''Human Resources'' (french: Ressources humaines) is a 1999 French-British comedy-drama film directed by

Laurent Cantet Laurent Cantet (; born 11 April 1961) is a French director, cinematographer and screenwriter. His film ''Entre les murs'' ('' The Class'') won the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival in 2008. Biography Laurent Cantet was born in 1961 in the town ...

. As the title implies, the subject of the film is the workplace and the personal difficulties that result from conflicts among management and labour, corporations and individuals. It stars

Jalil Lespert Jalil Lespert (born 11 May 1976) is a French actor, screenwriter and director. Life and career Born to an ethnic French (Pied-Noir) father, actor Jean Lespert, and an Algerian mother, who is an attorney and a jurist, Lespert first studied law, ...

. Most of the other actors are non-professionals. It won the César Award for Best First Feature Film and the

César Award for Most Promising Actor The César Award for Most Promising Actor (french: César du meilleur espoir masculin) is one of the César Awards, presented annually by the Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinéma to recognize the outstanding breakthrough performance of a yo ...

at the 26th César Awards.

Plot

Gaillon Gaillon () is a commune in the Eure department in northern France. History The origins of Gaillon are not really known. In 892, Rollo, a Viking chief, might have ravaged Gaillon and the region, before he became the first prince of the Normans an ...

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

, "good son" Franck returns to his hometown to do a trainee managerial internship in the Human Resources department of the factory where his anxious, taciturn father has worked on the shop floor for 30 years. At first, Franck is lauded by both friends and family for breaking through the

glass ceiling A glass ceiling is a metaphor usually applied to women, used to represent an invisible barrier that prevents a given demographic from rising beyond a certain level in a hierarchy.Federal Glass Ceiling Commission''Solid Investments: Making Full ...

and becoming " white-collar". But very soon hidden envy and rivalries erupt. Franck forms a friendship with Alain, a young worker whom his father has mentored. This mentoring in the

blue-collar A blue-collar worker is a working class person who performs manual labor. Blue-collar work may involve skilled or unskilled labor. The type of work may involving manufacturing, warehousing, mining, excavation, electricity generation and powe ...

workforce is contrasted with the cagier, trust-less mentoring Franck receives in the white-collar world from his own supervisor, Chambon. Franck discovers that his boss is going to use Franck's field study on the proposed

35-hour workweek The 35-hour working week is a part of a labour law reform adopted in France in February 2000, under Prime Minister Lionel Jospin's Plural Left government. Pushed by Minister of Labour Martine Aubry, it was adopted in two phases: the "Aubry 1" la ...

to justify downsizing - and that Franck's father is among those to be let go. This leads to a confrontation between the trainee and management, between the workers and the owners, and ultimately between son and father. In the emotional climax, Franck confronts his father and accuses him of imbuing him with a legacy of shame at being blue-collar.

Cast

Critical response

''Human Resources'' received generally positive reviews from critics. On

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the film has a rating of 97%, based on 32 reviews. On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, the film has a score of 78 out of 100, based on 25 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Stephen Holden of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' wrote, "As schematic as it becomes, ''Human Resources'' never loses its poignant human dimension. It is so beautifully acted that the cast, especially the nonprofessional actors playing the embattled factory workers, seems plucked from the streets of a provincial French town." ''

Sight & Sound ''Sight and Sound'' (also spelled ''Sight & Sound'') is a British monthly film magazine published by the British Film Institute (BFI). It conducts the well-known, once-a-decade ''Sight and Sound'' Poll of the Greatest Films of All Time, ongoing ...

'' described the film as "generous, sensitive and innovative. It is a film in which, in the widest possible sense, the personal is political."

Mick LaSalle Mick is a masculine given name, usually a short form ( hypocorism) of Michael. Because of its popularity in Ireland, it is often used in England as a derogatory term for an Irish person or a person of Irish descent. In Australia the meaning broad ...

of the ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H. de Young. The ...

