En jouant Dans la compagnie des hommes (2003)
Directed by Arnaud Desplechin

Film Review

En jouant Dans la compagnie des hommes is the cinematic equivalent of an army assault course - tough, challenging and most definitely not for the faint-hearted.  The subject is not without some interest, although admittedly not everyone would be motivated to sit through a two-hour long film about corporate battles.  However, Arnaud Desplechin's treatment of it is demanding in the extreme.  Anyone who finds Jean-Luc Godard's films of the 1980s and 1990s hard-going is advised to give this film a very wide berth.   Whilst the film has a great deal of originality in the way it is shot and constructed, it is singularly lacking in charm and feels horribly like a shallow exercise in cinematic intellectualism for the sake of it.    The performances - which are generally pretty good - are stifled by the extremely self-conscious artistry in the filming and editing, and the end result fails to satisfy either as film drama or as an attempt at deconstructed cinematic art.

Film Synopsis

Edward Bond's play 'In the Company of Men' is in the process of being turned into a film.  The director assembles a number of actors for screen tests and then proceeds to the rehearsals.  It is a film about how powerful men in today's ruthless corporate world wage war against one another in the relentless pursuit of wealth and even more power.  Two large business empires are gearing up for a fierce showdown.  An international distribution company run by Hammer intends launching a takeover bid of an armaments group owned by Jurrieu.  The latter's son, Léonard, is anxious to prove himself, but he is naive and inexperienced, and in trying to impress his father he makes himself a pawn in Hammer's game of corporate politics.  Realising that he has been caught in a trap, Léonard has only one option if he is to prevent his father's company from being swallowed up by his fierce rival...