The Measure of a Man

2015 ‘La Loi du marché’ Directed by Stéphane Brizé

At the age of 51 and after 20 months on unemployment, Thierry starts a new job that soon brings him face to face with a moral dilemma. How much is he willing to accept to keep his job?

Vincent Lindon Karine de Mirbeck Mathieu Schaller Yves Ory Xavier Mathieu Noel Mairot Catherine Saint-Bonnet Christophe Rossignon Soufiane Guerrab

Alternative Titles

Der Wert des Menschen, A Simple Man, La loi du marché, Un homme

drama

93 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film

Popular reviews

Review by Eli Hayes ★★★½ 4

The Measure of a Man is not a film that will be lauded for its direction nor for its cinematography, screenplay or editing. It’s a film that will be remembered for its absorbing lead performance. Vincent Lindon takes one deep into the mind of Thierry, a man who has recently lost his factory job and is now trying desperately to find work. Unfortunately, obstructions of the modern world, from the current state of the economy to the introduction of technology in the workplace, prevent him from doing so and thus he struggles to support his family financially.
After impressing in Claire Denis’ recent atmospheric thriller, Bastards, Lindon goes to greater lengths here, deeply sinking into his role and displaying Thierry’s…
Review by Michael Sicinski ★★★ 1

[6]
I've always found it interesting and a little odd that Harun Farocki worked with Christian Petzold on so many of his recent features, because on their surface, those films -- The State I Am In, Ghosts, Barbara, and Phoenix -- don't bear much resemblance to the documentaries and essay-films for which Farocki is known. This means nothing in itself, of course. Farocki was a versatile artist, and working with Petzold no doubt allowed him to explore different parts of his creative personality, such as his extensive cinephilia.
But all other things being equal, if I were to imagine what Farocki's fixations and sensibilities might look like as applied to a narrative film, the result would strongly resemble The Measure…
Review by davidehrlich ★★★½

Stéphane Brizé's "The Measure of a Man” begins in the middle of a conversation between a laid-off factory worker named Thierry (Vincent Lindon) and one of the many career counselors, job recruiters and loan officers who are largely powerless to help him get back on his feet. The bedraggled 51-year-old Frenchman has spent the first months of his unemployment learning how to operate a crane, only to be told that his efforts won't be rewarded with a job. "You can't mess with people,” Thierry growls at the lackey on the other side of the desk, but both of them know full well that he's wrong — in the corporate world, messing with people isn't just a possibility, it's often a prerequisite for success.
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Review by Graham Williamson ★ 5

Vincent Lindon is, as ever, terrifically watchable: interior, brooding, prowling, complex. Otherwise, what a chore this is, the kind of listless, aimless, pointless, joyless social realist drama that takes a look at the modern French job market and sort of shrugs at it. Its ad-libbed scenes ramble on for so long, I felt like I'd endured a whole TV box-set in the time it took for director Stéphane Brizé to drag them to a conclusion. When the best shot in your movie comes from a CCTV camera, you're in trouble; the final shot, in particular, is the sort of thing that would make any sensible director demand a retake.
Review by Cindy T ★★★★ 2

The Measure of a Man is a socio-drama in the style of the Dardenne brothers. Two Days, One Night without the deadline. The film features an outstanding performance by Vincent Lindon. His Best Actor Award at Cannes was well-deserved.
Review by russman ★★★½

The lead actor Vincent Lindon is 181 cm tall (5'11")
Review by Mark Cunliffe ★★★½

...Or 'I was looking for a job, and then I found a job, and Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now'
A French film in the style of Ken Loach (who is of course very popular and acclaimed in France), The Measure Of A Man lacks however some key Loachian touches, notably a sense of humour or a strong dramatic drive. Stephané Brizé's film is compassionate, but indirect. There's an aimless, lingering quality to its scenes that belie its mere ninety minute runtime, making it feel much, much longer.
In the central role of Thierry, Vincent Lindon evokes our sympathy as he tries to keep a hold of his quiet dignity in the face of the dehumanizing nature and misery of ineffective…
Review by Steven Sheehan ★★★★

There is more than a hint of the Dardennes or Ken Loach in this tough character study of a man forced to reassess his standing in the world and the principles that have been the cornerstone of his working life. Vincent Lindon is magnificent in the most subdued sense, always in front of lens, trying to retain a sense of dignity as the rug is continually pulled from under his feet by systematic bureaucracy.
Thierry finds himself unemployed in his fifties, a traditional breadwinner who spent years working in a factory for the same company, with a wife and teenage son with special needs to support. Their savings are slowly dwindling away and Theirry lacks the relevant skills to find…
Review by Arlis ★★★½ 2

