Cinema
Army of Shadows
L'Armée des ombres
Jean-Pierre Melville · 1969
Synopsis
In 1942, Philippe Gerbier, a civil engineer of the Ponts et Chaussées, leads a resistance network in Lyon. Denounced and arrested by the Vichy police, he is interned in a camp. While he is preparing his escape, the Gestapo has him taken to Paris for interrogation; he manages to escape. He rejoins his comrades in Marseille, where he must, with Félix and the Bison, execute the young man who betrayed them.
Context
The film is based on the novel that Joseph Kessel published in 1943, in which the writer mingles his own experience of the Resistance with fictionalized portraits of other resistance fighters. Melville had himself belonged to the Resistance. The story shows the clandestine life of the network rather than feats of arms. Released on 12 September 1969, the film was restored in 4K by StudioCanal and presented at Cannes Classics in 2024.
Who it is for
More than two hours; a war film without battles, slow and grave, attentive to the gestures of clandestine life.
Prizes and reception
Poorly received in France on its release, it was revealed to American audiences by its restored re-release in 2006, praised by critics.
Sources for this page 5
The pages consulted to check this page.