Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

The Last Metro Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov October 29, 2014

Winner of ten Cesar Awards, including Best Film and Best Director, Francois Truffaut's "The Last Metro" a.k.a. "Le dernier métro" arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Artificial Eye. The supplemental features on the disc include an original trailer for the film; audio commentary with Gerard Depardieu and historian Jean-Pierre Azema; deleted scene; and video introduction by Serge Toubiana, president of Cinémathèque française. In French, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

"I just realized something awful. I could kill a man."

The story of The Last Metro revolves around a group of Parisian actors preparing to stage “The Vanished Woman”, a new play written by the Theatre Montmartre’s Jewish director, Lucas Steiner (Heinz Bennet, The Death of Mario Ricci), who some believe has fled the country. Before the rehearsals begin, we meet the director’s wife and actress, Marion Steiner (Catherine Deneuve, The Young Girls of Rochefort), who has decided to stay and take over her husband’s business. We are also introduced to the flamboyant but very talented actor Bernard Granger (Gerard Depardieu, Camille Claudel) when he attempts to approach a beautiful woman on his way to the Theatre Montmartre. Finally, we meet Nadine Marsac (Sabine Haudepin, Hôtel des Amériques), a young actress determined to make it big.

Later on, we see Marion with a man hiding in the basement of the Theatre Montmartre. At first, we are unsure about his identity, but, as the story progresses, it becomes apparent that he is in fact Marion’s Jewish husband. In the meantime, the last actor arrives – Arlette Guillaume (Andrea Ferreol, Letters to an Unknown Lover), the same woman Bernard has tried to pick up not too far away from the Theatre Montmartre.

The rehearsals begin. Bernard quickly attempts to win Arlette’s heart, but is once again disappointed when he is told that she doesn’t like men. Marion is intrigued by Bernard’s persistence, but she is also focused on helping her husband flee France. Arlette goes after Nadine and the two are caught together by Marion.

“The Vanished Woman” is finally staged. It is received very well by the public and the Parisian press. Even the openly anti-Semitic critic Daxiat (Jean-Louis Richard, The Sentinel) has good words to spare about Bernard’s performance. Somewhat surprisingly, however, Marion’s husband, who has been able to listen to the performance of “The Vanished Woman” through a small hole in a pipe connecting the basement with the stage, tells his wife that he isn't pleased with the treatment his play has received. Marion is unsure how to respond to the harsh criticism and begins to suspect that her husband might actually be jealous of her stage partner. She becomes very upset because there is nothing between her and Bernard...yet.

Truffaut’s The Last Metro strikes as a vivid social commentary on the artistic climate in France during the Nazi occupation. It captures marvelously the intensity of the social environment that all sorts of artists had to endure in order to continue working without being targeted by the new regime. Unsurprisingly, throughout the course of the film you would hear plenty of remarks addressing freedom of expression and censorship.

At its core, however, The Last Metro is undoubtedly a romantic film. In fact, despite of the nagging presence of the Nazis, all of the main protagonists reveal that they desire some sort of intimacy; even the suspiciously reserved Marion is eventually intrigued by Bernard’s persistence to win Arlette’s heart. We also see that the closer the actors become with each other, the more they begin to resemble the characters in “The Vanished Woman” they are asked to play.

Truffaut’s much publicized love for theater is also impossible to ignore in The Last Metro. In fact, the film very much resembles an elaborate theater play with its somewhat minimalistic look; its story rarely leaves the Theatre Montmartre as well. It should not come as a surprise then that even when the main protagonists are not seen rehearsing, their lines sound awfully poetic.

Probably the key reason why The Last Metro became such an enormous hit in France, however, has to do with the fact that Truffaut avoided oversimplifying his characters (the successful Resistance subplot benefits from it a lot). As a result, even though we are often unsure about the true motivations behind the main characters’ actions, we can easily relate to their struggles, pains and occasional triumphs.

The Last Metro Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.66:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Francois Truffaut's The Last Metro arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Artificial Eye.

Similar to the rest of the Francois Truffaut films which Artificial Eye have recently released on Blu-ray, The Last Metro appears to have been licensed from MK2 in France. Additionally, I've done some direct comparisons with Criterion's Blu-ray release and can confirm that the Region-A and Region-B releases use different high-definition transfers.

Generally speaking, detail and depth are pleasing throughout the entire film. Despite the fact that light inside the Theatre Montmartre is frequently restricted, clarity is also very good. There are no traces of problematic degraining corrections. However, sharpness levels are slightly elevated -- and most likely this is how they are set on the MK2 master -- and as a result occasionally this high-definition transfer can look slightly harsher when one compares it to Criterion's high-definition transfer (see screencapture #1). Regardless, the difference is quite small and the effect isn't distracting. Brightness levels are also slightly elevated (compare screencapture #2 with screencapture #1 from our review of the Criterion release). Colors are well saturated and stable. Overall image stability is excellent, and here are no large debris, damage marks, stains, or cuts. Lastly, there are no encoding anomalies to report in this review. All in all, even through there is some room for small improvements, this is a good technical presentation of The Last Metro which should please viewers who have previously experienced the film only on DVD. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content).

The Last Metro Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: French LPCM 2.0. For the record, Artificial Eye have provided optional English subtitles for the main feature.

While dynamic intensity will not impress viewers who like aggressive modern lossless tracks, viewers who appreciate nuanced and well balanced sound will be very pleased with the manner in which the LPCM 2.0 track handles Georges Delerue score. Indeed, the music enhances the tense period atmosphere wonderfully well. The dialog is consistently clean, stable, and very easy to follow. Finally, there are no pops, cracks, audio dropouts, or digital distortions to report in this review. The English translation is excellent.

The Last Metro Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - original French trailer for The Last Metro. In French, with optional English subtitles. (3 min)

• Presentation with Serge Toubiana - Serge Toubiana, president of Cinémathèque française, introduces The Last Metro. In French, with optional English subtitles. (

• Audio Commentary - this audio commentary by Gerard Depardieu and historian Jean-Pierre Azema initially appeared on MK2's DVD release of The Last Metro, and was also included on Criterion's Blu-ray release. In it Gerard Depardieu recalls his initial dislike of the French director's films (he felt that they were too bourgeois) and how they eventually became good friends, and discusses his character, Catherine Denueve's performance, the elegance of the film's shooting (the lightness in the relationships between the actors and the filming crew), etc. Jean-Pierre Azema addresses different historical events, such as the establishment of the anti-Jewish laws in France (October, 1940), the gradual expansion of German censorship and Joseph Goebbels' plan for occupied France, the different activities of the French Resistance in Paris, etc. The audio commentary is moderated by Serge Toubiana.

• Unreleased Scene - this scene with Valentin (Rene Dupre) and Marion (Catherine Deneuve) was removed from the original cut of the film, but was later on reinserted in the 1982 video release of The Last Metro. It is also included on Criterion's Blu-ray release. In French, with optional English subtitles. (5 min).

The Last Metro Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Last Metro, one of Francois Truffaut's most personal and most successful films, arrives on Blu-ray in the United Kingdom rather later, but fans of the French director's work will be pleased with Artificial Eye's Blu-ray release. The film looks good in high-definition and amongst the supplemental features is MK2's excellent audio commentary with Gerard Depardieu and historian Jean-Pierre Azema. RECOMMENDED.