Lacombe, Lucien

Name: Lacombe, Lucien
Genre: Drama, War
Released: 1974-01-30
Duration: 2 h 18 min
Rating: 7.6
Cast: Pierre Blaise, Aurore Clément, Holger Löwenadler, Therese Giehse, Stéphane Bouy

Lacombe Lucien (1974)

Timing: 2:18 (138 min)

7.6/10
11 037

—
no scores

7/10
168

7.6/10
8300

Rate the movie:

Everything about the movie

Video 2

Photo 16

Actors and characters

Video for the film Lacombe, Lucien — Criterion Trailer 329: Lacombe, Lucien

2:33

Photo 16

Release date

1974-01-30

Country

Germany, France, Italy

Production

Nouvelles Éditions de Films (NEF), Vides Cinematografica, Hallelujah-Film GmbH, Nouvelles Éditions de Films

Genre

Drama, War

Budget

Box office

Website

Director

Louis Malle

Actors

Pierre Blaise, Aurore Clément, Holger Löwenadler, Therese Giehse, Stéphane Bouy, Loumi Iacobesco, René Bouloc, Jean Rougerie, Pierre Decazes, Jacqueline Staup
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

Louis Malle, Patrick Modiano

Producer

Louis Malle, Claude Nedjar

Camera operator

Tonino Delli Colli

Composer

Artist

Ghislain Uhry

Audition

Catherine Vernoux

Editing

Suzanne Baron
Whole Team (31)

Short description

In Louis Malle's lauded drama, Lucien Lacombe is a young man living in rural France during World War II who seeks to join the French Resistance. When he is rejected due to his youth, the resentful Lucien allies himself with the Nazis and joins the Gallic arm of their Gestapo. Lucien grows to enjoy the power that comes with his position, but his life is complicated when he falls for France Horn, a beautiful young Jewish woman.

What's left behind the scenes

Louis Malle (director, screenwriter, and producer) understood that the actor for the lead role had to be found among natives of the region where the film takes place, as only such an actor would have the necessary accent. Malle organized auditions, but the right actor remained elusive until Pierre Blez arrived. As it turned out, Blez did not enjoy the filming process, and a few days after production began, he informed the director that he had had enough and was going home. Malle and his assistants had to persuade Blez not to leave. Malle guessed what Blez disliked—he was only 17 years old and felt that everyone on set was bossing him around. Malle gathered the technical crew and informed everyone present that, starting Monday, they were to treat Blez 'as if he were Alain Delon or Jean-Paul Belmondo.'
While preparing for the shoot, Louis Malle spent several months conducting research, interviewing former collaborators and members of the Resistance, and consulting with historians. During this period, Malle discovered that a man very similar to the future film's protagonist had actually existed. Moreover, it turned out that during World War II, this man had lived in an abandoned house belonging to the Malle family.
Louis Malle (the film's director, screenwriter, and producer) worked on the script together with writer Patrick Modiano. Initially, they gave the project a different title and intended to film it in Mexico. However, Malle was not permitted to film in Mexico, just as he hadn't been in Chile, so he rewrote the script to set the action in France during World War II. The project was then given a title—again, a temporary one—referencing the paramilitary organization created by the Vichy regime to fight the Resistance.