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Army of Shadows (1969)
Topic Started: Aug 26 2007, 06:21 AM (221 Views)
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In the winter of 1942-43, members of the French Resistance battle themselves and the Nazis in occupied France.

First of all, let me thank Paul Panzer for recommending this film. I wish he or Frank Hale would actually write reviews of films like this; they could of course do a much better job than I do. I'm awfully good at "This is a good movie, and the DVD is pretty good" than I am at examining subtle nuances in light and shadow. But since I don't see them steppin' up to the plate, well, that leaves Your Wackiness to handle it.

Okay, apology aside, this is a great movie and the DVD is fantastic. There you go.

Jean-Pierre Melville's 1969 film was pretty much loathed when it was released in France; the critics thought it pro-Charles de Gaulle and held that against it. It received no U.S. release whatsoever until it was "rediscovered", restored, and released in 2006, including playing at the Sacramento French Film Festival, where it proved so popular it was brought back again this year. It was recently released on DVD by Criterion, too, and it's simply one of the most unforgettable and interesting films I've ever seen.

Lino Ventura, Paul Meurisse, Jean-Pierre Cassel, and Simone Signoret are a small band of Resistance fighters. There is no grand epic adventure on which they find themselves; day to day, they simply risk their lives on a myriad of missions, whether it's delivering a radio or trying to spring one of their colleagues from a Gestapo torture chamber. Sometimes, it is the removal of one of their friends who has collaborated with the enemy.

Based on a book by a Resistance fighter and published to great acclaim late in the war, Army of Shadows opens with an incredible image: a platoon of German soldiers goosestepping through the silent, otherwise deserted Champs-Elysees, which apparently they did every morning of the Occupation. "Unhappy memories! Yet I welcome you! You are my long-lost youth!" the opening scrawl tells us. This is, indeed, one of the unhappiest films I've ever seen. And one of the best. The characters know the odds against them surviving are overwhelming, and what awaits them if they fall into the hands of the Gestapo, yet they keep on doing what they do, including occasionally escaping to England on a mission and then returning into the belly of the beast.

It's worth mentioning that the film has added gravitas to Americans in today's political climate in the U.S., where torture is something to be rigidly defined rather than rigidly avoided and where our fighting forces are in danger every day in an occupied country. Do not miss this film.
"I'm glad that this question came up, because there are so many ways to answer it that one of them is bound to be right." - Robert Benchley
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I certainly agree. This is the best movie all year for me, by far. These people are fighting a ruthless enemy without hope and without seeing any tangible results. They continue simply because they feel that somebody must fight evil, but by continuing they forfeit all ties with friends and family. Talk about courage!

The main reason this movie got no respect in France is that it explodes myths. Of the fighters we meet, only one is a Communist and he's weak-willed. The leader of the cell is an aristocrat. Not fashionable in French intellectual circles, where communism is respected and old families derided. Communism is respected, BTW, largely because the Communists take all credit for the Resistance, but director Melville was a member of the Resistance and knows better.

The acting is so good that you believe in the characters every minute, even when the iconic Simone Signoret is onscreen (It's her greatest performance).

Panzer gives this one five stars out of five. It's the bleakest, saddest picture I ever saw, and absolutely riveting every step of the way. Run, do not walk...
Life is just a bowl of cherries, it's too mysterious, don't take it serious...
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And let me just add this is not (at least, not to me) a depressing film, a film that makes you sorry you watched it, or anything like that. It's powerful and sad, not depressing. Don't get the wrong idea.
"I'm glad that this question came up, because there are so many ways to answer it that one of them is bound to be right." - Robert Benchley
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Right. The movie left me full of admiration for those people's dedication and moral bravery. It's not a downer at all, but it is a mindblower. You're left wondering if you could have done what they did, and I'm not at all sure I could have. I rented it, but I'm buying the DVD because I know I'll watch this one again and again.
Life is just a bowl of cherries, it's too mysterious, don't take it serious...
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