2015 Watchlist
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They didn't even measure him. My guess is 5'11.
Review by Zach a.m. ★★★½

This movie is basically my life right now.
A few details are different, I am not French or middle-aged, and I don't have a wife. But I have basically wasted three years of my life getting training for something that won't help me and every day I wake up could be the day I wind up getting a forklift license.
Watching Lindon get torn apart in a post-practice interview review also hits home at literally every one of the anxieties I have about how I present myself.
Jesus.
The second half with him actually working a job as a security guard, where he has to compromise himself morally by harassing shoplifters and thieving employees who are forced into these acts due to being as strapped of cash as he was, is unfortunately more funny than heart-wrenching or though-provoking. Still, you feel him.
Review by skyhir ★½

Sorry Jesus, the crucifixion thing just seems kinda weak after watching Vincent Lindon do retail security.
Review by Vincent Lao ★★★

A strong central performance by Vincent Lindon elevates this vapid socio-realist drama by Stéphane Brizé. The Measure of a Man follows the struggle of an unemployed family man Thierry, who then works as a security guard in a supermarket. I’m not familiar with Stéphane Brizé, but here he goes a la Dardenne brothers-fashion (recalling the dynamics of Two Days, One Night) documenting real-life scenarios of the working class that is quite unconvincing in its execution. Brizé injects some scenes of confrontations of people in the workplace but it didn’t instill vitality into the overall thread of the narrative. Its digressions became merely a ‘digression’ rather than a significance to the film. Lindon captures the struggle of the everyman and blends easily to the crowd which the film is effectively trying to convey, but the writing and directing doesn’t match its acting excellence. Overall, the intentions are quite admirable but The Measure of a Man stands as forgettable.

Recent reviews

Review by Thibault Fatton

📀📀💿
Review by Cogerson ★★★

This drama about a middle-aged man trying to find employment is ok, but never really gets going. There is not much joy in this one. Just one depressing scene after another. The performances are fine. The story will probably register with many, but it is not one I will ever re-visit.
Review by Arlis ★★★½ 2

2015 Watchlist
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They didn't even measure him. My guess is 5'11.
Review by Bil Antoniou ★★½

Find the full review here: wp.me/p3waMl-t9c
Review by Tommaso Fantini ★★★

Decisamente lento (i passi di danza durano almeno 4 minuti!) ma questo tipo di film ha un pregio, farti entrare senza eccessivo voyeurismo nella vita altrui, nella quotidianità altrui, nella disperazione altrui. La buona recitazione degli attori (credo non professionisti!) aiuta il regista (stephane brize’) a confezionare un prodotto utile, crudo e preciso nei passi.
Review by Cinefeel ★★★

Why does his hardship persist? (Down)
Review by Lucone ★★

Film d'impatto civile molto attuale. Grande tema, forma uguale ad altri 1200 film europei. Peccato
Review by little_john ★★★★

Sehr nüchternes Kino, das heißt aber nicht das der Film weniger Wucht besitzt.
75/100
Review by Damirowski ★★★½

The story revolves around Thierry, an unemployed, middle-aged man, who starts hitting rock bottom because he has to pay for his ill son's educations.
He hasn't been working for 10 months, job center can't find him any work at all, and banks are not very flexible to give him a loan either.
Economic crisis hits working class in France, and it is encompassed throughout the whole movie. Not only that it hits you with its harsh truth, but it does it slowly and thoroughly.
Even though people are desperate and broke, it somehow doesn't concern bureaucrats. Sounds familiar, right?
Thierry is a mild mannered person, keeps his head down all the time, doesn't interfere in anyone's business, however, people he…
Review by itamarri ★★★★½

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Review by DasKulturblog ★★

Komplette Kritik: daskulturblog.com/2016/03/27/deprimierendes-franzoesisches-sozialdrama-der-wert-des-menschen/
Die Handkamera bleibt bei dieser arte-Co-Produktion immer dicht an ihrer Hauptfigur.
„Der Wert des Menschen“ ist eine 90minütige Sozialstudie, die sich ihrem Thema hochkonzentriert widmet. Nur der Nebenstrang des behinderten Sohnes wirkt etwas zu krampfhaft hinzugefügt.
Review by dirtbikeredden ★★★

I was really enjoying the first half of the film quite a lot; but once the main character finds a job in the second half, it really starts to lose my interest and becomes a mostly boring film from that point on.
Decent To Strong 6/10