Indifferently received when it debuted in France, never before theatrically released in the United States, Jean-Pierre Melville’s 1969 “Army of Shadows” stands revealed as a classic film that a trick of fate has made as relevant now as when it was made.
“Army of Shadows,” taken from a memoir by Joseph Kessel, was Melville’s third film with French Resistance themes, one that took him 25 years to make. Released at a time of hostility to former Free French leader Charles de Gaulle, it became entangled in the political turmoil of the day, accused of glorifying and romanticizing the Resistance when in fact it does anything but.
Masterfully made, with no detail unattended, “Army of Shadows” is a somber, reflective film. Though it has some of the trappings of Melville’s thrillers, it is also a meditation on the nature of resistance and the price of courage.
“Army of Shadows” begins with a bravura shot that looks especially good in the new 35-millimeter restoration.
With the unmoving camera focused on Paris’ Arc de Triomphe, a distant column of German soldiers enters from the left and turns at the Arc to walk straight into the camera. Its visual encapsulation of the trauma of occupation has an emotional power and resonance to which no description can do justice.
Melville regular Lino Ventura, an actor of ferocious presence, plays protagonist Philippe Gerbier, a civil engineer being transported to a prison camp.
“Army of Shadows” is constructed as a series of set pieces conveying incidents that really happened and were conceived by Melville as symbolic of the range of Resistance activities.
As someone who was part of the Resistance, Melville knew enough to neither melodramatically glorify nor cynically devalue the heroism he presents.
“Army of Shadows” | **** RATING
NOT RATED|2 hours, 25 minutes|DRAMA|Directed by Jean-Pierre Melville; written by Melville, based on the memoir by Joseph Kessel; in French with subtitles; photography by Pierre Lhomme; starring Lino Ventura, Paul Meurisse, Si- mone Signoret, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Serge Reggiani|Opens today at the Mayan Theatre.
