Grand Central

This is a romance set in a nuclear power station and set in a resolutely working-class context. It stars two flavour-of-the-month actors, Tahar Rahim, who made his name in Jacques Audiar's A Prophet, and Léa Seydoux, who had blue hair in Blue is the Warmest Colour. At the beginning of the film unqualified Gary (Rahim) is looking for work and finds it in a nuclear power station. Karole becomes one of his colleagues there, and there is an affinity between them.

Karole is already involved and the romance becomes complicated. There are many scenes in the work place, presenting it as dangerous, and Gary is told that if he exposes himself to too much radiation he will lose his job.

I am not convinced that A nuclear plant is a particularly dangerous place because there are so many cautionary procedures, unless, of course, something goes seriously wrong, which is rare. In the film there are no managers or senior people and the film gives the impression that this working-class group of workers depend more on their wits and experience than on supervision. Even when Gary is reprimanded it is done by someone who is manifestly working-class.

The film uses electronic music, which is reasonably effective.

Rahim gives a particularly good performance, communicating youthful charm, innocence and gullibility, with an underlying toughness. I find Seydoux quite sour-faced.

I was sceptical about this depiction of  life in a nuclear plant, and I think that to fuel its drama the film used the modernistic appearance of the work, with workers performing their tasks in 'space' suits, to give a lay audience the impression that it is more dangerous and dramatic than it is.