Scanialara You won't be disappointed!

Matialth Good concept, poorly executed.

InformationRap This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Lollivan It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Rodrigo Amaro Sometimes so-called great movies fail with certain audiences no matter how much we put ourselves into the experience and how many brilliant things we heard about them. Ingmar Bergman didn't like "Citizen Kane"; Robert Altman didn't like "Titanic", and I tried with all my best to appreciate the acclaimed "Lacombe Lucien" but it simply didn't work for me.The story: Pierre Blaise plays the title character, a French 18 year-old boy who joins the German police and the Nazists after been refused to work along with the French Resistance during WWII. Here's a guy with an ambition whatever that might be in his case, lots of initiative but no brain, no heart, no consideration for politics and his part in his country, doesn't fully understand what he's doing by betraying his own nation. And amidst of that he gets involved with a Jewish family, the father who works as a tailor, the mother, and the young daughter for whom Lacombe has a sexual relationship (don't even think on reading reviews out there saying that he's in love with her because he's not. She's the only cute girl in town, and he gets near her because of that but that doesn't means he loves her. Nothing in the movie says he's in love with her, he likes her, uses his power over her to not say a harsh word about his acts but to like someone doesn't always means you love someone).How come we could possibly care about someone who doesn't have any trace of idealism? How could I care about an ignorant, obnoxious, heartless, animal killer (for real, by the way), traitor of his country who didn't even bother of showing us why he does the things he does? I couldn't care at all! The whole time I expected something to happen, something that would reveal how wars change people for good and bad, and a possible reason of why Lucien is the way he is, but nothing happened. The only good soul of this film (and the great performance too) is the tailor played by Holger Löwenadler, he's the only wise guy here, the only one who isn't naive or ignorant to know what's going on, he managed to survive the war with his skills with clothes requested by the French who collaborates with the German police. But even his wisdom failed when he needed the most and things go wrong with him. Can we call Lacombe of innocent? I don't think so. His father was arrested by the Germans, the situation at his home wasn't good, he tried to be part of the French resistance and end up being a German officer, getting paid for that. He knows that there's a war, things are hard but he shouldn't be dumb enough to join the other side. If he wanted to do something about things he should act alone without taking sides, after all he had a gun. The only innocence move about Lucien is that he thought that killing rabbits would make him part of the Resistance, and that didn't work. When I was at Lucien's age, and even younger, I was fully aware about political conscience, what moral stands for and all but what Malle gives us here makes you wonder about this: if we were on Lucien's position would we be doing the same things? Only for a little bit of money, power and some life experience? It's intriguing. I watched "Lacombe Lucien" in a completely state of bewilderment in the sense of trying to discover what was the problem with this kid, I wanted motivations, reasons for what and why he did things. A voice-over would be nice, more dialogs of him, even if he had to talk with himself about things, something! Since the main actor followed a script and director's instructions I can't complain about his natural and realistic acting, after all he lived enough to make this film only, dying after a few months of the release (I really shouldn't say that, sad but truth, but nature claims what you do in taking real innocent lives. Quid pro quo, give and take).This is the first time that I disapprove a film directed by Louis Malle, he could make so much better here but we can't always like everything in the world. 4/10

secondtake Lacombe, Lucien (1974)A disturbing and sad movie about surviving the Nazi occupation in France. It's unlike any other film of its type, turning from tender to ruthless in a breath, and from joyous to ghastly just as fast. And though the Nazis are behind the violence and fear, they play a mostly indirect role in the cornering of a small Jewish family in the countryside. This is a tale about French and French, about the Resistance against collaborators.And it's told from the point of view of the collaborators, a gang of opportunistic thugs who have taken over an old hotel and who terrorize, with German supplied documents, ordinary citizens. The title character is Lucien, an utterly heartless but somehow, at times, sympathetic boy who gets pulled into the lure of these thugs. But he shows a scary detachment from all feeling, even from love at first, and certainly from respect for life. There is a hint that he grew to think human life was cheap from his days hunting and killing animals without a flinch as a youth, but it could be the movie is showing that he had almost a disorder, something that made him unfeeling even for the most ordinary, harmless, vulnerable things. I think the former is more accurate, though, because his hunting rabbits and killing a chicken with his hands were probably (and still are) part of country life where rabbit and chicken were part of the cuisine.But it's people who will eventually be his target, and he is not like his older counterparts. He doesn't want the spoils of war, not money or finery, resisting at first even the suit the Jewish tailor is ordered to make for him. It is here the movie gets to what matters. Lucien is ignorant enough to not quite see why this Jewish man is any different than other men, but he catches on when others around him make clear the Jew is only alive and in hiding as their choice. I guess they need a good tailor, and they need the man's money (the tailor pays when he makes the suits, it seems). The complication of a beautiful (and very French looking) daughter takes some of the expected turns, but not completely, because this very young man doesn't really know how to behave, or how to fall in love.The director, Louis Malle, is a legend of French cinema, and later even of American cinema. He depends on location shooting, natural light, and naturalistic acting to give every scene a believability that is both beautiful and at times uncanny, especially combined with violence to animals. The lead actor, Pierre Blase, is almost too convincing in his cool and relatively mindless determination. The tailor, played by Holger Löwenadler, a Swedish actor, is a model of patience and continual assessment, trying to play the game with the thugs for his survival. His daughter is less fully realized, with Aurore Clement playing this charming and innocent girl withheld from normal life by the war. But she does in fact learn to love Lucien in her own way, and he responds in his own way.Needless to say, the end is tragic and rather perfect. And the whole troubling two hours getting there will leave you moved, for sure, but also enlightened. The problem of loyalty and survival takes on new light here.

Neil Doyle 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.

MartinHafer Lucien Lamcombe is the title character of this story about a French teen who joins the German police on a lark during the last year of WWII. A short time earlier, he'd volunteered for the Resistance but was rejected--why he so willingly joined the Nazis was tough to decipher--as were his motives apart from that as well as his inner world. In fact, the young man is like a puzzle with several missing pieces--he just exists and seems to have no depth or much personality--much like the main character in Albert Camus' "The Stranger". He IS--and that's about all you can say about this rather bland and amoral character.Despite the war having been over for nearly three decades, this film apparently did not do well in France. Perhaps they just didn't want to be reminded that many "good people" willingly collaborated or maybe the wounds were just too fresh.I liked the film and recommend it, though I must admit director Malle's style is quite unusual and nothing like a Hollywood product. It isn't just because the title character is so amorphous, but the entire story of the film. While there is a little music here and there, it's generally a very quiet film with many long camera shots where not a lot occurs--and seems quite "arty" as a result. Also, there is so much vagueness about the final portion of the film. It just ends very abruptly and there is a slapped on summary of what happened next--almost like they were saying "scene missing here" and instead of re-filming it they just gave a summary of would have been the final ten minutes or so. To me, this was very dissatisfying--particularly because there was no mention of what happened with the girl or her grandmother. Perhaps because the film already was quite long (about 140 minutes), they just decided to end it this way to save costs for film! Whatever the reason, this brought the film from an 8 to a score of 7. An unusual, compelling and odd film--there certainly isn't much like it out there.UPDATE--I spoke with a friend about this film and the more we talked, the more I now realize that what I didn't like about this film (even though it is still a good movie) is that the main character is not consistent nor does he seem to have any depth. Because he is so immature and bland, I could imagine someone seeing this film and actually feeling sorry for or at least excusing his evil. No matter how "nice" he becomes later in the film, his actions are inexcusable and I didn't want to connect with him and I found this a bit disturbing. Still, it is an unusual and thought-provoking work.