Director: Robert Gu\u00e9diguian.\u00a0 France, 2011. 107 minutes.\u00a0 Cert: CLUB.\u00a0 Language: French (subtitled).<\/p>\n
Fifty-year-old Michel is a man of principle. When his union holds a lottery to see which men will be laid off, he includes his name, and finds himself faced with early retirement. It\u2019s an adjustment, but he has his modest pension, a happy marriage and plenty of grandchildren to occupy his time, along with the sense that he did the right thing.<\/p>\n
Then, one evening, Michel and his wife are the victims of a crime. The trauma of this crime is bad enough, but when Michel learns the identity of one of the perpetrators, his complacency is shaken. Has he become a smug member of the middle class? \u201cWhat would we have thought of us,\u201d he asks his wife, Marie Claire, \u201cTry to imagine us, 30 years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
Based on a poem (\u201cHow Good Are the Poor?\u201d) by Victor Hugo, this gentle film is about the ethical and emotional adjustments of middle age, as Michel\u2019s sense of social justice struggles with his personal rage against the unrepentant young man who robbed and beat him.<\/p>\n
Ariane Ascaride is delightful as Michel\u2019s assertive and supportive wife, and Jean-Pierre Darroussin delivers a thoughtful performance as an ordinary man who aspires – not always successfully – to a more than ordinary morality.<\/p>\n
Set in Marseille, the signature location of art-house director Robert Gu\u00e9diguian, this beautiful film scores impressive emotional moments as moral certainties are challenged.<\/p>\n