Trois huit (2001)
Directed by Philippe Le Guay

Film Review

In his third film for the cinema, Trois huit, writer-director Philippe Le Guay sets out to explore the many facets of masculinity and answer the question what it is to be a man in our present era.  In particular, it focuses on two aspects of male identity, through the relationships of an ordinary modern man with his family and his colleagues at work.  In his attempts to gain approval from a bullying co-worker, the protagonist of the film, Pierre, subjugates himself and consequently falls in the esteem of his family.  To win back his self-respect and the sympathy of his wife and son, he must go against his habitually placid nature and assert his masculinity by hitting back against his abusive colleague. 

Le Guay's film deals intelligently and sensitively with its subject matter, adopting a raw social realist style that is instantly evocative of Ken Loach's films (the similarities with the British director's early film Kes are striking).  Other French auteur filmmakers have tackled issues relating to the workplace in a similar near-documentary style, most notably Laurent Cantet in Ressources humaines (1999).  Trois huit owes its impact as much to the performances of its male leads - Gérald Laroche and Marc Barbé - as to its author's meticulous writing and direction.  Laroche and Barbé convincingly depict two contrasting facets of the modern man - one cooperative and clubbable, the other spiteful and cruel.  It is through the warped mutual dependency that develops between Pierre and Fred that we see their contrasting characters and realise that they are, to a degree,  both victims of a socially imposed idea of masculinity.

In bold contrast to this hard-hitting social drama, Le Guay would make a dramatic shift to comedy for his next film, Le Coût de la vie, which satirises society's problematic relationship with money.  After this, the director went on to achieve box office success with two collaborations with his favourite actor, Fabrice Luchini - Les Femmes du 6e étage (2011) and Alceste à bicyclette (2013).  One of the most talented contributors to Trois huit is its composer Yann Tiersen, who previously scored Erick Zonca La Vie rêvée des anges (1998) and would immediately go on to compose his most famous score for Jean-Pierre Jeunet's Le Fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain (2001).

Film Synopsis

Pierre is a married man in his mid-thirties who works long hours at a glass-producing factory and leads a contented family life.  All is well until Pierre begins working the night shift and he falls under the malign influence of another worker, Fred.  The latter assures Pierre that he is his friend, but in reality he is a bully who takes a sadistic pleasure in harrassing and abusing his co-workers.  Pierre is a gentle and amiable man, so he proves to be the perfect victim for Fred, who passes up no opportunity to humiliate him in the course of their work.  Under this relentless barrage of abuse, Pierre finally snaps and he hits back.  But by this time, Fred's ill-treatment has already taken its toll.  Cowed by his enemy, Pierre has lost the respect of both his wife and his young son...