Human Resources review

Business student Franck (Jalil Lespert) takes a summer internship at the factory where his father (Jean-Claude Vallod) has toiled for three decades on the assembly line. During his placement in the human resources department, he proposes the workers be polled about the introduction of a 35-hour week. But when he learns the results will be used to implement further lay-offs, Franck is forced to decide where his affiliations lie...

This skilfully controlled debut feature from French director Laurent Cantet has already attracted comparisons with Ken Loach in both its themes and its naturalistic style. Shot without ostentation, Human Resources makes for a poignant study of inter-family relationships that mingles with a starkly unsentimental vision of contemporary labour relations.