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Plot:
During a tragic period in humanity, Philippe Gerbier is an ordinary man who finds himself in the center of extraordinary events, alongside compatriots Mathilde, Luc Jardie, Francois, Le Masque and Fel...( read more 
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Recent Reviews
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MCT:August 15, 2008Amazing film, I was impressed highly with this film, it is infinitely different and not as perfect but it has a lot of human emotion that surrounds it and overtakes its other counterpart. I found the film to be extremely strange to watch as it feels more like a psychological struggle and less a thriller and also, an honest display of man's weakness even in a struggle supposedly honorable.
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MCT:July 24, 2008
Heroism to Melville isn't the pretty picture Hollywood gives us in its' sanitized war films. This is a grim film where those pursuing a noble cause don't have the opportunity to even enjoy it as they must be prepared for the possible worst.
Melville's filmmaking style is slow and deliberate giving the viewer an anti-heroic account of the early days of French resistance to the Nazi Occupation which is both restrained and terrifyingly tense.
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MCT:June 22, 2008
After a disastrous release in France, this Jean-Pierre Melville film was never distributed abroad and it lingered in obscurity until it finally got an American theatrical release two years ago and was distributed on DVD by Criterion. With that release it got a major critical re-discovery and was hailed the best movie of 2006 by a few smart-ass critics. It's great to see this was re-discovered as it really is a great film, and one of the best looks at a resistance movement I've seen on film. A great thriller that reminded me a lot of The Conformist, and probably a predecessor of the 70's paranoid thriller.
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MCT:May 8, 2008
The rarely seen L'armee des ombres is perhaps Jean-Pierre Melville's best film, right up there with Le Samourai. Typical of Melville, everything in the film is done meticulously and shot and framed beautifully. Melville keeps the film at an intimate level, focusing on the lives and thoughts of French Resistence fighters, and just what it meant to be in the Resistence in France - to be anonymous. They use phony names, constantly on the move; many of them don't even know who the boss of their group is. Two brothers don't even know that they're both in the Resistence - they meet, and one flirts momentarily with the thought of informing his brother of his work in the resistence, only to change his mind.
Men fight and die without ever giving their real names, knowing they do they will endanger their families and friends, and lest they die without the glory of a legacy of heroism.
The film was thought to be unusable, as the film reels had turned pink with age, but it was restored digitally a couple years ago, and now its going to be available on Criterion.
L'Armee Des Ombres is a great film, packing dead pan action meticulously into a slow artful picture; a deep and moving portrait of the sacrifices of the French Resistence. -
MCT:March 9, 2008
This Movie is from the Criterion
Collection, Spine Number 385. This movie was made 39 years ago, and was voted best film of 2006. About the French Resistance during World War II. A true Masterpiece. A Must See. In French with English Subtitles. Only bad part is the German Soliders have no subtitles. Will find its way in my collection. -
MCT:February 15, 2008
The best film ever? well maybe not. But definitely the one that touches me the most. A great feature about how the giant machinery of war crushes heartlessly the little men trapped beneath it.
The most important thing in this film is how it depicts courage without heroism. The characters are not some kind of supermen. They are fallible and above all fear is constantly present as it seems humidity and cold. Even the sun looks wet, cold and fearful in this film.
In this film characters start being combatants out of free will and for noble cause, but they only go on fighting because that is the only way for them to survive. In a way, their fight is much closer from the gangsters v. police struggle than from the image of war cinema usually presents.
All the characters speak low as if they were afraid that death may hear them and pay attention to them. Moreover, the storyline is not constructed as any other. Instead of having a well structured narration leading gradually to a climax, here each scene is a new episode and the characters are somewhat astonished and happy to be still alive at that moment. They enjoy each moment simply because they are still breathing.
I also loved the modesty and the seamlessness of the camera work. There is no music and next to no artistry as it should when men and women are looking at their own death. -
MCT:September 22, 2007For the most part this movie is nooze fucking city! The first twenty minutes and the last half hour were the only parts of this movie that really had me going. The cinematography had its high points, but that was about it. Between this and Le Samourai, I'm going to make it a point to run in the opposite direction whenever I hear Jean-Pierre Melville's name mentioned.
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MCT:June 26, 2007
Jean-Pierre Melville's opus about French Resistance fighters of WWII is his most personal film. It is stylish, grim and so meticulously perfect. This is even better than Le Samourai. Melville draws on his own experiences as a Resistance fighter and combines them with his own meticulous attention to detail to give his film unparalleled authenticity. Not a single shot is wasted. The cast's performances are just as restrained as the film itself. Melville gives touches of his gangster films to this film as well as a fatalistic and existential feel to the story. There is no sentimentalism in this masterpiece, just hard hitting realism and an insightful look at heroism and patriotism.
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MCT:June 25, 2007
Classic scene after classic scene. Running scene, Strangling scene. Parachute scene, Execution scene etc etc, you get the idea.
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MCT:June 7, 2007
This movie is SOOO good but SOO sad. It's incredibly done. It has nothing like 'a hollywood ending" (cuz its a French movie, and is in French...)
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MCT:June 1, 2007
Brilliant film by the man who brought up "Le Samourai". This is one of the best espinionage films ever made. Very similar to "Munich". Surprisingly dark.
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MCT:May 28, 2007
"And now a short detour." Nothing will make you support resistance to tyranny like this look at the French Resistance.
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MCT:May 16, 2007
This sprawling adaptation of Joseph Kessel's novel of wartime heroism in the French Resistance was a long-cherished project of French film noir stylist Jean-Pierre Melville. Probably because it is an adaptation rather than an original script, the film has problems of length, rhythm and tempo, but that only helps it become graver, more disturbing.The actors are uniformly stunning (especially Lino Ventura and Simone Signoret) but, probably because he was too close to the story, it's not one of the director's masterpieces.
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MCT:May 8, 2007
A good movie about the french resistance in WW2. It shoes the heroic effort men and women made and the hard choices they had do take.
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MCT:April 20, 2007
a part of melville's legacy and a gripping war drama that goes far beyond combat, the starring roles are made of perfection by flawless melvillian techniques, ventura has the best role of his career, magnificent
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MCT:December 31, 2006
Have to pay close attention at the beginning till the plot gets rolling, but once it gets rolling it doesn't stop till the big crash at the bottom of the hill! Story could have been a bit more clear-cut (and probably is if you speak French), and some of the photography seemed a bit too dark; all in all, a good war tale!
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MCT:November 16, 2006
This movie is just so amazing. I could watch it everyday. I wish it were out on dvd. anyway the thing I love about this movie is that everytime I went to see it I noticed something new and got something out of it. Easily the best film I have seen all year. Great performences all around but standout ones from Lino Ventura and Simone Signoret.
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