Lacombe, Lucien | The "Other" Film Spectator

Director: Louis Malle
Rated: R

Lacombe, Lucien (1974) is another coming of age story by French director, Louis Malle. As with all of his films, he delves into the minds of his characters, as they struggle to find their identity in a world with strict societal conventions (as in The Lovers) or socio-political demands (as in Lacombe, Lucien and Au Revoir Les Enfants). Both Lacombe, Lucien and Au Revoir Les Enfants are companion films as they are both coming of age stories that chronicle the lives of young boys amid German occupied France. In Lacombe, Lucien, the political turmoil becomes more emphatic, as the country is divided between supporting the Vichy government or maintaining French nationalistic sovereignty. A young boy of seventeen, Lucien (Pierre Blaise), attempts to escape the drudgery of working in a nursing home and living in poverty. Yet, his escapism becomes more like a need to seek an identity that seems daunting, especially in a world where socio-political unrest takes precedence. Through this, Malle is able to examine the moral complexity of a young man who makes a difficult odyssey in his search for himself as well as his own understanding of humanity.

The film opens with a depiction of Lucien’s job where we see him mopping floors and emptying bedpans. When he arrives home to his rural peasant farm, he is upset that it is occupied by other people he does not know. His mother has a lover—a boss who is employed by the German police—while Lucien’s father is a German prisoner. Thus, his life is already imposed upon by socio-political limitations and demands.

Although Lucien finds solace hunting animals and prides himself on his technical precision, it is obvious he is unhappy, frustrated, and yearns for something more in his life. This prompts him to inquire about joining the French Resistance by asking a teacher who is involved with the underground group. The teacher is intuitively aware of Lucien’s misguided political ambition and refuses his request due to his youth and his unsophisticated understanding of the hostile and dangerous political climate. He is befuddled about his own existence—its meaning and its purpose in life—and naively hopes that by joining the French Resistance it will provide him the direction and guidance he hungers for.

However, when Lucien breaks curfew, his life takes a different turn. A new identity finds him when he stumbles upon German collaborators. Lucien’s quiet, reserved, aloof demeanor and excellent marksmanship impress the pro-German collaborators, and he is immediately accepted in their organization—which operates more like a French Mafia. Through this, Lucien finds wealth, power, acceptance, and prestige. His new identity is far removed from the toil of being a hospital ward employee and peasant farmer. Although we don’t know if he truly enjoys his new job in spite of the fact that people continue to warn him that the Germans will soon lose the war, he continues to do so because he has a naïve way of thinking that he can get through life easily with his new identity. For instance, he uses his newfound status to ambush his way to the front of the line with a young Jewish girl, France (Aurore Clément), who happens to be the daughter of a secluded, Jewish tailor, Albert Horn (Holger Löwenadler), to whom Lucien feels a strange connection in spite of his tendency to intimidate him for his hospitality and most of all, his daughter’s hand in courtship.

When Lucien shows emotions, we are still uncertain about his true feelings. Early in the film, he indulges in the mechanical killing of animals, but then we see him petting a dead horse in sorrow. Such dichotomy foreshadows his moral ambiguity. Sometimes, he is moral, immoral, or amoral. Perhaps his ambiguity is indicative that he, too, is broken by the corrupt socio-political system.

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It is Lucian’s relationship with France, her father, Albert, and Albert’s mother, Bella (Therese Giehse), where Lucien’s complex personality starts to become more pronounced. For example, as Lucien imposes his way into Horn’s apartment with his rifle, he is also bearing gifts such as champagne and war loot. He oscillates between selfishness, cruelty, and lonely desperation. He does not waver when he holds the family hostage, keeping them up late at night in order to feel a sense of belonging and acceptance. He wants to impress France who often looks like a beautiful painting as the camera lingers on her angelic face. Sometimes, he is rough and controlling. On other occasions, he is sensitive to her woes as an oppressed Jew.

But Lucien is no match for the Horn family. The Horn family is intelligent, intuitive, educated, and cultured. Before the war, France was en route to finishing her studies at a conservatory as a pianist. France is refined and knows how to dance, which indicates her well-to-do social background—unlike Lucien who comes from a lineage of rural peasantry, hard labor, and a lack of education. We sense his inferiority when he uses his gun to secure his bravado, social status, and his political clout—regardless of how sordid this may be.

What make this film powerful but also disturbing are the challenges in seeking one’s identity in the midst of political and social unrest. Thus, the film begs the question: Is Lucien a victim of socio-political circumstance or does he willfully choose his fate? It is difficult not to lean towards the latter. This existential quandary is not new to Malle, as he has explored this in his other films such as The Fire Within, Elevator in the Gallows, and The Lovers. Often, his films can be philosophically and universally didactic because they remind us that free will often makes us victims of enemies that we create within ourselves.

July 14, 2014