In this war drama set during the French Resistance of WW II, a courageous fighter escapes Gestapo headquarters and returns to Marseille. There he and his gang capture a traitor and throttle him. They then try to rescue a Resistance fighter in Lyons. As they do so, the hero is again captured and his partner killed. Again the hero escapes just before he is executed. He then finds that a female partner has been captured. To avoid having her daughter forced to work in a Nazi brothel, the woman has
informed upon the others. She is then released and subsequently killed by another Resistance fighter for revenge. The screenplay is based on Joseph Kessel's novel and became filmmaker Jean Pierre Melville's magnum opus. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
The glacial pacing can be an irritant as the film unfolds -- I repeatedly wanted to speed things up -- but Army of Shadows won't leave you alone after you've seen it.
From the first sight of German soldiers goose-stepping past the Arc de Triomphe to a postscript that spells out the fate of characters whose moral confusion is all too real, Army of Shadows is a movie of its time -- and ours.
This memorable movie movingly pays tribute to those who chose not to remain silent, to those ordinary men and women who chose to do extraordinary things... from the shadows.
one of those blessed pictures in which all elements, from its writing through to its editing, coalesce into a work of profound philosophical and emotional unity
after falling out with the filmmaker on Le Deuxieme Souffle, Lino Ventura agreed to work with Melville again only on condition that they never speak directly to each other on set.
As bleak as it is compelling, it will leave you wondering if these freedom fighters haven't done more damage to each other than they have to the Nazi aggressors.
a film that tests your nerves and will, which is why it is such a fitting portrait of men and women risking their lives for a pursuit they may never live to see successful
It's hard to believe that Melville's 1969 masterpiece--one of the most accurate chronicles of the French Resistance--never got released in the US until 2006; Splendidly acted, this film draws on the helmer's own experience.
Although it has several suspenseful sequences, "Shadows" is not a spy thriller, precisely. It's much more along the lines of a melancholy mood piece...
Unembellished and matter-of-fact. Melville masterfully spotlights the French Resistance without martyring the Nazi regime that spawned it.
January 11, 2009
Randy Tippy
Super Reviewer
a great depiction of french resistance, melville blends substance with his usual stylistic approach. the film falters at many points with a lack of clarity and direction to the shifty plot, and the film is almost entirely without emotion, but it has striking images and flawless direction in its portrayal of horrific
events. overall very good film.
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