Apolitical, amoral, and pretty much apathetic, Lucien is one of those stunning heroes of cinema in that he, even at his most despicable, is an engaging enigma--even to the filmmaker who creates him.
Louis Malle's film is something of a parable of the relationship of French people during the German occupation, revolving around the character of a young man who joins the Gestapo. He's pretty much heartless, but something of his stern apathy seems telling of... something. This boy we follow as he sells out his own school teacher, gets his hands on his hope of power (the ultimate phallic symbol, a gun), and tries to woo France (the girl whose name sets up an obvious metaphor for the country itself).
The metaphor works from Lucien's perspective, as the love, hate, and sometimes sardonic relationship the two have entirely encompasses the disassociation a lot of the French must have had at the time, but it doesn't work so much as a roundly developed character from France's perspective. This movie is largely a character study of Lucien, but it misses out on the character of his chere, the girl who is even hidden from the camera's view when she doesn't have use for Lucien's development. Again, as a symbol she works, but as a woman she doesn't. I'm sorry, but I don't buy anyone falling in love with their one-time rapist.
On the most part, the movie is an effective and engaging look at something many of the French wanted to simply demonetize and denounce. If it weren't for some strange character development in France and some holes in the editing (especially during the end, when things seem to just happen with no explanation except that they're supposed to happen), it would have been a masterpiece.
--PolarisDiB
Louis Malle's film is something of a parable of the relationship of French people during the German occupation, revolving around the character of a young man who joins the Gestapo. He's pretty much heartless, but something of his stern apathy seems telling of... something. This boy we follow as he sells out his own school teacher, gets his hands on his hope of power (the ultimate phallic symbol, a gun), and tries to woo France (the girl whose name sets up an obvious metaphor for the country itself).
The metaphor works from Lucien's perspective, as the love, hate, and sometimes sardonic relationship the two have entirely encompasses the disassociation a lot of the French must have had at the time, but it doesn't work so much as a roundly developed character from France's perspective. This movie is largely a character study of Lucien, but it misses out on the character of his chere, the girl who is even hidden from the camera's view when she doesn't have use for Lucien's development. Again, as a symbol she works, but as a woman she doesn't. I'm sorry, but I don't buy anyone falling in love with their one-time rapist.
On the most part, the movie is an effective and engaging look at something many of the French wanted to simply demonetize and denounce. If it weren't for some strange character development in France and some holes in the editing (especially during the end, when things seem to just happen with no explanation except that they're supposed to happen), it would have been a masterpiece.
--PolarisDiB