The Comedy of Work (La comédie du travail)

directed by Luc Moullet

1987, France, 85m, DCP

In this absurdist comedy set in France’s ‘80s period of economic austerity, Moullet stages a series of gags about the culture of work and welfare in France. Among these is the story of a job counselor (Sabine Haudepin) who falls in love with an “unemployed professional”, and decides to seduce him by offering him a managerial position—at the the expense of an overly-qualified and career-obsessed man laid-off that same day. No one is spared in this lucid ,cruel dance of failed expectations and grotesque ideologies. Moullet (who cameos as a character named “Mr. Unemployed”) employs a tone of light-hearted derision rather than somber indignation. Every frame is delightfully crafted and offers some respite, in spite of a subject that teeters on the edge of tragic. -Pauline Kraatz, Mezzanine

“A dryly comic investigation into the contradictions and indignities of modern labor, and might be Moullet’s most incisive work.” -Film at Lincoln Center

preceded by:

Barres

1984, France, 14m

In this endlessly inventive short, Moullet portrays all the ways one can get onto the Paris Metro without paying.