NIGHT SHIFT

Trois Huit

Director Philippe Le Guay / 2000 / France

This tense psychological thriller - based on a true story - that follows Pierre, a day worker who finds himself under extreme harassment by co-worker Fred when he takes on a graveyard shift at a bottle factory. Sadistically humiliated, Pierre's confidence in his masculinity disintegrates - leading towards a violent, teeth-gritting climax. As the narrative progresses, the perspective of Pierre's son comes to the fore, alluding to the transition of coded male behaviour between generations of men. A grim character study of a volatile persona in the context of workplace victimisation.

"All too real in its portrayal of a victim trying to convince himself that his tormentor is a good guy really. Marc Barbé is compelling as Fred, the charmless loser and boozer on the nightshift who bullies Pierre (Gérald Laroche). This is a rigorously observed emotional drama. It is, as the Hollywood suits say, a 'tough watch'." - The Guardian

Philippe Le Guay enrolled in the Institut des Hautes Etudes Cinématographiques in Paris in 1980, before writing and directing his first feature film Les Deux Fragonard in 1989, followed by L'Année Juliette in 1995. Night Shift (Trois Huit) is his third feature.

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