"Le dernier métro" was one of Director Francois Truffaut's last works. He only made two more movies afterward before his premature death at the age of 52. Here he got Catherine Deneuve and Gérard Depardieu, which means two of the greatest French actors of all time and one of the greatest directors. Unfortunately it did not turn out as one of the best French movies of all time despite these promising ingredients. The one thing which hurt the film a lot for me was that I did not feel Depardieu and Deneuve had any real chemistry here. I felt much more chemistry between Bennent and Deneuve in fact which is bad as the plot develops completely against their relationship. A minor criticism would be the title. I thought the reference with the last train leaving the station was just too minor to name the whole film after it. In addition, Andréa Ferréol's character did almost nothing for me. She is the reason for Depardieu's character to act so strange early on and her later breakdown due to Deneuve's character becoming more and more difficult to work with just felt unauthentic and randomly thrown in. I don't know what was the purpose behind that or her character in general.
The story can be summarized quickly. In World-War-II Paris, occupied by Germans, a group of theater actors work on their newest play. The problem is that the director is Jewish and had to flee. Actually he did not. He lives in the theater's cellar where he is provided with food and information about the political climate by his wife, the lead actress in the play. He finds ways to direct the actors and despite people not knowing he is down there, he manages to make an impact in forming the play while his wife begins to develop feelings for her co-actor.
The film was the big winner at the French Film Awards when he came out. It received 10 Césars and only lost the supporting actor/actress categories, but was also nominated there. Consequently, it was France's submission to the Foreign Langue Film category at the Academy Awards that year, where it scored a nomination as well, but lost to the Soviet entry.
This is a film really only for those who love French cinema. Then again, others probably won't come across it 35 years after it was made. The common (invalid) criticism that nothing really happens is really the case here. Also it runs considerably over two hours, which means you may become bored if French movies aren't your cup of tea. I liked the Asterix-like introduction (although it certainly was unintended) and the ending where their next play is mixed with reality and I was pretty surprised. Apart from that, the most interesting about this film is the depiction of life in Paris during the German occupation and the many historic references. The music is nice as well. "Bei Mir Bistu Shein" is such a great song.
The story can be summarized quickly. In World-War-II Paris, occupied by Germans, a group of theater actors work on their newest play. The problem is that the director is Jewish and had to flee. Actually he did not. He lives in the theater's cellar where he is provided with food and information about the political climate by his wife, the lead actress in the play. He finds ways to direct the actors and despite people not knowing he is down there, he manages to make an impact in forming the play while his wife begins to develop feelings for her co-actor.
The film was the big winner at the French Film Awards when he came out. It received 10 Césars and only lost the supporting actor/actress categories, but was also nominated there. Consequently, it was France's submission to the Foreign Langue Film category at the Academy Awards that year, where it scored a nomination as well, but lost to the Soviet entry.
This is a film really only for those who love French cinema. Then again, others probably won't come across it 35 years after it was made. The common (invalid) criticism that nothing really happens is really the case here. Also it runs considerably over two hours, which means you may become bored if French movies aren't your cup of tea. I liked the Asterix-like introduction (although it certainly was unintended) and the ending where their next play is mixed with reality and I was pretty surprised. Apart from that, the most interesting about this film is the depiction of life in Paris during the German occupation and the many historic references. The music is nice as well. "Bei Mir Bistu Shein" is such a great song.