''The Last Metro'' (french: Le Dernier Métro) is a 1980

historical History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...

film, written and directed by

François Truffaut François Roland Truffaut ( , ; ; 6 February 1932 – 21 October 1984) was a French film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film critic. He is widely regarded as one of the founders of the French New Wave. After a career of more th ...

, that stars

Catherine Deneuve Catherine Fabienne Dorléac (born 22 October 1943), known professionally as Catherine Deneuve (, , ), is a French actress as well as an occasional singer, model, and producer, considered one of the greatest European actresses. She gained recogni ...

and

Gérard Depardieu Gérard Xavier Marcel Depardieu, CQ (, , ; born 27 December 1948) is a French actor, filmmaker, businessman and vineyard owner since 1989 who is one of the most prolific thespians in film history having completed over 250 films since 1967 al ...

. Opening in 1942 during the

German occupation of France The Military Administration in France (german: Militärverwaltung in Frankreich; french: Occupation de la France par l'Allemagne) was an interim occupation authority established by Nazi Germany during World War II to administer the occupied zo ...

, it follows the fortunes of a small theatre in the

Montmartre Montmartre ( , ) is a large hill in Paris's northern 18th arrondissement. It is high and gives its name to the surrounding district, part of the Right Bank. The historic district established by the City of Paris in 1995 is bordered by Rue Ca ...

area of Paris which keeps up

passive resistance Nonviolent resistance (NVR), or nonviolent action, sometimes called civil resistance, is the practice of achieving goals such as social change through symbolic protests, civil disobedience, economic or political noncooperation, satyagraha, c ...

by maintaining its cultural integrity, despite

censorship Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governments ...

antisemitism Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

and material shortages, to emerge triumphant at the war's end. 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 last Métro train home. In 1981, the film won 10 Césars for: best film, best actor (Depardieu), best actress (Deneuve), best cinematography, best director (Truffaut), best editing, best music, best production design, best sound and best writing. It received Best Foreign Film nominations in the

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

and

Golden Globe Awards The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...

. ''The Last Metro'' was one of Truffaut's more successful productions, grossing $3,007,436 in the United States; this was also true in France, where it had 3,384,045 admissions, making it one of his more successful films in his native country.

Plot

On his way to start rehearsals at the Théâtre Montmartre, where he has been hired as male lead for a new production, young Bernard Granger is repeatedly rebuffed by a woman he is trying to pick up in the street. When he arrives, she turns out to be the production designer Arlette, a lesbian. He is taken to see former starlet Marion, who is both owner of the theatre and leading lady. Her Jewish husband, Lucas, is the director of the theater believed to have left Paris but is in fact living in the cellar, from where Marion releases him each evening while delivering food and prospective materials for future productions. Their evenings are spent in the empty theatre making love and discussing the current production alongside plans for Lucas to flee the country. Marion is immediately smitten with the oblivious Bernard, whom Lucas only knows from a headshot and what he can hear through a rigged heating vent. Unknown to anybody at the theatre, Bernard is a member of a Resistance group and delivers the bomb that kills a German admiral. The first night is loved by a full house but one of the newspaper reviews next morning is viciously hostile, damning the show as Jewish. The writer, Daxiat, an anti-semite, hopes to oust Marion and take over her theatre. While cast and crew are celebrating their success in a nightclub, Daxiat is also there with another party. Bernard, furious that the man has insulted the gentile Marion, hustles him out to the street and pushes him around. Furious that Bernard has jeopardised her theatre, Marion refuses all contact with him offstage. One night, pretending to be air raid wardens, two

Gestapo The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one orga ...

men start searching the theatre and it is Bernard to whom Marion turns in desperation for urgent help in concealing Lucas and his effects. When the Gestapo arrest Bernard's Resistance contact just before they have planned to meet in a church, he decides to devote his life to the cause and give up acting. As he is clearing out his little dressing room, Marion comes in to say goodbye and the two make love on the floor. After the war, Bernard returns to be male lead in a new play that the freed Lucas wrote while hiding. In it, the female lead played by Marion offers to share her life but he claims he never really loved her. At the end of the opening night, Bernard, Marion and Lucas stand hand in hand to receive the applause.

