In Nazi occupied Paris during
WWII, Marion Steiner, an actress married to a Jewish theatre director, tries to
keep her theatre going putting on a new play, while also keeping her husband
hidden within the theatre.
The film is written and directed
by French New Wave filmmaker Francois Truffaut.
The Last Metro is not as critically lauded as say The
400 Blows, but along with Day
for Night it is my favorite of his films (coincidentally, both films are
about the struggles of putting together a production). Truffaut worked with composer
Georges Delerue,
cinematographer Nestor
Almendros, and production designer Jean-Pierre
Kohut-Svelko on the film. The aesthetics of the film are top notch.
The Last Metro is not a
particularly well-known Truffaut film, but I would argue one of his best (it is
also one of the last he directed, dying a few years after its release). There are
multiple reasons I love it. For one, it is about putting on a theatre
production, and all the difficulties that come with that, allowing us to see
behind the curtain (something I always find intriguing). And second, it also
has a great WWII spy undercurrent to it, which is fantastic. Everything feels
heightened because at any moment the Nazis could burst through the doors and
spoil everything. This is a must for fans of WWII era dramas and those, like
me, who love films about theatre and moviemaking.
Trailer: Here
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