The Measure of a Man

Thierry Taugourdeau (Vincent Lindon) has been out of work for a year; one of hundreds laid off from his factory, he is struggling to make ends meet for his family on his meager unemployment. Thierry has not given up, but as the film observes his movements, we see the small ways in which the world is stacked against him. In his precarious position, each transaction in his life, whether large or small, holds consequences. When Thierry finds work as a security guard in a big box store, he is tested in new and unexpected ways. Working in the tradition of the Dardennes brothers, but with a style all his own, Stéphane Brizé immerses us in a system rife with small indignities and unexpected opportunities to be cruel or kind. Working beside non-professionals, Lindon gives a forceful but restrained performance as a man trying moment by moment to retain his humanity that won him the best actor prize at Cannes.