Dir. Luc Besson
Starring Pierre Jolivet, Jean Bouise, and Jean Reno
93 min.
Luc Besson’s explosive first feature, The Last Battle (Le Dernier Combat), is a nearly silent post-apocalyptic tale of survival shot in stunning black-and-white Cinemascope, signaling the beginning of French cinema’s flirtation and eventual embrace of Hollywood filmmaking from the ’80s onward. Lean and sparse, the film follows the hardscrabble day-to-day exploits of a nameless hero as he rummages through rubble in makeshift armor, trying to survive amidst violent, desperate men and desolate landscapes.