Lacombe Lucien

Genre: wartime drama  

With: Pierre Blaise (Lucien Lacombe), Aurore Clément (France Horn), Holger Löwenadler (Albert Horn, France’s father), Stéphane Bouy (Jean-Bernard de Voisins), Loumi Iacobesco (Betty Beaulieu), René Bouloc (Stéphane Faure)

Director: Louis Malle

Release: 1974

Studio: Nouvelles Éditions de Films (NEF), Universal Pictures France (UPF), Vides Cinematografica et al.

Rating: -

MBiS score: 8.7/10

We All Have To Choose Sides, Don’t We?

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Story-line: in June 1944, as the Nazis tighten their grip on Southern France, young Lucien tries to join the French Resistance and ends up working for the German police.  

Pluses: a cogent screenplay by Louis Malle and Patrick Modiano, splendid photography by Tonino Delli Colli (notably the exteriors), an evil set of characters, lovely costumes and period detail, impeccable acting and brilliant direction.

Minuses: none.

Comments: a movie about opportunities, those you take and those that slip away. Lucien, a boy desperate to be a man, is readily  attracted to the world of power, intrigue, women and guns offered by the Nazis although it puts him at odds with most of his countrymen. LACOMBE LUCIEN is even more tragic when you consider that lead actor Pierre Blaise (1955-1975) died soon after its release.

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