''Army of Shadows'' (french: L'Armée des ombres; it, L'armata degli eroi) is a 1969
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
suspense-
drama film
In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...
written and directed by
Jean-Pierre Melville
Jean-Pierre Melville (; born Jean-Pierre Grumbach; 20 October 1917 – 2 August 1973) was a French filmmaker and actor. Among his films are ''Le Silence de la mer'' (1949), '' Bob le flambeur'' (1956), ''Le Doulos'' (1962), '' Le Samouraï'' (19 ...
, and starring
Lino Ventura,
Simone Signoret
Simone Signoret (; born Simone Henriette Charlotte Kaminker; 25 March 1921 – 30 September 1985) was a French actress. She received various accolades, including an Academy Award, three BAFTA Awards, a César Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, a ...
,
Paul Meurisse
Paul Meurisse (; 21 December 1912 – 19 January 1979) was a French actor who appeared in over 60 films and many stage productions. Meurisse was noted for the elegance of his acting style, and for his versatility. He was equally able to pl ...
and
Jean-Pierre Cassel
Jean-Pierre Cassel (born Jean-Pierre Crochon; 27 October 1932 – 19 April 2007) was a French actor.
Early life
Cassel was born Jean-Pierre Crochon in the 13th arrondissement of Paris, the son of Louise-Marguerite (née Fabrègue), an opera sin ...
. The French-Italian co-production is a
film adaptation of
Joseph Kessel
Joseph Kessel (10 February 1898 – 23 July 1979), also known as "Jef", was a French journalist and novelist. He was a member of the Académie française and Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour.
Biography
Kessel was born to a Jewish family in ...
's 1943 book of the same name, which mixes Kessel's experiences as a member of the
French Resistance
The French Resistance (french: La Résistance) was a collection of organisations that fought the German occupation of France during World War II, Nazi occupation of France and the Collaborationism, collaborationist Vichy France, Vichy régim ...
with fictional versions of other Resistance members.
''Army of Shadows'' follows a small group of Resistance fighters as they move between safe houses, work with the Allied militaries, kill informers and attempt to evade the capture and execution that they know is their most likely fate.
While portraying its characters as heroic, the film presents a bleak, unromantic view of the Resistance.
At the time of its initial release in
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
, ''Army of Shadows'' was not well received nor widely seen. In the wake of the
events of May 1968, French critics denounced the film for its perceived glorification of
Charles de Gaulle; at the time, American art-film programmers took their cues from ''
Cahiers du cinéma'', which had attacked the film on this basis.
Because of this, the film was not released in the United States for almost forty years.
In the mid-1990s ''Cahiers du cinéma'' published a reappraisal of the film and Melville's oeuvre, leading to its restoration and re-release in 2006.
The film was greeted with critical adulation in the U.S., appearing in many critics' year-end top ten lists.
Plot
Philippe Gerbier, the head of a
French Resistance
The French Resistance (french: La Résistance) was a collection of organisations that fought the German occupation of France during World War II, Nazi occupation of France and the Collaborationism, collaborationist Vichy France, Vichy régim ...
network, is arrested by
Vichy French
Vichy France (french: Régime de Vichy; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was the fascist French state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II. Officially independent, but with half of its terr ...
police on suspicion of Resistance activity. Acquitted for lack of evidence, he is still interned in a camp. He and a young communist begin to work on an escape plan, but before it can come to fruition, he is transported to Paris for questioning by the
Gestapo
The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe.
The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one orga ...
. He manages to kill a guard and make his escape.
Gerbier manages the Resistance network in
Marseille
Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fra ...
. He and three of his men, Félix Lepercq; Guillaume Vermersch, a burly veteran known as ''Bison''; and Claude Ullmann, a young recruit known as ''Le Masque''; need to execute one of their own members, a young agent, Paul Dounat, for having betrayed Gerbier. They find the house next door to the one that they are using occupied and so they cannot use their guns. Lacking a decent knife, they strangle him.
