`What cinematic techniques do you find particularly successful in Lacombe, Lucien? Explain how they achieve their effects, and show how they contribute to the overall theme or idea of the film.

In addition to displacing the audience to a more involved perspective on the film by viewing the situation through the subjective points of view of each of the characters, the camera angles involve the audience in a split perception of the circumstances from both an objective and a subjective point of view.  The camera is an observer of all of the conversations that take place – which for the most part Lucien is too – and therefore partially, takes on Lucien’s point of view.  However, it is slightly detached, as is illustrated by when Lucien is in the bar of the hotel listening to Betty Beaulieu.  We are looking over Lucien’s shoulder from the same angle, and we do not see things exactly as he does.   This incorporates the fact that we are always conscious that we do not know what Lucien is thinking, and that it may differ dramatically from our point of view.  It also brings to our attention that we see the film from the objective point of view of the observer as well as the subjective view of the characters.  The same way the occupation of France, and similar situations represented in the film, have to be seen from the subjective point of view of people involved as well as the objective view of hindsight.  When Lucien observes conversations the camera is at a low angle, suggesting Lucien’s youth and that he does not fully understand the implications of the conversations he sees, but at the same time we are confronted with the fact he has made decision to be involved in the German Police.  This presents us with the dilemma as to how much Lucien understands of his participation and how much is just from the will to be grown up and ape the others, how can we judge when we know so little of his or anyone else’s thoughts and circumstances.

Contradictions such as the mature-immature dilemma we have over Lucien appear throughout the film.  In Lucien himself we see that he remains silent through large amounts of conversations, and even when he is with his friend at the beginning he does not talk much.  This could lead us to believe that he thinks a lot – understandable for a person in his situation, yet through the rest of the film we see that he acts impulsively and does not seem to give much thought to what he does either before or after the acts.  For example when he shoots the German soldier and he, France and France’s grandmother escape, he does not know where to go and eventually it is chance that they find the house.  Such a lack of awareness of his situation at a time when everyone else is paranoid of what they say and do gives a somewhat disjointed feel because of the contradiction to what we think would happen.  We cannot believe that this seventeen year old is so completely ignorant of the risks when he even sees what happens to the people he turns in.  This scene, where Peyssac is being tortured we hear Betty laughing while she watches and the light hearted music drifting up from downstairs, increasing our uneasiness as what we are seeing and what we are hearing do not go together in our minds.  Another example is how Lucien seems to become more involved in the German police due to his interests that we would consider normal for a boy – he wants to see action, he wants to use guns he even starts to take a more active role in the group because he is looking at a boy’s young boat and then ends up copying the other man’s actions and breaking it.  It is worrying to see what many would consider harmless interests leading to involvement in such a group.  Another example of the contradictions leading us away from trusting our assumptions, is the film’s setting; the countryside is idyllic and what we would see as relaxing and safe, and yet we see such scenes as dead bodies strewn over it when Jean-Bernard and Betty are killed and even the sound of the insects suggests the oppressiveness of the heat and the situation.  It seems that there is some kind of evil in this idyllic place, and this challenges the assumption we would make that evil would only be present in an evil looking place, we are not safe.  

In conclusion, I would say that Lacombe, Lucien takes the audience away from what they think is the way they should see the collaboration, or any other similar situation.  It challenges the idea that the people involved always know what they are involved in and are therefore bad people.  Characters whose faces cannot be read mean we cannot decide their motives and therefore cannot judge completely and objectively whether these actions are good or bad.  They must put themselves in the place of the characters and face the dilemmas that the character faces thus blurring the objective lines of right and wrong by taking a subjective point of view.  This subjective-objective contrast is reflected in the camera angles chosen when Lucien is observing conversations; we see what he sees but cannot actually guess what he is thinking.  Low camera angles are also used so he seems somewhat childish when he is being talked to.  This means we have a dilemma as to whether he is fully aware of the situation; is he too young to understand?  Contrasts between what we think and what happens increase this unease over his awareness especially when we see that his normal interests lead him into greater involvement with the German police.  Further contradictions figure widely in increasing the tension and uneasiness in our minds:  the safe idyll with its oppressive evil, torture with laughter and music.  All of this comes together to take us away from our ingrained views on such a situation and show us how difficult it is for people involved to make some kind of objective choice, which with hindsight we expect them to do.  Through these effects the film shows us how difficult it should be to sit in judgement over people in circumstances such as these.