This drama about a labor-management conflict tearing apart a father-son relationship is truly one of the finest French films of the last decade and is a must for anyone interested in contemporary films on social issues. Terrific performances especially by Jean-Claude Vallod as the factory worker father, Jalil Lespert as the management-trainee son, Chantal Barré as his mother, and Danielle Mélador as the feisty rep of the Communist-backed CGT union--among others. Though Cantet's subsequent films ('Time Out'/'L'Emploi du temps', 2001, 'Heading South'/'Vers le sud,' 2005) have been interesting and original, he has yet to hit on anything as strong as this. First time I've seen this film again since it appeared briefly in a Berkeley theater in 2000, and it moved me just as deeply as it did then. A great deal more could be said about 'Human Resources,' but most of it has already been said. I wish Jalil Lespert, who has appeared in so many films, had had more roles like this, but the only other notable one I know of for him is as 'Le Petit Lieutenant,' in Xavier Beauvois' touching and well acted cop flick, for which Nathalie Baye got the Best Actress Cesar.
Review of Human Resources