Lepercq recruits an old friend in a bar, Jean-François Jardie, a handsome, risk-loving former pilot. On his first mission to Paris, Jardie meets Mathilde, a housewife who is one of the linchpins of Gerbier's network, and he visits his older brother, Luc Jardie, a renowned philosopher who lives a seemingly detached, scholarly life in his Paris mansion. Some time later, Gerbier travels to the
Free French
Free France (french: France Libre) was a political entity that claimed to be the legitimate government of France following the dissolution of the Third Republic. Led by French general , Free France was established as a government-in-exile ...
headquarters in
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
in a British
submarine. On the submarine, Gerbier meets Luc Jardie, who proves to be the head of all Resistance networks; his identity is a closely guarded secret. In London, Gerbier organises additional logistical support for the resistance and Luc Jardie is decorated by
Charles de Gaulle. While they are there, Lepercq is arrested by the Gestapo. When Gerbier learns of the event, he cuts his trip short and parachutes into France's countryside.
Mathilde, in command after Lepercq's arrest, devises an audacious plan to rescue Lepercq, who is being tortured in a maximum-security
Gestapo
The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe.
The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one orga ...
prison in
Lyon
Lyon,, ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, third-largest city and Urban area (France), second-largest metropolitan area of F ...
. Jean-François Jardie, after hearing the details of the plan, writes Gerbier a letter of resignation and incriminates himself with an anonymous letter to the Gestapo so that he will be arrested and jailed with Lepercq. They share a cell, Jardie badly beaten and Lepercq now barely alive after being tortured repeatedly. Shortly afterwards, disguised as Germans, Mathilde, ''Le Masque'', and ''Bison'' use forged papers that order Lepercq's transfer to a different detention facility as a ruse to rescue him. Their plan fails when the prison doctor pronounces Lepercq unfit for transport. When Jean-François sees that the rescue has failed, he gives Lepercq his one
cyanide
Cyanide is a naturally occurring, rapidly acting, toxic chemical that can exist in many different forms.
In chemistry, a cyanide () is a chemical compound that contains a functional group. This group, known as the cyano group, consists of ...
pill.
Having seen during the rescue attempt that the Gestapo has displayed his photo as a wanted man, Mathilde urges Gerbier to escape to London, but he refuses and says that no one can take his place in the growing Resistance. Moments afterward, Gerbier is swept up in a raid by Vichy police and handed over to the Germans. He and his cellmates are due for execution, but subjected to an SS officer's sadistic game. They will live a little longer if they can run to the far wall of the room before they are killed by the machine gunners. As the shooting starts, Mathilde's team tosses
smoke bombs
A smoke bomb is a firework designed to produce a large amount of smoke upon ignition.
History
Early Japanese history saw the use of a rudimentary form of the smoke bomb. Explosives were common in Japan during the Mongol invasions of the 13th ...
to block the Germans' view and thus throws a line to Gerbier, who narrowly escapes.
Gerbier spends a month alone in an abandoned farmhouse deep in the countryside. Jardie arrives to seek his advice following the arrest of Mathilde. They fear that she has been forced to reveal the identities of her confederates because the Nazis have threatened her teenage daughter. Jardie hides when ''Le Masque'' and ''Bison'' arrive. Gerbier orders Mathilde's immediate execution, but ''Bison'' refuses to carry out the order and swears to prevent Gerbier from killing her. Jardie emerges and convinces ''Bison'' that Mathilde is incapable of suicide but expects them to kill her. Later, Jardie reveals to Gerbier that the argument he presented to ''Bison'' is purely speculative. Jardie and his team pull to a stop on a Paris street, where they have located Mathilde. ''Bison'' shoots her twice. The final text screens reveal the eventual fates of the four men, all of whom died either through suicide or at the hands of the Nazis. Gerbier's precise fate is not revealed, only that on 13 February 1944, he "decided not to run this time".
Cast
Critical reception
When it was originally released in France in 1969, the movie, coming shortly after the events of
May 68
Beginning in May 1968, a period of civil unrest occurred throughout France, lasting some seven weeks and punctuated by demonstrations, general strikes, as well as the occupation of universities and factories. At the height of events, which h ...
, had a poor critical reception because of the political context since de Gaulle was rather unappreciated at the time, and the glorification of the Resistance had become taboo during the
Algerian War. As a result of the poor reviews, the film was not distributed widely outside France, but it was very well received in the late 1970s, on its British release. American audiences were unable to discover the movie until 2006, but when it was reissued; the film then appeared in many critics' top ten lists of the best films of 2006.
* 1st – David Ansen, ''
Newsweek
''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely ...
