| The Last Metro | |
|---|---|
 Film poster | |
| Directed by | François Truffaut |
| Written by | François Truffaut Suzanne Schiffman Jean-Claude Grumberg |
| Produced by | François Truffaut Jean-José Richer |
| Starring | Catherine Deneuve Gérard Depardieu Jean Poiret |
| Cinematography | Néstor Almendros |
| Edited by | Martine Barraqué |
| Music by | Georges Delerue |
Production companies | |
| Distributed by | Gaumont Distribution |
Release date |
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Running time | 131 minutes |
| Country | France |
| Language | French |
| Box office | $23.3 million[1][2] 3,393,694 admissions (France)[3] |
The Last Metro (French:Le Dernier Métro) is a 1980period drama film, co-written and directed byFrançois Truffaut, that starsCatherine Deneuve andGérard Depardieu.[4]
Set inNazi-occupied Paris in 1942, the film follows the fortunes of a small theatre in theMontmartre quarter which keeps uppassive resistance by maintaining its cultural integrity, despitecensorship,antisemitism and material shortages.[5] The title evokes two salient facts of city life under the Germans: fuel shortages led people to spend their evenings in theatres and other places of entertainment, but the curfew meant they had to catch the lastMétro train home.
Upon its release in theatres on 17 September 1980,The Last Metro became one of Truffaut's more commercially successful films. In France it had 3,384,045 admissions and in the United States it grossed $3 million.[1] At the6th César Awards,The Last Metro received 12 nominations and won 10 of them, includingBest Film. The film also received Best Foreign Film nominations at theAcademy Awards and theGolden Globes.
On his way to begin rehearsals at the Théâtre Montmartre, where he has secured the male lead role for an upcoming production, young Bernard Granger finds himself repeatedly rebuffed by a woman he attempts to flirt with on the street. Upon arriving at the theater, he discovers that the woman is actually the production designer, Arlette, who happens to be a lesbian. Bernard is then introduced to Marion, the owner of the theatre and its leading lady. Marion's Jewish husband, Lucas, serves as the theater's director, believed to have fled Paris; however, he is clandestinely hiding in the theater's cellar. Marion secretly releases him each evening, providing meals and materials for future productions. Their evenings are spent in the empty theater, where they engage in passionate discussions about the current production and make plans for Lucas to escape the country. However, Marion soon becomes infatuated with the oblivious Bernard, whom Lucas only knows from a headshot and snippets of conversation overheard through a rigged heating vent.
Unbeknownst to anyone at the theater, Bernard is a member of the Resistance group responsible for delivering the bomb that killed a German admiral.
The opening night of the production sees a full house, but the following morning a scathing review inJe suis partout, an anti-semitic and collaborationist newspaper, condemns the show as being "Jewish." The reviewer, Daxiat, aims to oust Marion and take control of her theater. While the cast and crew celebrate their initial success at a nightclub, Daxiat falsely accuses Bernard of insulting Marion at another gathering. Bernard eventually finds Daxiat and severely beats him in the street. On another occasion, two Gestapo agents, disguised as air raid wardens, conduct a search of the theater, prompting Marion to turn to Bernard in desperation for help in concealing Lucas and his belongings.
Following the arrest of Bernard's Resistance contact during a Gestapo raid, Bernard resolves to devote his life to the Resistance cause and abandon acting. As he prepares to leave his dressing room for the last time, Marion enters to bid him farewell, and the two share a passionate encounter on the floor.
After the war ends, Bernard returns to the theater to star in a new play written by Lucas during his time in hiding. On opening night, Marion, who plays the female lead, expresses her desire to share her life with Bernard, but he confesses that he never truly loved her. As the curtain falls, Bernard, Marion, and Lucas stand hand-in-hand to receive the applause of the audience.
Truffaut had wanted to create a film set during the French occupation period for a long time, as his uncle and grandfather were both part of theFrench Resistance, and were once caught while passing messages. This event was eventually recreated inThe Last Metro.[7]Early in his career, Truffaut did not have the opportunity to direct a film about the Nazi occupation; later on, his interest in that period was revived by the 1975 autobiography of actorJean Marais. Truffaut took inspiration from this book, as well as various documents by theatre people of the time.[8] The scene where Bernard beats up Daxiat was directly based on a real-life beating Marais gave to Alain Laubreaux, the theater critic forJe suis partout.[9]
This film was one installment - dealing with theatre - of a trilogy on the entertainment world envisaged by Truffaut.[10] The installment that dealt with the film world was 1973'sLa Nuit américaine (Day for Night),[10] which had won theAcademy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Truffaut completed the screenplay for the third installment,L'Agence magique, which would have dealt with the world ofmusic hall.[10] In the late 1970s, he was close to beginning filming, but the failure of his filmThe Green Room forced him to look to a more commercial project, and he filmedLove on the Run instead.
Truffaut began casting in September 1979, and wrote the role of Marion especially with Catherine Deneuve in mind, for her energy.[11]Gérard Depardieu initially did not want to be involved in the film, as he did not like Truffaut’s directing style, but he was subsequently convinced that he should take part.[12]
Most of the filming took place in an abandoned chocolate factory onRue du Landy inClichy, which was converted into a studio. During shooting Deneuve suffered an ankle sprain from a fall, resulting in having to shoot scenes at short notice. ScriptwriterSuzanne Schiffman was also hospitalised with a serious intestinal obstruction.[13]The film shoot lasted fifty-nine days and ended on 21 April 1980.[14]
A recurring theme in Truffaut’s films has been linking film-making and film-watching.[15]The Last Metro is self-conscious in this respect. In the opening the film mixesdocumentary footage with period re-creations alongside shots of contemporary film posters.[16]
Truffaut commented: “this film is not concerned merely with anti-semitism but intolerance in general” and a tolerance is shown through the characters of Jean Poiret playing ahomosexual director and Andrea Ferreol playing a lesbian designer.[17]
As in Truffaut's earlier filmsJules et Jim andTwo English Girls, there is a love triangle between the three principal characters: Marion Steiner (Deneuve), her husband Lucas (Heinz Bennent) and Bernard Granger (Depardieu), an actor in the theatre's latest production.[4]
The film recorded admissions in France of 3,384,045.[18]
The Last Metro has an approval rating of 88% onreview aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes, based on 24 reviews, and an average rating of 7.4/10.[19]
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