Humain, trop humain

Content

The film is dedicated to Malle critical issues in automobile manufacturing. It documents the exploitation, alienation, consumer behavior, caused by mass production. The film was shot at only two locations, the one in the production halls of the Citroën factory and on the other in a car show. The film is divided into three components. The first is dedicated to the manufacturing process of vehicles in chronological order, from individual parts to the finished product. The second sequence is reproduced from a kind of collage in the talks, sounds and impressions of a car show. The third is devoted to the production conditions from the perspective of the worker, in particular the relationship between man and machine.

It is a documentary about the production of automobiles and people who need to exercise a monotonous work on the assembly line. Malle chose a car factory in France, which was equipped at the time with the most advanced production line equipment. He stayed there for a week in order to bring home to the viewer a sense of the monotonous work. The recordings of the work noise to provide an authentic picture of the working conditions of an assembly line production that does not require any comment. Malle makes the images and sounds deliberately speak for themselves. He noted this: "I wanted the audience to feel exhausted when they came out of the film, as exhausted as if they had an eight-hour shift behind him. "