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.
Comment
08/22/07
Army of Shadows (1969)
97 %
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted: 71
Fresh: 69
Rotten:2
Average Rating: 8.6/10
Consensus: Originally made in 1969, this recently reissued classic is a masterful examination of the inner workings of the World War II resistance efforts.
Theatrical Release:Apr 28, 2006 Limited
Box Office: $231,660
Synopsis: Well-known for his influential crime films (LE SAMOURAI, LE CERCLE ROUGE), director Jean-Pierre Melville explores the lives of French Resistance fighters in his moody World War II masterpiece, ARMY... [More]
Starring: Lino Ventura, Paul Meurisse, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Simone Signoret
Director: Jean-Pierre Melville
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Reviews for Army of Shadows
As close to a masterpiece as any film you're likely to see this year.
08/17/07
a stunning, globetrotting spy masterpiece
05/15/07
A film to be seen and savored for its moral magnitude.
04/25/07
Top CriticRich in the elegance, assurance and quasi-formality that often define Melville's style.
03/01/07
The fascination comes in minute observation of the Resistance soldiers' mannerisms, demeanor and interaction.
02/15/07
It's hard to believe that Melville's 1969 masterpiece--one of the most honest and accurate chronicles of the French Resistance--never got released in the US until 2006; Splendidly acted, this personal-political film draws on the helmer's own experience.
02/02/07
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...
02/02/07
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.
01/26/07
Top CriticA superb contribution from an A-class film-maker.
01/19/07
One of the masterpieces of its era and its genre.
01/18/07
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.
01/18/07
Top CriticARMY OF SHADOWS is a remarkable and superb film, and American audiences should be rejoicing that is finally (if belatedly) has reached theaters.
01/11/07
A fascinating picture of bureaucratic drudgery, even in the middle of war and occupation.
12/30/06
Unlike the romantic images of freedom fighters perpetuated by the popular media, Melville’s movie is stripped of self-congratulatory hero worship and other puffery.
11/18/06
There is nothing more to say, except 'Go.'
11/11/06
Rare is the film that actually improves with time. Among that handful is the 1969 French thriller Army of Shadows.
10/20/06
Melville stages riveting set pieces, tense little nuggets of men striking in the dark and dealing out death.
10/20/06
It's a haunting and sublime work that offers a realistic but horrific account of the underground Resistance.
10/07/06
For anyone interested in the impact of war on ordinary men, Army of Shadows proves a sobering and invaluable experience.
09/22/06
Top CriticLatest News for Army of Shadows
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This week at the movies, we've got cops and robbers in Boston ("The Departed," starring Jack Nicholson, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Matt Damon), chainsaw massacres in Texas... More...
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