PIERRE BLAISE is the young man who plays the title character in LACOMBE LUCIEN, the story of an unhappy youth who becomes a Nazi collaborator during WWII in France. It's a fictional account and the young actor was a non-professional chosen for the role who met an untimely death a year later in an auto accident.
He plays a French peasant who falls in love with a Jewish girl while working for the Gestapo. It's an engrossing story dealing with a lot of unpleasant, unsavory situations including scenes of torture and animal cruelty, moving unpredictably through a whole gamut of scenes which give a strong impression of what it must have been like for the French during the war.
For a non-actor, Blaise gives a commanding performance in a film he is forced to carry since the whole story revolves around his behavior, close-up and personal. Malle has to be commended for getting a natural, unforced performance from young Blaise and good work from all the cast members.
Summing up: Although it has a rather abrupt ending, it's a realistic look at Franco/German relations during WWII. The central characters are an interesting lot and the story moves swiftly through its two hours and fifteen minutes time span with gorgeous shots of the French countryside.
He plays a French peasant who falls in love with a Jewish girl while working for the Gestapo. It's an engrossing story dealing with a lot of unpleasant, unsavory situations including scenes of torture and animal cruelty, moving unpredictably through a whole gamut of scenes which give a strong impression of what it must have been like for the French during the war.
For a non-actor, Blaise gives a commanding performance in a film he is forced to carry since the whole story revolves around his behavior, close-up and personal. Malle has to be commended for getting a natural, unforced performance from young Blaise and good work from all the cast members.
Summing up: Although it has a rather abrupt ending, it's a realistic look at Franco/German relations during WWII. The central characters are an interesting lot and the story moves swiftly through its two hours and fifteen minutes time span with gorgeous shots of the French countryside.