Cast

as Marion Steiner *

as Bernard Granger *

Jean Poiret Jean Poiret, born Jean Poiré (17 August 1926 – 14 March 1992), was a French actor, director, and screenwriter. He is primarily known as the author of the original play '' La Cage aux Folles''. Early career Poiret was born in Paris, and f ...

as Jean-Loup Cottins *

Heinz Bennent Heinz Bennent (18 July 1921 – 12 October 2011) was a German actor. Biography Bennent was born in Stolberg, and served in the Luftwaffe during World War II. His career began after the end of World War II in Göttingen. He moved to Switzerlan ...

as Lucas Steiner *

Andréa Ferréol Andréa Ferréol (born Andrée Louise Ferréol; January 6, 1947) is a French actress and officer of the Ordre national du Mérite (2009). Her debut was in the 1973 film '' La Grande bouffe'', which made a big scandal at the Cannes Film Festival. ...

as Arlette Guillaume, the production designer *

Paulette Dubost Paulette may refer to: * Paulette (name), French feminine given name *Paulette (tax) * Paulette Caveat - a caveat filed in 1973 by a group of Dene chiefs at the land titles office in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories to gain a legal interest in ...

as Germaine Fabre, the older woman employed by the theatre *

Sabine Haudepin Sabine Haudepin (born 19 October 1955) is a French actress. She has appeared in more than 50 films since 1962. She was born in Montreuil, Seine-Saint-Denis, France. Filmography References External links * * 1955 births Living people ...

as Nadine Marsac, the young actress *

Jean-Louis Richard Jean-Louis Richard (17 May 1927 – 3 June 2012) was a French actor, film director and scriptwriter. Biography Born as Jean Marius Richard in Paris, Richard was Jeanne Moreau's first husband from 1949 to 1951. Partial filmography *1960: ''À ...

as Daxiat * Maurice Risch as Raymond Boursier, the technician of the theatre *

Marcel Berbert Marcel may refer to: People * Marcel (given name), people with the given name Marcel * Marcel (footballer, born August 1981), Marcel Silva Andrade, Brazilian midfielder * Marcel (footballer, born November 1981), Marcel Augusto Ortolan, Brazilia ...

as Merlin *

Richard Bohringer Richard Bohringer (born 16 January 1942) is a French actor. Personal life Bohringer was born in Moulins, Allier, to a French mother and a German father. He is the father of actress Romane Bohringer, and has three other children, Mathieu, Richa ...

as a

Officer * László Szabó as Lieutenant Bergen * Jean-Pierre Klein as Christian Leglise, a resistant * Franck Pasquier as Jacquot/Eric * Rose Thierry as Jacquot's mother * Martine Simonet as Martine Sénéchal * Christian Baltauss as the actor replacing Bernard * Rénata as Greta Borg, a singer in a club * Hénia Ziv as Yvonne * Jean-José Richer as René Bernardini * Jessica Zucman as Rosette * René Dupré as M. Valentin * Alain Tasma as Marc *

Pierre Belot Pierre is a masculine given name. It is a French language, French form of the name Peter (given name), Peter. Pierre originally meant "rock" or "stone" in French (derived from the Greek word πέτρος (''petros'') meaning "stone, rock", via ...

as the Hotel porter * Jacob Weizbluth as Rosen

Production

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 the

French Resistance The French Resistance (french: La Résistance) was a collection of organisations that fought the German occupation of France during World War II, Nazi occupation of France and the Collaborationism, collaborationist Vichy France, Vichy régim ...

, and were once caught while passing messages. This event was eventually recreated in ''The Last Metro''. Truffaut was inspired by the actor

Jean Marais Jean-Alfred Villain-Marais (11 December 1913 – 8 November 1998), known professionally as Jean Marais (), was a French actor, film director, theatre director, painter, sculptor, visual artist, writer and photographer. He performed in over 100 f ...

’s autobiography, basing the film on this and other documents by theatre people from during the occupation. This film was one installment - dealing with theatre - of a trilogy on the entertainment world envisaged by Truffaut. The installment that dealt with the film world was 1973's ''

La Nuit Américaine ''Day for Night'' is a 1973 romantic comedy-drama film co-written and directed by François Truffaut, starring Jacqueline Bisset, Jean-Pierre Léaud and Truffaut himself. The original French title, ''La Nuit américaine'' ("American Night"), r ...

'' (''Day for Night''), which had won the

Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film The Academy Award for Best International Feature Film (known as Best Foreign Language Film prior to 2020) is one of the Academy Awards handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to a ...

. Truffaut completed the screenplay for the third installment, ''L'Agence Magique'', which would have dealt with the world of

music hall Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as variety. Perceptions of a distinction in Br ...

