Truffaut : "qualité française".

At the 1981 Césars ceremony, « Le dernier métro » (« The last metro ») received ten Césars, including the top four : best film, director (François Truffaut), actress (Catherine Deneuve), actor (Gérard Depardieu).

Never a good sign.

One word sums up my memory of the film screening : comfort.

Film took you on an extremely pleasant ride. Tale of stage company in Nazi-occupied Paris unfolded like a first-class trip in time and space, organised by a great tour operator. No effort was required or expected from you.

A well-supplied on screen buffet offered you a large variety of film delicacies : beautiful locations, sets and photography ; excellent acting ; first rate direction ; romance, danger, fortitude, wit, History ; intelligent and high-minded dialogues ; catharsis, identification...

WW2 Paris looked nearly as gorgeous as Catherine Deneuve. You were given the choice to be her lover, Gérard Depardieu, or her husband, Heinz Bennent, or to alternate from one to the other and get the best of both worlds.

Everybody was likeable, everything was in perfect taste, thrills and conflicts stayed within well-behaved limits. Sharing the characters’ trials, you felt extremely well.

To add to your well-being, the movie theatre was as comfortable as the film : your seat was spacious and well upholstered, the air-conditioning and the sound nicely-tuned ; the screen was large, the print new, its colours sharp ; the audience was sparse -an afternoon session on a week day- and quiet, no NBA player was sitting in front of you, pop corn had not invaded France yet.

As the film ended, you were fully satisfied : what more could you have asked for ? Rarely did you receive so great value for your money. And, with the critics unanimously praising the film, there was no reason to feel ashamed for enjoying it so much.

Doubts came later : was it not too good to be true ? The very smoothness of the film started to bother you. Your sense of surfeit wavered : you had received much, but nothing unexpected. A surprise, even a couple of hitches would have spiced the experience.

You had been wonderfully pampered, but started to regret a more adventurous ride.

You had watched five-star fare, but was it not standard five-star fare : the amenities of one more Ritz Carlton hotel for the high end traveller ?

Customer is king. But did not Truffaut overdo it ?

And two words came to mind, from a distant past : « Qualité française ».