Paris during World War II. Theater Montmartre is preparing a new play, "Disappearance", but its Jewish director, Lucas, fled from the Nazi dictatorship. His wife, Marion, is thus the sole owner of the theater, taking the burden of preparing it herself, since she also plays the leading role in the play. Bernard has been cast as the male protagonist. Unbeknownst to all but Marion, Lucas never fled but is actually hiding beneath the theater, in the cellar, while Marion visits him at night. The play is a hit, but the regime journalist Daxiat attacks it in his review based on antisemitism. The German secret police inspects the cellar, but fails to find Lucas. After the war, Daxiat fled the country, while Lucas returns to direct the play. Marion had sex with Bernard, but he rather decided to leave her alone with Lucas.
In his own elegant-laconic style, the director Truffaut is telling a restructuring of sorts of his previous film, "Day for Night", with the exception that here he is not observing the insider problems of artists trying to make a movie, but to put a play on stage - with an additional burden that the story plays out during the German occupation in World War II. The actors are equally as relaxed, staying in tune with Truffaut’s vision which is amusing, but never just light entertainment. Several humorous moments give "The Last Metro" elan: Bernard tries unsuccessfully to flirt with a woman working on the play, even "reading" from the palm of her hand and concluding there are two women inside of her, only to receive a quick response: "And neither of these women wants to sleep with you!" In another, Bernard chases away Marion’s suitor who gave her roses, claiming that "its thorns made her hands all bloody". The subplot involving the Jewish director Lucas hiding under the theater, listening to rehearsals, could have been handled much better, though: as some sort of unlikely Phantom of the Opera, Lucas could have tried to influence the rehearsal through Marion much more, which would have led to clashes with the substitute director, or even disguise himself as a new director, but except for two or three scenes, his involvement with the play was disappointingly passive. Despite a rather rushed and lukewarm finale, "The Last Metro" has charm in its own way (the sly finale in which the destinies of Lucas and Daxiat are switched), making it a pleasant viewing experience.
Grade:++
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