Le Dernier Métro

Le Dernier Métro is Truffaut's meditation on the cultural climate during the Nazi occupation in France during WWII. The Jewish manager of a theatre company in Paris who is hiding from the Nazis gives total control of the company to his wife (Catherine Deneuve). Another member of the company is a Resistance fighter (Gerard Depardieu) who faces arrest by the Nazis...

Truffaut spends most of the time exploring the dynamics in the relationships between the members of the company in a mood of hostility and fear. The dark atmosphere of the backstage life of the theatre resonates with the turmoil and supression of the outside world but it also operates as a mechanism for solidarity among the theatre company members. The performances - as one would expect from France's most cherished contemporary acting figures - are of a high order and it is only the aesthetic facade which leaves a sour taste. It may not be the great film Truffaut wanted it to be, but it certainly possesses much quality and French flair as an entertaining and often inspiring movie.

Review by Spiros Gangas
Taken from EUFS Programme 1993-94