The Last Metro (1980)
"Le dernier métro" (original title)

In occupied Paris, an actress married to a Jewish theater owner must keep him hidden from the Nazis while doing both of their jobs.

Director:

François Truffaut

Writers:

François Truffaut (scenario), Suzanne Schiffman (scenario),

Stars:

Catherine Deneuve, Gérard Depardieu, Jean Poiret

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 14 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Catherine Deneuve	...	Marion Steiner
Gérard Depardieu	...	Bernard Granger
Jean Poiret	...	Jean-Loup Cottins
Andréa Ferréol	...	Arlette Guillaume
Paulette Dubost	...	Germaine Fabre
Jean-Louis Richard	...	Daxiat
Maurice Risch	...	Raymond Boursier
Sabine Haudepin	...	Nadine Marsac
Heinz Bennent	...	Lucas Steiner
Christian Baltauss	...	Bernard's Replacement
Pierre Belot	...	Desk Clerk
René Dupré	...	Valentin
Aude Loring
Alain Tasma	...	Marc
Rose Thiéry	...	Jacquot's Mother / Concierge (as Rose Thierry)

Storyline

Paris, 1942. Lucas Steiner is a Jew and was compelled to leave the country. His wife Marion, an actress, directs the theater for him. She tries to keep the theater alive with a new play, and hires Bernard Granger for the leading role. But Lucas is actually hiding in the basement... A film about art and life.

---

Plot Keywords:

theater | jew | nazi | hide out | concierge | 

---

Taglines:

A story of love and conflict.

---

Genres:

Drama | Romance | War

---

Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

France

Language:

French German

Release Date:

19 February 1981 (USA)

Also Known As:

El último metro

Filming Locations:

Clichy, Hauts-de-Seine, France

Company Credits

Production Co:

Les Films du Carrosse, Sédif Productions, TF1 Films Production

Technical Specs

Runtime:

131 min 133 min (director's cut)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Fujicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

When Lucas talks to Marion about a play he saw in London, he is alluding to Patrick Hamilton's "Gaslight", which was twice made into a movie, by Thorold Dickinson in 1940, and by George Cukor in 1944.

---

Goofs

In one scene in the cellar, during a conversation between Marion and Lucas, we can see the sound recordist hiding himself in a corner of the cellar.

---

Quotes

Marion Steiner: It takes two to love, as it takes two to hate. And I will keep loving you, in spite of yourself. My heart beats faster when I think of you. Nothing else matters.

---

Connections

References La Bête Humaine (1938)

---

Soundtracks

"Prière à Zumba"
Written by Agustín Lara (as A. Lara), Jacques Larue (as J. Larue)
(Editions F. Day)

User Reviews

The best of Truffaut's late films.

Francois Truffaut follows in the tradition of Jean-Pierre Melville by adapting a popular genre as a serious allegory for the darkest period in French history: the Nazi Occupation. Just as Melville used the gangster film to examine notions of legality, legitimacy, authority and criminality in a period when the Resistance were outlaws and the police rounding up Jews for the death camps, so Truffaut takes the beloved putting-on-a-show warhorse, and uses it as a metaphor for the conditions of life in Occupied France: the need to act, adapt and continually discard roles. When Depardieu's character leaves to fight for the Resistance, he puns about exchanging his make-up (maquillage) for the maquis.

What Truffaut is most interested in, as in all his films, is the effect this need for constant dissembling has on individual identity and relationships. This wonderful romantic comedy plays like a mature update of 'Casablanca', richly stylised, bravely open-ended, with Truffaut's moving camera wrenching spirit from the claustrophobic confines.