the unemployment office, and futile attempts to sell his camper van — the bills for the house he and his wife live in, and tuition fees for their handicapped child, can’t wait. Lacking any other options, Thierry takes a job as a security guard in a supermarket, a position that soon puts him into a thorny moral dilemma. After Mlle Chambon and Quelques heures de printemps, Stéphane Brizé once again demonstrates unparalleled attention to his protagonist, following him step by step, a shoulder-held camera giving his sequence shots ultra-realistic jitter as he plunges into the cruelty of the working world. Supported by a cast of non-professional actors is Brizé’s long-time favourite actor, Vincent Lindon, playing a man fighting hard to stand tall and preserve his dignity. It is an ideal role for the great actor, giving his character a spirited humanity that makes him a symbol of everyday tragedy — a performance acknowledged with an acting award at Cannes this year.