'' said it "is a rare film about the class and educational divide that can happen even within families", while

Lisa Schwarzbaum Lisa Schwarzbaum (born July 5, 1952) is an American film critic. She joined ''Entertainment Weekly'' as a film critic in the 1990s and remained there until February 2013. Career She has been featured on CNN, co-hosted '' Siskel & Ebert at the Mov ...

of ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cu ...

'' called it "a compelling, cant-free drama about clashing class systems and challenged family relationships that's all the more engrossing for its organic, near- documentary style", and gave the film an "A-" grade.

Awards and nominations

César Awards The César Award is the national film award of France. It is delivered in the ' ceremony and was first awarded in 1976. The nominations are selected by the members of twelve categories of filmmaking professionals and supported by the French Min ...

** Winner – Most Promising Actor (

) ** Winner – Best First Work (

) ** Nominee –

Best Original Screenplay The Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay is the Academy Award for the best screenplay not based upon previously published material. It was created in 1940 as a separate writing award from the Academy Award for Best Story. Beginning with the ...

(Laurent Cantet,

Gilles Marchand Gilles Marchand (born 18 June 1963) is a French film director and screenwriter. He has directed five films since 1987. His film '' Qui a tué Bambi?'' was screened out of competition at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival The 56th Cannes Film Festival ...

) * Emden International Film Festival ** Winner – Award of the German Unions Association (Laurent Cantet) *

European Film Awards The European Film Awards (or European Film Academy Awards) have been presented annually since 1988 by the European Film Academy to recognize excellence in European cinematic achievements. The awards are given in 19 categories, of which the mo ...

** Winner – European Discovery of the Year (Laurent Cantet) * Lumiere Awards ** Winner – Most Promising Young Actor (Jalil Lespert) *

Louis Delluc Prize The Louis Delluc Prize (french: Prix Louis-Delluc ) is a French film award presented annually since 1937. The award is bestowed to the Best Film and Best First Film of the year on the second week of each December. The jury is composed of 20 members, ...

** Winner – Best First Film (Laurent Cantet) *

San Sebastián International Film Festival The San Sebastián International Film Festival ( SSIFF; es, Festival Internacional de San Sebastián, eu, Donostia Zinemaldia) is an annual FIAPF A category film festival held in the Spanish city of Donostia-San Sebastián in September, in ...

** Winner – Best New Director (Laurent Cantet) *

Seattle International Film Festival The Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF), held annually in Seattle, Washington since 1976, is among the top film festivals in North America. Audiences have grown steadily; the 2006 festival had 160,000 attendees. The SIFF runs for more th ...

** Winner – New Director's Showcase Award (Laurent Cantet) *

Thessaloniki International Film Festival The Thessaloniki International Film Festival (TIFF), organized by the cultural institution of the same name under the auspices of the Greek Ministry of Culture, is held every November in Thessaloniki.TIFF features international competition secti ...

** Winner – Best Screenplay (Laurent Cantet, Gilles Marchand) ** Nominee – Golden Alexander (Laurent Cantet) *

Torino Film Festival The Torino Film Festival (also called the Turin Film Festival, TFF) is an international film festival held annually in Turin, Italy. Held every November, it is the second largest film festival in Italy, following the Venice Film Festival. It was f ...

** Winner – Best First Feature Film (Laurent Cantet) ** Winner – Cipputi Award (Laurent Cantet) ** Winner – Special Mention for Feature Film (Jean-Claude Vallod) ** Nominee – Best Feature Film (Laurent Cantet)

References

External links

* * * *
A conversation with Laurent Cantet
{{European Film Award for Discovery of the Year 1999 films Films about the labor movement Films set in factories Films about social issues in France Films about social class Films about labor relations Workplace comedy films Films directed by Laurent Cantet British drama films French drama films 1990s French-language films 1999 drama films Best First Feature Film César Award winners Louis Delluc Prize winners European Film Awards winners (films) 1999 independent films 1999 directorial debut films 1990s British films 1990s French films