Moulinex, la mécanique du pire
Gilles Balbastre
2003 - 52 min - Beta digital - Couleur - France

Whether it happens in France or elsewhere, company closures are not just an economical disaster, they are above all a human catastrophe. When all is said and done, the bitter question is: could it have been avoided and... who's to blame? The management? Company policy? Or is it the "free market"? French company Moulinex, a household name in France and elsewhere, has been sold for a few hundred thousand euros to rival Seb in October 2001.v It's been the biggest industrial failure in France in years with 5400 jobs lost, mainly in France. It took months of persuasion to get the key players to talk in front of the cameras to give their version of what happened and which part felt they had in the drama. The view of the management is directly opposed to that of the employees. Even at the dawn of the 21st century, the discussion comes down to diverging interests of opposites. In the end, in this free market game, the price is not always paid by those who take the risks, but it's mostly the same who lose out and have no way else to go, but down.