''
* 1st – Ella Taylor, ''
LA Weekly''
* 1st – Glenn Kenny, ''
Premiere''
* 1st – Manohla Dargis, ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
''
* 1st – Scott Foundas, ''
LA Weekly''
* 1st – Stephanie Zacharek, ''
Salon''
* 2nd – Jonathan Rosenbaum, ''
Chicago Reader'' (tied with ''Statues Also Die'')
* 2nd – Michael Sragow, ''
The Baltimore Sun
''The Baltimore Sun'' is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the U.S. state of Maryland and provides coverage of local and regional news, events, issues, people, and industries.
Founded in 1837, it is currently owned by T ...
''
* 2nd – Nathan Lee, ''
The Village Voice
''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, th ...
''
* 2nd – Wesley Morris, ''
The Boston Globe
''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...
''
* 3rd – Stephen Hunter, ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
''
* 4th – Shawn Levy, ''
The Oregonian
''The Oregonian'' is a daily newspaper based in Portland, Oregon, United States, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the U.S. west coast, founded as a weekly by Thomas J. Dryer on December 4, 18 ...
''
* 4th – Sheri Linden, ''
The Hollywood Reporter
''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly larg ...
''
* 5th – Marjorie Baumgarten, ''
The Austin Chronicle
''The Austin Chronicle'' is an alternative weekly newspaper published every Thursday in Austin, Texas, United States. The paper is distributed through free news-stands, often at local eateries or coffee houses frequented by its targeted demogr ...
''
* 7th – Richard James Havis, ''
The Hollywood Reporter
''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly larg ...
''
* 7th – Richard Schickel,
''Time'' magazine
* 8th – Michael Wilmington, ''
Chicago Tribune
The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television a ...
''
General top ten
* Steven Rea, ''
The Philadelphia Inquirer
''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper's circulation is the largest in both the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley metropolitan region of Southeastern Pennsy ...
''
* V.A. Musetto, ''
New York Post
The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com.
It was established ...
''
According to online review aggregator
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
the film has a "Certified Fresh" score of 97% and an average rating of 8.6/10; the critics' consensus states: "Originally made in 1969, this recently reissued classic is a masterful examination of the inner workings of the World War II resistance efforts." Its score on aggregator site
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
is 99/100.
Upon its 2006 release,
Roger Ebert added ''Army of Shadows'' to his "Great Movies" list, writing: "This restored 35mm print, now in art theaters around the country, may be 37 years old, but it is the best foreign film of the year."
Cinematographer
Roger Deakins
Sir Roger Alexander Deakins (born 24 May 1949) is an English cinematographer, best known for his collaborations with directors the Coen brothers, Sam Mendes and Denis Villeneuve. Deakins has been admitted to both the British Society of Cinema ...
has called ''Army of Shadows'' one of his favourite films.
as has director
Lawrence Kasdan
Lawrence Edward Kasdan (born January 14, 1949) is an American filmmaker. He is the co-writer of the '' Star Wars'' films ''The Empire Strikes Back'' (1980), ''Return of the Jedi'' (1983), ''The Force Awakens'' (2015), and '' Solo: A Star Wars St ...
.
DVD, Blu-ray releases
In Europe, ''Army of Shadows'' was released on DVD in
Region 2 by the
British Film Institute
The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery (United Kingdom), National Lot ...
in November 2006 and then again in 2013, as part of the Studiocanal Collection, in a special
Blu-ray
The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of st ...
edition including a bonus documentary and booklet.
In the United States, both a
Region 1 DVD and Blu-ray were released by the
Criterion Collection in May 2007. By 2010, the film was
out-of-print. In January 2020, a re-release of ''Army of Shadows'' was listed among the Criterion release announcements for April 2020.
References
External links
*
*
*
*
*
''Army of Shadows: Out of the Shadows''an essay by
Amy Taubin
Amy Taubin (born September 10, 1938) is an American author and film critic. She is a contributing editor for two prominent film magazines, the British ''Sight & Sound'' and the American ''Film Comment''. She has also written regularly for ''The V ...
at the
Criterion Collection
{{DEFAULTSORT:Army Of Shadows
1969 films
1969 war films
Films set in London
Films set in Lyon
Films set in Paris
Films shot in France
1960s French-language films
French war drama films
Italian war drama films
1960s war drama films
Holocaust films
Films about the French Resistance
Films directed by Jean-Pierre Melville
World War II films based on actual events
French World War II films
Italian World War II films
Films based on French novels
1960s Italian films
1960s French films