 In 1973, Modiano co-wrote the screenplay of "Lacombe, Lucien", a film co-written and directed by Louis Malle; it focuses on a boy joining the fascist Milice after being denied admission to the French Resistance.The film caused controversy due to the lack of justification of the main character's political involvement.Modiano's novels all delve into the puzzle of identity, and of trying to track evidence of existence through the traces of the past.