A dystopian vision of office life in the future, Carré blanc is combination of George Orwell’s 1984 and Delicatessen. Jean-Baptiste Léonetti spent nearly five years putting together his stark film that combines ubiquitous corporations, sycophant co-workers and greed. The planet resources have been consumed and world is controlled by a single-minded company which seems to be a combination of Apple and Starbucks. Humanity faces a paradox: the population is plummeting but people are most valued as food.
Philippe is a mid-level manager who is charged with performance evaluation, delivering tests which vary from sadistic to absurd to his colleagues. Earlier in his life, he had an independent spirit but now he is content to maintain the status quo. His wife, Marie, has become dissatisfied with their superficial marriage, lives and existence and begins rebelling against the system.
When culture has become faceless, replaced with generic elevator music and an obsession with croquet, how does an individual find an identity? Throughout the film, Philippe begins to realize that he has been lying to himself and he can no longer continue in the same role. When Philippe and Marie rediscover their love and passion and choose to devote themselves to each other, it should be the end of the rising action and the beginning of a thrilling climax, perhaps along the lines of Bonnie and Clyde or A Clockwork Orange. Instead, this development signals the end of the film, leaving the audience with memorable imagery but no real plot or character development.
Léonetti should be commended for his unique vision and the care that was taken to create this bleak post-modern landscape. Still shots focus on Philippe as he performs his repetitive job or the smiling security guard whose duties are controlled by a machine. They carry on as the world seems frozen around them. Carré blanc shows that uniformity does not equate with conformity as each character lives on an island, facing an existence bereft of meaningful social interaction.
Ideas like greed and selfishness have turned society into a pathetic charade. Despite the odds, some characters persist and display the empathy sorely lacked by their peers. Their efforts occur in a vacuum as the showdown between distinctiveness and conformity never materializes. The audience may laugh occasionally but they are never moved as Carré blanc never becomes a true film; it is a detailed postcard. **½