Richard arrives 3 minutes late to a mandatory job center appointment due to giving up his seat on the bus. His advisor penalizes him for being late, which pushes Richard to desperate measures. A man enters the office and kills Richard's advisor with a nail gun. Richard then takes papers from the advisor's desk, showing how the rigid benefits system can destroy people.

1. THE MASS OF MEN (2012) 17MINS
HTTPS://VIMEO.COM/45800557
Directed by Gabriel Gauchet NFTS
Analysis by Rosie Brown

2. BACKGROUND
• The British short film called The Mass Of Men is directed by Gabriel
Gauchet.
• Peter Faulkner stars as Richard, an unemployed man who is penalised for
arriving late to a job centre appointment with his advisor Kate, played by
Jane McDowell.
• According to Gauchet, the film was based on the experiences of friends
and family who were jobseekers and suffered similar humiliation.
• The short film has been selected by 111 different film festivals and is a
winner of 58 film awards

3. PLOT
• This short film looks at the UK’s benefits system, the casualties of its
rigid system and the extremes people can be pushed to when they are
treated as nothing more than a name and number on a screen.
• Richard, an unemployed man, arrives 3 minutes late for his appointment
at a job centre. An advisor, stifled by the limits of the system she works
in, has no choice but to penalise him for his lack of organisation. To
avoid plunging further into darkness, Richard takes desperate measures.

4. NARRATIVE ANALYSIS
• The main character, Richard, is portrayed as the ultimate victim in this short film as throughout he looks
crushed and defeated. He is represented as a ordinary human being. The protagonist of this short film is a
symbolic Everyman. He is almost a mythic figure; he is what can happen to all of us. much like the central
figure in I, Daniel Blake.
• Richard isn’t much of a hero, he carries a plastic bag, he is breathless, apologetic and dishevelled. Yet he is
depicted positively. He is honest in his words. He is a good man: before he enters the office, he gives up his
seat on the bus, which is why he is late.
• The short is in three acts. The opening scene of the film is delivered through webcam footage showing an
unprovoked killing using a nail gun with the victim being the job advisor. After this, there is a shot of the main
character snatching something from the desk, this is later explained why when the short film goes on. This
makes the audience feel like they are plunged into this situation, leaving them with many questions like why?
The enigma unfolds.
• We think Richard’s interview is going to be a normal interview. Todorov would call a scene like this the state of
equilibrium. The audience believes throughout the interview that the system is going to beat Richard, as he
acts resigned and submissive, but then the audience is shocked by the violent intrusion of an angry man who
sweeps through the office spraying nails and dealing destruction. Todorov would call this an action that
disrupts the equilibrium.
• The film ends on a different equilibrium, as people lie there dead. Richard ends up being dishonest, the
audience see him creeping to her desk to snatch and destroy the report, he has turned into a different person.
He is no longer the same human being: to survive in a brutal system, he has to cheat and put himself first,
even if it means behaving in a heartless way.