An almost perfect movie. Great screenplay and actors. The two stars are mesmerising.

"Le dernier métro" was one of Director Francois Truffaut's last works. He only made two more movies afterward before his premature death at the age of 52. Here he got Catherine Deneuve and Gérard Depardieu, which means two of the greatest French actors of all time and one of the greatest directors. Unfortunately it did not turn out as one of the best French movies of all time despite these promising ingredients. The one thing which hurt the film a lot for me was that I did not feel Depardieu and Deneuve had any real chemistry here. I felt much more chemistry between Bennent and Deneuve in fact which is bad as the plot develops completely against their relationship. A minor criticism would be the title. I thought the reference with the last train leaving the station was just too minor to name the whole film after it. In addition, Andréa Ferréol's character did almost nothing for me. She is the reason for Depardieu's character to act so strange early on and her later breakdown due to Deneuve's character becoming more and more difficult to work with just felt unauthentic and randomly thrown in. I don't know what was the purpose behind that or her character in general.The story can be summarized quickly. In World-War-II Paris, occupied by Germans, a group of theater actors work on their newest play. The problem is that the director is Jewish and had to flee. Actually he did not. He lives in the theater's cellar where he is provided with food and information about the political climate by his wife, the lead actress in the play. He finds ways to direct the actors and despite people not knowing he is down there, he manages to make an impact in forming the play while his wife begins to develop feelings for her co-actor.The film was the big winner at the French Film Awards when he came out. It received 10 Césars and only lost the supporting actor/actress categories, but was also nominated there. Consequently, it was France's submission to the Foreign Langue Film category at the Academy Awards that year, where it scored a nomination as well, but lost to the Soviet entry.This is a film really only for those who love French cinema. Then again, others probably won't come across it 35 years after it was made. The common (invalid) criticism that nothing really happens is really the case here. Also it runs considerably over two hours, which means you may become bored if French movies aren't your cup of tea. I liked the Asterix-like introduction (although it certainly was unintended) and the ending where their next play is mixed with reality and I was pretty surprised. Apart from that, the most interesting about this film is the depiction of life in Paris during the German occupation and the many historic references. The music is nice as well. "Bei Mir Bistu Shein" is such a great song.

I kind of expected a "Paris under occupation" drama, but this wasn't it, it's more a mixed bag of goods. There isn't a lot of drama, actually, which makes this movie somewhat slow and tedious to watch.The plot: a celebrated Jewish-German theatre director (Heinz Bennent) fails to escape from occupied France, and has to hide in the cellar of his theatre in Montmartre. From down under, he directs another hit play, while his beautiful wife (Cathérine Deneuve) dotes on him. Nevertheless an affair develops between her and the male lead actor, played by Gérard Depardieu, but none of them seem to take it too serious (they're French, after all, except the German director, who seems to have gone native). There's a plethora of side stories, a French collaborateur movie critic, a Jewish girl and lots of lesbians and gays, but they all kind of amble along instead of leading up to something. It's all very farcical, and you never get the impression that anyone is suffering from the war and the occupation. And the eponymous métro is a no-show -- I don't know why Truffaut put it in the title as it has nothing to do with the movie.We probably all expect the director, Lucas Steiner, to be betrayed and to end up in concentration camp. This doesn't happen which makes the movie somewhat offbeat and optimistic, but also a bit pointless. Let's face it, despite this movie earning 10 Césars along rave professional reviews, it's not one of Truffaut's best. So I'd recommend this one mostly to Truffaut completists.

The story of this film centers around a theater in Paris during the Second World War. Due the occupation by the Nazis, the Jewish owner of this theater (Lucas- played by Heinz Bennet) has signed it away to his wife Marion (Catherine Deneuve) and supposedly has fled to South America. Thats what everybody else besides his wife believes however since he's still hiding in the basement of the theater. She brings him food and keeps him company while she can but her main attention is on a new play that the theater is producing and is a decisive one since the survival of the theater depends on it. She plays the lead actress in this play and opposite her is an actor played by Gerard Depardieu. Listening in on the rehearsals, Lucas through Marion gives tips and is a kind of a second director of the play.Though I wouldn't call myself an expert on the subject, I think this film does an excellent job of portraying the wartime atmosphere of German occupied lands in WWII. A character I found most intriguing was a theater critic by the name of Daxiat (Jean-Louis Richard). Publicly he denounces Jews and says that each and every one of them must be hunted down. Deep down inside of him, a side which he reveals to Marion, he still has a lot of respect Lucas. People are living under constant fear of the Nazis, especially Marion due to her hiding her husband in her basement.Overall a pretty good film. If you enjoy good acting and WWII era films then this is for you.