The effect of Michael Moore's seminal film Roger & Me is front and centre in reporter- turned-director François Ruffin's Merci, Patron!. But "Merci, Patron!" is no wannabe. It is a full-hearted and hilarious attack on the terrors of a capitalist society that benefits only the few, and it shows a gutsiness surpassed only by the nefarious pranksters The Yes Men.
Provocateur Ruffin has aimed his sights clearly on French billionaire Bernard Arnault of LVMH Corporation. Arnault has positioned himself as an efficient businessman and philanthropist to the arts. But Ruffin is positioning Jocelyne and Serge Klur, two of the casualties of LVMH's assault on the French middle-class, as the media superstars who can redefine the economic discussion in France. Through up-front confrontation and clandestine operations, Ruffin rips apart the French hypocrisy as easily as his mentor Moore has done.
Merci, Patron! was a box-office smash in France, easily setting records despite almost no marketing budget. The popularity of the film in France is a testament to the growing feeling in French society that the rich are no longer their countrymen. Powerfully, Ruffin's message is equally relevant to any country in the global/ized market.
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