The Last Metro Reviews

The Last Metro is a very distinguished, exemplary piece of 7th art which was one of Truffant's last films before his death. The romance between Gerard Depardieu's character Bernard and Catherine Deneuve's Marion I found very ironic. Never once did I see they cultivated an interest in each other prior to their affair, nor any chemistry. The parts where they are particularly intimate, Depardieu and Deneuve make a nice pair and give it their very best.

Towards the end, The Last Metro felt purposefully slow pace, as if to lengthen it out, to its current runtime. Up to an hour and a half, The Last Metro was excellent, with the capability of a rating up to 5 stars. But once the center of this whole flick elapsed, it soaked up every other storyline included and executed the ending of those storylines in a swift, anticlimactic manner. So, in a way I am both disappointed it was so rushed, yet how each tale concluded the way they did.

However, I did enjoy the acting altogether. The actors deliver swell performances that still weave potential even if this film didn't contain a plot. Whether or not the storylines are accurate when compared to the literal events that occurred in 1944 Nazi-occupied France, I frankly don't care. As a whole, each is solid and believable, so much so it opposes itself from similar World War 2 French films.
In conclusion, I do believe that despite The Last Metro's flaws, it is undoubtedly a unique watch. It provides a feeling I believe these characters felt for the ending sequence; pure poignancy.

Truffant has much better films than this flick however, and though that statement won't make me stop you from initially viewing it, movies such as Jules and Jim, The Wild Child, and Day For Night are ones I will recommend over this one.
3.5/5
6/10

I have to admit it, it has been a while since I saw this movie and I should probably re-watch it at some point. Since this movie is a huge classic in France and the last big critical and commercial success for François Truffaut before his untimely death, I had some rather huge expectations towards the whole thing but, to be honest, I had actually a hard time to really connect with the damned thing. I mean, sure, it was a decent watch and the cast including such actors like Catherine Deneuve and Gérard Depardieu was really neat but the story didn’t really blow me away.  I don’t know, for me, it was just another tale about how courageous the French people was during WWII, I’m afraid I have seen too many movies like this to care anymore and I think I’m in fact more interested in the movies telling a more ambiguous tale like the fascinating ‘Lacombe Lucien’ for example.  About the same topic, I also preferred ‘Mephisto’ which gave a much darker and spellbinding approach about the subject. Anyway, to conclude, even though I thought it was slightly disappointing, it was still a decent watch and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in French movies. 

Warm, cinical, historically accurate (just in context) truffautian hommage to the theatre. The heart is not in the stage but in the cellar, with Deneuve and great Heinz Bennent.