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Lacombe Lucien

Lacombe Lucien

1974
Drama
2h 18m
A small town in the south-west of France, summer of 1944. Having failed to join the resistance, the 18 year old Lucien Lacombe, whose father is a prisoner in Germany and whose mother dates her employer, works for the German police. He then meets France Horn, the daughter of a rich jewish tailor. (imdb)
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Lacombe Lucien

1974
Drama
2h 18m
Your probable score
Avg Percentile 69.44% from 295 total ratings

Ratings & Reviews

(295)
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Rated 21 Feb 2007
86
94th
Fascinating character study of an immature, impulsive boy who has been given too much power. Blaise does a terrific job with the complicated role - half the time you want to strangle the kid, at other times his pathetic naivete is evident - and the film as a whole is a realistic and touching portrayal of misguided human behavior.
Rated 10 Aug 2014
9
90th
Lucien is a moral cipher whose shortsighted interests concern only what directly affects his daily existence. Wanting to be "somebody", he asks to join the French Resistance. He's rejected. So instead he works for the German police. There's a world of difference between these two groups, but he doesn't care which authority he obeys, just as long as it immediately benefits him. I'd almost call him a sociopath if it weren't for the simple fact that this kind of behavior is undeniably human.
Rated 06 Aug 2008
4
70th
Lucien moves so quickly back and forth from despicable to sympathetic that it's impossible to nail down his character. The movie finds its sadness in his complicity with evil men, but in the end Lucien redeems himself, at his own expense. It's a very tragic and emotionally affecting film, and Malle really strikes the perfect tone for the material.
Rated 03 Jan 2015
5
70th
more downbeat than malle's other fiction films i've seen, and its WWII milieu much more in focus. here, power comes accidentally to many, who then use it in a rather accidental fashion. the often inexplicable ways in which the characters behave and interact is interesting but also strangely off-putting - the young woman especially, but also the main character, whom other reviewers here strangely consider as sympathetic. pierre blaise can't act.
Rated 15 Aug 2007
87
89th
A chilling and nuanced tale that shows how easily the innocent (or weak-minded) can become complicit in evil. Malle explores a lot of grey area here, and does it intelligently. Scenes of brutality and vulgar displays of power are often balanced with gentle moments of hopefulness for humanity. Cinematically, the film doesn't break any new ground, but it is a nice piece of work. It's a thoughtful, slightly Bressonian film.
Rated 17 Dec 2007
88
83rd
Disturbing character study on how power can warp someone. Sad, but quite worthwhile.
Rated 02 Mar 2008
71
53rd
# 589
Rated 06 Aug 2008
3
45th
Lucien is a great character, and this is a wonderful coming of age story. Though he does despicable things, Lucien is still wholly sympathetic because of his misguidance and sheer naivete. The love he comes to find is genuinely touching and serves as a great counterpoint and emotional conflict for his work.
Rated 19 Dec 2008
67
34th
667
Rated 15 Jan 2010
55
10th
897
Rated 23 Mar 2010
5
80th
I don't necessarily agree with others in finding sympathy in Lucien's plight, and the actor portraying him doesn't really bring much to it. The ideas presented and base morality of it all sells it.
Rated 02 Dec 2011
59
18th
#814
Rated 19 Sep 2013
88
95th
88.000
Rated 24 Nov 2014
87
96th
The kid is just outrageous in his misuse of power, especially since he doesn't seem to recognize what he's doing - no emotion comes across his face, even in his romantic gestures he is mechanical, animalistic. The film foregrounds this affectless behavior - the fights between the resistance and the Gestapo happen as if in a haze. A quite extraordinary way to approach the inconceivable of that time.
Rated 23 May 2015
80
91st
One of Malle's very best. A complex and articulate script about a tumultuous soul, full of persuasive surprises, whose only major flaw is the on-the-nose naming of the female character "France" (in every other respect, it nicely avoids allegory). Alas, the film's effect is compromised by Pierre Blaise's abysmal acting in the lead, and spotty minor acting throughout.
Rated 10 Feb 2018
84
80th
A depressing story about vile and immature boy becoming even more vile when given power. A very sad, unnerving movie.
Rated 22 Feb 2018
9
93rd
And such a beautifully observed finale.
Rated 20 Nov 2018
90
91st
Fascinating and daring film set in Nazi occupied France. It's alarmingly disturbing from the get-go, with Lucien's unemotive blankness a prevalent and memorable sign of evil's banality. Along with his new Jewish girlfriend, this is quite the cynical portrayal, showing a range of acquiescence amongst the young and the old. Some hilarious and unexpected plot-points take this film to a final scene of quiet greatness.
Rated 28 Apr 2019
60
35th
A decent coming-of-age character study of an uneducated peasant who somewhat inadvertently joins the Nazis in France, and gets to revel in the power he suddenly has. Everything's pretty black and white to him until he falls in love with a Jewish girl. It felt a little long in parts, but I stayed for the great jazz soundtrack (which included Django) and the beautiful shots of the French countryside.
Rated 28 Aug 2020
90
87th
This is a powerful and thoughtful film about the kind of person who does serious harm not for reasons of ideology, but because they dislike their station in life and can only see the upside of hurting people. Sadly, it's as salient now as it was 40 years ago. Blaise is an amazing, blank presence whose performance is very subtle for his first film. Sadly, he passed away suddenly the following year.
Rated 30 Oct 2020
65
71st
Interesting allegory of ethical difficulties and ambiguities arising in a world of massive power differences, but perhaps the script needed work: some motivations and reactions seemed rather unconvincing and implausible to this viewer. Shows a great deal of actual animal killing: this seems like a deliberate provocation to comfortable sensibilities removed from the cosmic realities of life and death, a reminder of the true character of the struggle to survive, but it also seems bloodthirsty.
Rated 17 Jun 2022
3
72nd
it has haneke vibe. reminds of benny's video a little.
Rated 16 Aug 2022
91
96th
Fantastic. Pauline Kael: "Lucien responds to events with his own innocence, apathy, and animal shrewdness. Malle's gamble is that the cameras will discover what the artist's imagination can't, and, steadily, startlingly, the gamble pays off. Without ever mentioning the subject of innocence and guilt, this extraordinary film, in its calm, dispassionate way, addresses it on a very deep level." She's right, as always. Pierre Blaise was in inspired choice--there's something almost feral about him.
Rated 31 Jan 2024
89
85th
My ★★★★ review of Lacombe, Lucien on Letterboxd https://boxd.it/5JfCwJ

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