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04/23/09
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Consensus: Originally made in 1969, this recently reissued classic is a masterful examination of the inner workings of the World War II resistance efforts.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
Superb.
02/09/06
The film is long and episodic, strangely divided between art-house enigmas and melodramatic payoffs for the matinee crowd.
04/15/03
Top CriticNot a bad effort -- but filled with credibility gaps and much in need of tightening.
04/23/06
A work of moving ideological commitment as well as beautifully detailed orchestration.
03/18/06
A film to be seen and savored for its moral magnitude.
04/25/07
Top CriticIt is arguably the tensest, hardest-edged movie of Melville's career ... and that's saying something.
05/25/06
[Those] with a weakness for dry heroism, dark-toned humor, and storytelling of pantherish pace and grace -- in short, lovers of cinema -- should reach for their fedoras, turn up the collars of their coats, and sneak to this picture through a mist of rain.
05/01/06
It doesn't require a lot of dialog and action to create a mood; instead it fills the screen with tension and the constant threat of danger.
07/14/06
a stunning, globetrotting spy masterpiece
05/15/07
Characterizations as thin as those in Army of Shadows would detract from most movies, but here, they give the movie strength. Melville's point is that the people themselves are not as important as their cause.
08/25/06
A painstaking study in courage and conviction under agonizing pressure.
07/13/06
Top CriticThe 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
There is little safety in Army of Shadows, and its dangers add up humanly, not melodramatically (to call it a 'war film' seems trite).
06/30/06
Disarmingly restrained and terrifyingly tense.
04/01/06
It's a haunting and sublime work that offers a realistic but horrific account of the underground Resistance.
10/07/06
Rich in the elegance, assurance and quasi-formality that often define Melville's style.
03/01/07
[Features] very strong performances.
04/15/03
Its moral is just as relevant today as it ever was during the resistance years -- that the only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.
07/21/06
... a riveting historical film noir.
04/28/06
Latest News for Army of Shadows
October 05, 2006:
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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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