Lacombe, Lucien [Criterion Collection]

Director: Louis Malle Louis Malle

Overview

"With a superb music score by Django Reinhardt, this is a Louis Malle film about the German occupation of France. Based on his own experiences in France during the occupation, Malle's film does not paint a pretty picture of the French Resistance and eventually he emigrated to America because of the critical reaction to this film. Essentially the tale of a young boy who wants to join the Resistance but is shunned by them because of his youth, he joins the Gestapo. Unfortunately, he then falls in love with a young Jewish girl. Push comes to shove and he suddenly has the unsympathetic Resistance and the Gestapo hot on his trail. Not a pretty picture of either side."

Product Details

Release Date:	03/28/2006
UPC:	0037429212424
Original Release:	1974
Rating:	R
Source:	CRITERION COLLECTION
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Mono]
Language:	English
Time:	2:18:00

Special Features

New, restored high-definition digital transfer; Original theatrical trailer; New and improved English subtitle translation; Plus: Pauline Kael's 1974 New Yorker review

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Pierre Blaise	Lucien Lacombe
Aurore Clément	France
Holger Löwenadler	Albert Horn
Therese Giehse	Großmutter
Stéphane Bouy	Jean
Loumi Iacobesco	Betty
René Bouloc	Faure
Pierre Decazes	Aubert
Jean Rougerie	Tonin
Gilberte Rivet	Lucien's mother
Jacques Rispal	M. Laborit
Andre Cleveau	Actor
Irene de Trebert	Actor
Cécile Ricard	Actor
Jean Bousquet	Peyssac
Holger Loewenadler	Albert Horn
Jacqueline Staup	Lucienne
Aurore Clement	Actor
Holger Lowenadler	Actor
Django Reinhardt	Composer

Technical Credits

Louis Malle

Patrick Modiano

Louis Malle	Director,Screenwriter,Producer
Patrick Modiano	Screenwriter
Claude Nedjar	Executive Producer,Producer
Nara Kollery	Sound Effects
Jean-Claude Laureux	Sound Effects
Michel Vionnet	Sound Effects

Editorial Reviews

Louis Malle's drama Lacombe Lucien is one of the most effective films about the capitulation of France to the Nazis during World War II, and one of the most controversial. The film gets its title from the name of its protagonist, Lucien Lacombe (the name is given in reverse order in the title, as it would be in any alphabetical list of names, as a symbol of Lucien's willingness to submit to whatever regime is in power). When World War II breaks out and the Nazis invade France, Lucien first wants to sign up with the Resistance, but no one seems to want him; the Nazis, however, are eager to recruit him, and so Lucien signs up without a second thought. As far as Lucien is concerned, he simply wants to belong; it doesn't matter, really, which side he's on. His father is a prisoner in Germany, so that gives his superiors a hold on him, but none is really necessary; soon he's happily carrying out orders for the Vichy government, until he meets a young girl, France (Aurore Clément), whose father is a well-off Jewish tailor. Suddenly his life becomes more complex than simply the "fun and games" of war, and Lucien is forced to confront his lack of commitment to French society. Louis Malle's film was daring for its time for suggesting that not every member of the French public was a member of the Resistance; that indeed, many were willing accomplices to the Vichy government, and the sting of the film remains to this day. Shot on actual locales whenever possible in lush, saturated color, with a soundtrack by Django Reinhardt from jazz records of the period, Lacombe Lucien succeeds in bringing the viewer back to a time beyond authentic recall and confronting us with a simple question: what choice would we make in Lucien's position? The result is a disquieting, wholly compelling film, from one of the most original filmmakers in French cinema.