Le Dernier métro

The Last Metro

Director
François Truffaut
Cast
Catherine Deneuve (Marion Steiner), Gérard Depardieu (Bernard Granger), Heinz Bennet (Lucas Steiner)
Date
1980
Duration
130 Minutes

During the Nazi occupation of France, Bernard Granger (Gérard Depardieu) joins a Parisian theatre company run by Marion Steiner (Catherine Deneuve), wife of the renowned stage director Lucas Steiner (Heinz Bennet). Lucas is Jewish and forced into hiding in the basement of the theatre while the others rehearse the play under Nazi inspection.

Following Jules et Jim, Truffaut returns to the theme of the love triangle set against the backdrop of war. Its well crafted story and double whammy of Deneuve and Dépardieu resulted in the film’s commercial success and emphatic triumph at the French academy awards, Les Césars.