A Self-Made Hero

Updated June 26, 2020 | Infoplease Staff

Few liars have the ability to deceive their way through life. Even fewer can maintain the charade with dignity. Their fabrications may seem convincing at first, but eventually the lies catch up and there's a lot of red-faced explaining to do. Albert (Kassovitz) not only has a talent for deception, but he also becomes another person — exactly the person he longs to be. Sheltered by his mother during the Nazi occupation of France, Albert never got to join the Resistance. When he finally does break free of his mother's hold, he runs away to seek out adventure. He meets a gay resistance hero, the Captain (Dupontel), who painstakingly educates Albert about the minutiae of the war. Albert does his homework, too, memorizing names, numbers, stories, biographies, and places himself among the right people. His savvy lands him a high-ranking position in France's peacetime military. The film skillfully urges us to admire Albert's cunning and loathe his chicanery.