Human, All too Human

Reading the reviews posted tells any prospective viewer what they need to know about the documentary. It is almost devoid of human voices, just the sounds of the car production with about 15 minutes worth of noisy conversation at a car sales market. In fact I was relived when the film returned to the car factory because I found the gable of the conversations too much. So in one sense Malle's documentary achieves something rare.

Sadly I found the lingering shots of the movements boring after a while. It's telling that the camera, during these moments, focuses on a very specific detail, e.g. the glint of a buckle on a shoe as the man walks back and forth, rings on fingers feeding wire and metal rods into machines, the angle of a woman's neck as she bends slightly twisted over a machine and so on. There is a need for the human and the camera finds something in each worker and stays with it. Hence the title, which strictly speaking translates as 'Human, All too Human'.

I give my respect to those who have earned it; to everyone else, I'm civil.