Criterion | 1969 | 145 mins. NR
Until ten days ago, I’d never seen Jean-Pierre Melville’s Army of Shadows (L’armée des Ombres). Made in 1969, it wasn’t widely seen in France and wasn’t released in the United States until 2006. From the moment the credits rolled, I’ve been wondering. Just how far Resistance during World War II, Army of Shadows shows that hope can exist even in the most fatal of missions. This is not a film that showcases fascinating raids and daring rescues (though there is one, it feels almost incidental), but a story about desperate men and women trying to survive and make a difference in Nazi occupied France.
We are introduced to Philippe Gerbier (Lino Ventura), forty-one, a mild mannered engineer being interned without charges. Cool but breathless, he escapes during transfer — aided by a wordless barber (Serge Reggiani) — and rejoins the Resistance. Snaking through the shadowy underground, we meet the rest of Philippe’s group: Jean-François Jardie (Jean-Pierre Cassel) a former fighter pilot, who joined the Resistance for its risks; Mathilde (Simone Signoret), a housewife who joined without her family’s knowledge; finally, Luc (Paul Meurisse) a scholarly philosopher and key leader in the Resistance. For the majority of the film’s 145 minute running time, Melville focuses on the interplay and changing relationships between these characters.
From there, we follow Philippe and company on a series of “missions” and “near misses.” In one of the first, he and three subordinates are so inexperienced in ruthlessness that, tragic but reflected only in their faces, the execution of an informer borders on a sort of macabre comedy. We witness the delivery of supplies through tightly guarded checkpoints, combat, and Philippe slipping in and out of England to garner support for the cause.
Because the Resistance was essentially a shadow organization—these people were working under fake names, and not revealing any details about past lives—it’s fitting that Melville uses the camera to indicate the characters moods rather than dialogue. For instance, when Jean-Francois decides to distance himself from the group, Melville puts him in the extreme foreground, away from the rest, during a group meet. The camerea is used to great affect throughout Army of Shadows, as this is a group of people who have learned to conserve their words and say little. Therefore, much more can be learned bt looking at the expressions on their faces.
The best example of a face speaking volumes is when Philippe finds himself under arrest for a second time. Brought before a firing squad, the Nazi commander offers the prisoners a cruel ray of hope for his own amusement: they will give everyone a few seconds to run before opening fire, and anyone who makes it to the far wall without being shot will be spared until the next race. Though the voiceover is saying one thing, you can almost see the sheer terror in his eyes, as the realization of certain death envelops him. Philippe always believed he would face his captors, even in death. But now he was running…was it a desire to stay alive, fate?
It’s impossible to say what makes a person’s survival instincts kick in, but whatever it is, bravo! Melville’s Army of Shadows stands as a tribute to those countless numbers of people who stood against tyranny, giving their lives in the name of freedom.
The grays, blues and earth tones stand out well in this transfer. Flesh tones are warm but don’t ruin the gritty overall look of the film. Colors don´t “pop,” nor should they. The level of detail is extremely sharp as you can see in many of the close-ups.
The Blu-ray is presented with both a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 and LPCM 1.0 audio track. The DTS-HD Master Audio track is almost completely free of any interference and both the dialogue and music sound clear and resonant. Ditto for the LPCM 1.0 audio. Optional English subtitles have been provided.
The Army of Shadows – Criterion Collection Blu-ray begins with an audio commentary by film historian Ginette Vincendeau, who has written a book about Melville. Her discussion is extremely detailed. She separates fact from fiction, both as it applies to the film itself and the novel it is based on. She also gives us background on the people in the movie, including the actuality of Melville’s own time as part of the French resistance.
The separate features:
Trailers: the original French, edited and narrated by Melville, and the 2006 US version.
A short interview with Melville from French TV during the shooting of Army of Shadows, including on-set footage. (4:20)
A new interview with Pierre Lhomme (14:07) where he talks about working with Melville,. He also discusses some of the challenges of trying to restore the unique color palette Melville had intended for the film. This is followed by a separate 7-minute restoration demonstration put together by Lhomme, showing multiple comparisons of image resolution, some of the tears in the prints that had to be repaired, and a step-by-step recreation of 140 frames missing from the opening scene. There is also a stills gallery of color tests Melville and Lhomme did on the shoot, which were used as reference for the new transfer.
An interview with editor Francoise Bonnot, whose mother edited many of Melville’s other films. (10:56)
Selections from a 1969 episode of the French television show L’invité du dimanche that focused on Melville. These excerpts concern Army of Shadows. It includes on-set footage, interviews with Melville, his cast, and the writer of the original novel, Joseph Kessel. It’s a veritable treasure trove of material, and it’s interesting to see and hear film of the director being as meticulous and demanding as Lhomme and Bonnot told us he could be. About a third of the included program features André Dewavrin, the real liaison between England and France during the Occupation, who plays a version of himself in Army of Shadows. (30:17)
Melville et “L’armée des Ombres” is a 2005 documentary (27:30) featuring Lhomme, Bonnot, Jean Pierre-Cassel, and composer Eric Demarsan, alongside filmmakers Philippe Labro and Bernard Tavernier, looking back at the history of Army of Shadows and its director.
Finally, in a submenu titled “The Resistance,” are three more features:
Le journal de la Résistance, a 1944 propaganda documentary from the real front lines of the Occupation. It’s narrated by Noel Coward and is part of the collection put together by the Imperial War Museum. Most of the footage is from the final days of the liberation of Paris, and some of it is quite gruesome. (34:00)
“Simone Signoret and Lucie Aubrac,” a montage of interviews from 1984 where the actress discusses the character she played, which was partially based on Aubrac. In turn, Aubrac reflects on her feelings about being portrayed in movies and novels. (5:25)
Pieces of a 1973 episode of Ouvrez les Guillemets where surviving members of the Resistance are interviewed and debate different viewpoints about how the movement was conducted and the relationship of France and England. (23:30)
The interior booklet for Army of Shadows – Criterion Collection has numerous essays about the film, including critical pieces by Amy Taubin and history professor Robert O. Paxton. The rest of the 44-page color booklet is filled out by photos and words from Melville himself, excerpted from the book Melville on Melville.
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