Class, work and dignity are the themes around which Laurent Cantet's Human Resources revolves. It is a brave political film and the politics are, I dare say, complex enough: Cantet's political angle crosses with existential questions about family relations, shame and resentment.
The story takes its departure from the return of a son, Frank, to his home town. He is employed in a management position in the human resources department in the factory where his father has toiled for many years. His father epitomizes the loyal worker, the worker who is proud to be reliable and efficient. He works by a machine and he is proud of his son who has "made something of himself". The father wants Frank to be integrated in the management class, to eat at the table at which the white collar workers eat. The son is an idealist who wants to make things better at the factory; he believes in his position, that he can change things in a positive way. Frank takes an initiative to make a survey about how the workers feel about a 35-hour week. For him, this is a good way to involve the workers, to make them feel committed, to create a more democratic workplace. For upper management, the questionnaire is an excuse for another drastic reform: scaling back the labor power. When Frank realizes what is going on, that his father is also one of the workers to be laid off, he joins the union and starts a strike together with them and their grizzled leader Danielle. His father is not happy about the strike. He continues to work. Frank reacts strongly to this. In a burst of anger, he announces that he is ashamed of his father.
Cantet's film looks at what one might call "the work ethic". The father is not reduced to a parody of the working class man. It is easy enough to see his position. He is afraid, he wants to be loyal, and most of all, he wants a good future for his son, for whom he has sacrificed. He takes pride in his work and the film shows the complexity and the problematic sides of this sense of pride. Cantet seems to interpret this pride as at least partly an aspect of power relations. The father sees the core of his existence in his work, but at the same time he is ashamed and when talking to his son, he acts the role of a "mere" worker. What we see is a man whose life is governed by his work, while his home life seems to be a breathing hole. Cantet puts the son's shame and the father's shame side by side and he lets both of these reactions reveal something about class society. Ambivalence is present in them both, but in different ways. The boy is positioned as the white collar worker, but from early on, he is uncomfortable with the relation he is thereby entangled with, along with the things he is thereby alienated from (like his old buddies).
Ultimately, this is also a film about corporate cruelty and the structures that tries to keep it intact. "Human resources" is a word with positive connotation; here, the word is associated with clandestine manouvres and power tactics.
Human resources is a riveting film that takes issue with deep-going conflicts and troubling emotions. It is a film that has stuck in my mind ever since I watched it many years ago. For me, this is one of the best films about work: the primary virtue of this film is perhaps that it moves on so many levels and in doing this it reveals very conflictual attitudes towards work.
What makes this film even more likeable is the brilliant performances by the mostly non-professional actors. None of the characters end up as clichés. The strength of Cantet's vision is that he lets us care about many things all at once, he lets us see the ambivalence and the tensions of the situation.
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