Sauf le respect que je vous dois

"Sauf le respect que je vous dois" starts like one of those recent socially-committed French movies ( such as "Ressources humaines", "Marie-Line", "Violence des échanges en milieu tempéré", "Le couperet" ...) that courageously examine the deterioration of today's working conditions and industrial relations.

Indeed, in a firm named DSBO and located in the West of France (but exemplifying a lot of others worldwide), you have no other choice but work hard, all too often after office hours, give up holidays, neglect your family or else ...

One of the employees, Simon Lacaze(Jean-Michel Portal), a reluctant, hypersensitive young man,bridles up, fighting desperately for a minimum of free time to be spent with his wife and friends, among whom François Durrieux (Olivier Gourmet). To no avail, as he ends up being fired by his boss (deceptively pleasant Jean-Marie Winling). And ignominiously so... Simon chooses to commit suicide in his office the very night a party is being given by his self-satisfied employer.

At this stage of the story, director Fabienne Godet and co-writer Franck Vassal could opt for a militant, feel good tone, having the characters gradually become aware of the situation they are in, go on strike to protest against the unfair treatment they are given and win their case. But the authors are not the optimistic kind and although they do believe that unity makes strength they know that unity is not easily achieved. Instead, they choose to describe François' righteous but lonely rebellion against the system. Too tortured, too awkward, too violent to involve his colleagues in an organized movement, he starts drifting alone, going round in circles, on a winding road leading nowhere.

The tone is bitter, mirroring the current situation in many a company today, not indulging in false hopes. Godet, whose first feature film this is, proves an able director. A first-rate cast helps: Gourmet, Blanc, Portal, Cotillard, Depardieu and young Jeffrey Barbeau give intense performances and make the film genuinely poignant and never goody-goody. A no-nonsense work that deserves to be seen.

I don't want to give away anything about the story or the characters, I just feel I have to write this because I cannot stand reading ignorant user comments about this great movie. This film was the first in a long time that I reacted to emotionally. It is so realistic and powerful it's sometimes painful to watch.

It is one of the few movies where the violent actions of the characters fit perfectly to the inner process every character finds himself in. The exchange between the slower sequences and the short and abrupt acts of violence is done so wonderfully I can't praise it enough. When you tell the story of this movie to a friend he is probably going to say that it doesn't sound that realistic but if you just look at each action for itself you realize that it really could happen (and has happened) like this.

"Sauf le respect que je vous dois" is a complex movie, I'm sure you will find more things each time you watch it. It is well written, I loved the cinematography and the flow of the scenes and the actors are unbelievably good. Hard to believe that this is the first feature of the director who added some interesting thoughts in the Q&A session after the screening I had the pleasure to attend (in Berlin). I hope this film gets a lot more attention because it really is a movie about our modern times and a precise observation of the situation many employees find themselves in. It is NOT a thriller just because someone is running away from the police. And though you may consider it "very french" because of the few dialogue that is used in some scenes, this french style never fitted so well to a story like it does here.

Remember the name Fabienne Godet. In her first full feature film, she shows she might be the next great French director if she can improve on this fantastic movie.

"Sauf le respect que je vous dois" is a gripping tale on the working conditions in modern times but more importantly, on the human condition. Olivier Gourmet is yet again giving an amazing performance as Francois Durrieux, a loyal and quiet employee and a loyal and quiet family man whose world begins to fall apart as he questions the firm he works for and life he is living.

It is easy to see this movie as only a pamphlet on work environment conditions (as some reviews for the movie suggest) when it is so much more. The movie tackles many themes dealing with straying from the seemingly linear path individuals today often seem to be caught in, and the price one might have to pay when he stands up for himself, for others and questions the way things are.

The direction is top notch and along with the cinematography will remind many of a nascent Jacques Audiard (France's best director right now, in fact one of the world's best). The movie is beautiful yet very much organic and life-like. The score by Oscar-winner Dario Marianelli is simply breathtaking, a minimalist and haunting gem!

Olivier Gourmet might give his best performance here in a very challenging role and the rest of the cast is very effective as well. No points are hammered by the script or the director and there isn't much dialogue yet there is so much to digest from this movie concerning our life priorities, loyalties and beliefs.

The movie ends with a wonderful statement "Il ne faut plus avoir peur" (Roughly: we shouldn't be afraid anymore) that spoke a lot to me and the people I watched this movie with.

Highly recommended as a drama, even if it might feel disjointed at time. You get an opportunity to watch underrated and excellent actors, a most promising director and an elite music composer on top of his game while experiencing a socially relevant and poignant story.

Again and again, Olivier Gourmet delivers. Maybe -again, this film is not for the more inclined to American films. This one takes you into a roller-coaster of emotions that are pathetically real. Through the dissolving agents of a family breakdown. Through the bitterness of a soul that never lets his feelings show. Through the real life randomness of actions that end abruptly in pain. Through characters so well depicted that you may think you're living the process with them.

Some people argue that suspension of disbelief is a sine qua non condition to get inside a theatre or cinema and sit to watch the tragedy develop. And it is true. But when what is happening right in front of your eyes, touches some inner fibres, it accomplished its mission: to take you in the realms of dreams. This film may make your reactions more visceral, because you know someone who's been through some of the pathos of the script.

Is this a slow film? It depends on this: if what makes you react is something like Transformers or Jurassic Park, this is not a film for you. But if you are someone who likes to think and develop arguments with others, and watch Bresson, Bergman, the Coen brothers or films that deal with reality and fiction so well that end up depicting aspects of real life, then, this film is for you and it won't "feel" slow.

Again, Olivier Gourmet leading the cast with an ensemble of truly accomplished actors and actresses, was the right and only choice for this film by one of the few women who have been directing for almost fifteen years in France.

More a film sustained by acting than the story. Maybe, because the last seems naif and unrealistic as axis of a sort of social manifesto. The great virtue - the effort of Olivier Gourmet to propose a fine portrait of friend, vulnerable man, idealistic worker. Second - the young Jeffrey Barbeau. And, sure, Cotillard. But the film has few not small holes , transforming it just in expression of good intentions.