Francois Truffaut was 10 years old in 1942, the year in which the bulk of his The Last Metro is set. Released in September 1980, the second world war drama's script — co-written with assistant director Suzanne Schiffman and Jean-Claude Grumberg — draws on Truffaut's memories of daily life in Nazi-occupied France. It also owes dramatic elements to Schiffman, whose Jewish mother was detained and deported by the Nazis. Widely considered as the French New Wave filmmaker's most personal work, The Last Metro tells the story of Marion Steiner (Catherine Deneuve), a well-known actress who has taken over as the owner of the Montmartre Theatre after her Jewish husband Lucas (Heinz Bennent) is forced into hiding from the Nazis. At the beginning of the film, a voiceover informs the audience that in Paris, two years after the French capital fell to the Nazis, there was a curfew, so "no one can afford to miss the last Metro". In the winter of 1942, we're also told, Parisians would flock to the theatre for warmth — and, presumably, to add some diversionary colour into their lives. As for the theatre folks, it was often a case of "the show must go on". If nothing else, that was because it was their way of earning their living in times when items like silk stockings were unaffordable luxuries for the majority of women. A good chunk of this often hermetic-feeling drama is spent showing Steiner and others, including rising acting star Bernard Granger (Gerard Depardieu, pictured with Deneuve) and director Jean-Loup Cottins (Jean Poiret), at rehearsals. The more time passes by though, the more one realises that it isn't entirely business as usual at the Montmartre Theatre. A number of its players harbour secrets that could see them condemned to death if they were revealed to the Vichy authorities or the Nazis. For instance, the outwardly cool Marion turns out to be hiding her husband — who some believed had fled to South America — in the cellar, while the unabashedly passionate Bernard is revealed to have ties with the Resistance. Featuring what was then considered a controversial casting choice, involving German actor Bennent playing a Jewish man, The Last Metro went on to win 10 Cesar awards and was France's best foreign language Oscar nominee the following year. Arguably Truffaut's most crowd-pleasing offering, it continues to be an art-house favourite three decades after its director's death can be seen in its inclusion in two different film programmes in Hong Kong, this month and next. The Last Metro, November 27, 9pm, HK Arts Centre, Wan Chai; December 3, 7.30pm, HK Film Archive, Sai Wan Ho. Part of the HK French Film Festival. December 27, 9pm, HK Arts Centre. Part of the HKIFF Cine Fan programme