. In the late 1970s, he was close to beginning filming, but the failure of his film '' The Green Room'' forced him to look to a more commercial project, and he filmed '' Love 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. 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. Most of the filming took place in an abandoned chocolate factory on Rue du Landy in

Clichy Clichy may refer to: In Paris Region, France * Canton of Clichy, an administrative division of the Hauts-de-Seine department, in northern France * Clichy-sous-Bois, commune in the Seine-Saint-Denis ''département'' * Clichy, Hauts-de-Seine, comm ...

, 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. Scriptwriter

Suzanne Schiffman Suzanne Schiffman (née Klochendler; 27 September 1929 – 6 June 2001) was a French screenwriter and director for numerous motion pictures. She often worked with François Truffaut. The 'script girl' Joelle, played by Nathalie Baye in Truffa ...

was also hospitalised with a serious intestinal obstruction. The film shoot lasted fifty-nine days and ended on 21 April 1980.

Themes

A recurring theme in Truffaut’s films has been linking film-making and film-watching. ''The Last Metro'' is self-conscious in this respect. In the opening the film mixes documentary footage with period re-creations alongside shots of contemporary film posters. 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 a

homosexual Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to pe ...

director and Andrea Ferreol plays a lesbian designer. As in Truffaut's earlier films '' Jules et Jim'' and '' Two 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.

Reception

The film recorded admissions in France of 3,384,045.

Awards and nominations

(USA) **Nominated: Best Foreign Language Film *

National Board of Review The National Board of Review of Motion Pictures is a non-profit organization of New York City area film enthusiasts. Its awards, which are announced in early December, are considered an early harbinger of the film awards season that culminat ...

(USA) **Nominated: Best Foreign Language Film *

Boston Film Critics The Boston Society of Film Critics (BSFC) is an organization of film reviewers from Boston, Massachusetts in the United States. History The BSFC was formed in 1981 to make “Boston’s unique critical perspective heard on a national and internati ...

(USA) **Won: Best Foreign Language Film *

César Awards The César Award is the national film award of France. It is delivered in the ' ceremony and was first awarded in 1976. The nominations are selected by the members of twelve categories of filmmaking professionals and supported by the French Mi ...

(France) **Won: Best Actor – Leading Role (Gérard Depardieu) **Won: Best Actress – Leading Role (Catherine Deneuve) **Won: Best Cinematography (Néstor Almendros) **Won: Best Director (François Truffaut) **Won: Best Editing (Martine Barraqué) **Won:

Best Film This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

**Won:

Best Music Best or The Best may refer to: People * Best (surname), people with the surname Best * Best (footballer, born 1968), retired Portuguese footballer Companies and organizations * Best & Co., an 1879–1971 clothing chain * Best Lock Corporation ...

(Georges Delerue) **Won: Best Production Design (Jean-Pierre Kohut-Svelko) **Won: Best Sound (Michel Laurent) **Won: Best Writing (Suzanne Schiffman and François Truffaut) **Nominated: Best Actor – Supporting Role (Heinz Bennent) **Nominated: Best Actress – Supporting Role (Andréa Ferréol) *

David di Donatello Awards The David di Donatello Awards, named after Donatello's ''David (Donatello), David'', a symbolic statue of the Italian Renaissance, are film awards given out each year by the ''Accademia del Cinema Italiano'' (The Academy of Italian Cinema). The ...

(Italy) **Won: Best Foreign Actress (Catherine Deneuve) *

(USA) **Nominated: Best Foreign Film

References

External links

* * * * Ulrich Bach: The Visual Representation of the German Occupation in France: François Truffaut's ''The Last Metro'' (1980
''Truffaut’s Changing Times: The Last Metro''
an essay by

Armond White Armond White (born ) is an American film and music critic who writes for ''National Review'' and '' Out''. He was previously the editor of '' CityArts'' (2011–2014), the lead film critic for the alternative weekly ''New York Press'' (1997–20 ...

at the

Criterion Collection The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films." Criterion serves film and media scholars, cine ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Last Metro 1980 films 1980s war drama films French war drama films 1980s French-language films 1980s German-language films Films directed by François Truffaut Films about the French Resistance Best Film César Award winners Films whose director won the Best Director César Award Films featuring a Best Actor César Award-winning performance Films featuring a Best Actress César Award-winning performance Adultery in films Films set in a theatre Films about theatre Films with screenplays by François Truffaut Films scored by Georges Delerue 1980 drama films 1980s French films