LE DERNIER COMBAT (The Last Combat)

After serving a variety of film apprenticeships and gaining experience at the studios of Gaumont in France and Universal in Hollywood, Luc Besson worked as an assistant director on several films and made four of his own short subjects – all before the age of 23 (!) when he directed, co-produced and co-wrote THE LAST COMBAT, his first feature, winning numerous awards. Filmed in wide-screen, stunning black and white, THE LAST COMBAT is set amidst the ruins of post-apocalyptic France. The credits list the hero as “The Man” (Pierre Jolivet), a character who shares his partially buried penthouse with a life-sized plastic person. The Man steals a battery for his airplane from an auto junkyard ruled over by a mean Captain (Fritz Wepper). Pursued by the Captain's slave-like crew, The Man flies away, crash-landing in what remains of Paris. There he subsists on fish that fall from the sky, is befriended by The Doctor (Jean Bouise) in a barricaded clinic, intrigued by The Woman in the Cell and challenged to a last combat by The Brute (Jean Reno). Besson's futuristic world is an absurdist view of civilization – perhaps no more savage than the one we live in today. “. . .An amusing, visually imaginative and thought-provoking experience. . .a singularly impressive debut.” -The Los Angeles Herald Examiner “First-timer Luc Besson has directed LE DERNIER COMBAT with the controlled, wry manner of a Jacques Tati.” -Vogue