Lacombe, Lucien (1974)

Powerful

I wanted to but couldn't!

Great Film overall

Crappy film

I recognize that this is a well-made movie. But I still didn't enjoy it, and had to push myself to stay with it.It is the story of an amoral, troubled young man (the Lucien Lacombe of the title) who takes pleasure in killing rabbits and other small animals, though early on we see that he had feelings for an old horse. In the last days of the Occupation of France, after the Allies have landed on the Normandy beaches, he decides to join with the Militia and the German police, the Gestapo. He takes pleasure in frightening others with his gun.He also has a romantic side, of a sort, and falls in love, or at least in lust, with the daughter of a Jewish tailor. At times he helps them out. Sometimes, he does not.We never get to understand why he is so often so indifferent to the pain of others. But we are left to understand that such a man - an adolescent, still - could become a militia man.For me, the movie was too slow and too long. I didn't find that I was learning anything new about Lucien as the film progressed, and so saw no reason to stick with it, other than a dogged determination to see the thing through. If I hadn't needed to watch it for a project, I would never have stuck with it to the end.But, as you can see, others on here loved it. It is well acted, often beautifully photographed.I just didn't care for the story or most of the characters.I much prefer this director's later movie about the Occupation, Au Revoir les Enfants, which I found deeply moving.

"Lacombe,Lucien" is the story of Lucien--a young Frenchman--during the occupation of France by Nazi Germany. This is a very unglamorous story. Although it occurs during WWII, there are no dramatic battle scenes, no tales of spies or political intrigue.Lucien aligns himself with the Germans, not because of his political persuasions, but because they allowed him to join their ranks. He is a relatively unemotional person. His approach to life seems to be purely pragmatic. Until he finds himself attracted to a young Jewish woman named France.Bt this is not a love story. There is little passion involved. Lucien's life seems to be about trading commodities, including favors and threats. France is a weary country, occupied and insulted. The Jews who live in the small town where France and her family live try to become invisible while they eke out a meager existence."Lacombe, Lucien" is not a true story, but is based upon the wartime experiences of its director, Louis Malle. It might be said to sympathize with those who gravitated toward the Vichy side of things, but only because it does not condemn them. Clearly, every Frenchman was a victim. The quotidian approach of this film allows the viewer to consider a moment in French history without hyperbole.

When initially released, the film was judged harshly by critics from the left because of its "non-judgmental stance toward collaboration". Some of the commentators wrote that "Indeed, the film offers no psychological interpretations but is content to simply show what happened in almost Bressonian fashion." I strongly disagree with these opinions; right from the opening scene where Lucien stops washing the floors of the hospice where he works to take out a sling shot and shoot down a singing bird, an obvious act of cruelty that defines Lucien's character at the very beginning of the film. Lucien is aware of the fact that what he's doing is wrong; he slants a sideways look to check if anyone's observing him. This strong statement about Lucien character is no coincidence. Throughout the movie there are other scenes where Lucien's nasty personality comes out: his betrayal of the school teacher who refused to let him join the resistance movement, his abuse of power, his bullying of the Horn family etc., and toward the end of the movie when the German soldier takes the pocket watch Lucien stole, Lucien kills him to take it back! Louis Malle taints handsome Lucien's character with the worst of human characteristics; he is cruel, rude, jealous, a looter and a thieve, a snitch, a coward, a bully and finally, a murderer who shoots someone in the back. Malle could have not have offered better psychological interpretations.

PIERRE BLAISE is the young man who plays the title character in LACOMBE LUCIEN, the story of an unhappy youth who becomes a Nazi collaborator during WWII in France. It's a fictional account and the young actor was a non-professional chosen for the role who met an untimely death a year later in an auto accident.He plays a French peasant who falls in love with a Jewish girl while working for the Gestapo. It's an engrossing story dealing with a lot of unpleasant, unsavory situations including scenes of torture and animal cruelty, moving unpredictably through a whole gamut of scenes which give a strong impression of what it must have been like for the French during the war.For a non-actor, Blaise gives a commanding performance in a film he is forced to carry since the whole story revolves around his behavior, close-up and personal. Malle has to be commended for getting a natural, unforced performance from young Blaise and good work from all the cast members.Summing up: Although it has a rather abrupt ending, it's a realistic look at Franco/German relations during WWII. The central characters are an interesting lot and the story moves swiftly through its two hours and fifteen minutes time span with gorgeous shots of the French countryside.