Theatrical Release Date: TBC
Home Ent. Release Date: 13 Sep 2009
Cert:
The Last Battle marks Besson’s first foray into sci-fi and his first pairing with Jean Reno. Set in a post-Apocalyptic future, the world is in ruins, and our protagonist “The Man” (Pierre Jolivet, Subway) seizes his chance to escape from a gang of looters by stealing their most prized asset, a fully charged automobile battery. Using it to power a makeshift aircraft he has built, he flies out of the wasteland to the ruins of a great city, there to scavenge for survival. Rescued by an eccentric old man (Jean Bouise, The Big Blue, Nikita) who lives in a fortress of his own design, the pair seek sanctuary here together from The Man’s nemesis: “The Brute” (Jean Reno, Ronin, The Da Vinci Code). Besson crafts a unique visual iconography of decay and dilapidation to create this understated tale of a desperate struggle for survival. The Last Battle is credited as being one of the first films of the “cinema du look” movement of the 1980’s, whose slick stylishness combined the playful experimentation of the Nouvelle Vague with early 80’s pop culture.