Continuing my mission to watch every item in Costa-Gavras' filmography, I turned to Le Couperet, one of his most recent movies. Written with long-time collaborator Jean-Claude Grumberg, this is the adaptation of a Donald E. Westlake about a family man who's sacked after years of loyalty and dedication to his work so that the corporation can relocate to a cheaper place. Realising there's too much competition on a market that's overfilled with job-seekers, he decides to kill the competition so he can be the only man to apply to a vacancy.
It's an absurd premise, fit for the absurd world we live in and which this movie depicts very well, in which productive people are sacked, corporations are free to exploit people, and normal people are forced to extreme measures to survive.
Costa-Gavras continues to build on the work that has made him one of the best European directors of of our times, by exposing what's wrong with the world and inviting viewers to think about these matters.
From a technical perspective, it's a straightforwards, well-directed movie. Costa-Gavras was never one to dazzle with visuals; he prefers to dazzle with ideas and this movie shows him in command of character, story, and pacing, making Le Couperet one of his most enjoyable movies in a long time.
It's an absurd premise, fit for the absurd world we live in and which this movie depicts very well, in which productive people are sacked, corporations are free to exploit people, and normal people are forced to extreme measures to survive.
Costa-Gavras continues to build on the work that has made him one of the best European directors of of our times, by exposing what's wrong with the world and inviting viewers to think about these matters.
From a technical perspective, it's a straightforwards, well-directed movie. Costa-Gavras was never one to dazzle with visuals; he prefers to dazzle with ideas and this movie shows him in command of character, story, and pacing, making Le Couperet one of his most enjoyable movies in a long time.