L'armée des ombres (1969)
(The Army in the Shadows)
Country: FR/IT
Technical: col 143m
Director: Jean-Pierre Melville
Cast: Lino Ventura, Simone Signoret, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Paul Meurisse
Synopsis:
The lives of a handful of characters involved in the Resistance between October 1942 and February 1943. Ready to risk everything for their comrades, but also to kill them if the safety of the majority is at stake, they all die grisly deaths at the hands of the Gestapo, an end title informs us.
Review:
Sober, sombre and lucid, Melville's film is typically lengthy and thorough in examining the psychology and motivation of his heroes under pressure: tense, impeccably framed and cut suspense sequences, deliberately paced escapes or near escapes, and conversations in grave tones. The mise en scène is indistinguishable from his policiers, with the focus on coats, bare interiors and old cars, and some of the actors play the same roles. An absorbing ride, and a justifiably revered masterpiece of national cinema, but no picnic.
(The Army in the Shadows)
Country: FR/IT
Technical: col 143m
Director: Jean-Pierre Melville
Cast: Lino Ventura, Simone Signoret, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Paul Meurisse
Synopsis:
The lives of a handful of characters involved in the Resistance between October 1942 and February 1943. Ready to risk everything for their comrades, but also to kill them if the safety of the majority is at stake, they all die grisly deaths at the hands of the Gestapo, an end title informs us.
Review:
Sober, sombre and lucid, Melville's film is typically lengthy and thorough in examining the psychology and motivation of his heroes under pressure: tense, impeccably framed and cut suspense sequences, deliberately paced escapes or near escapes, and conversations in grave tones. The mise en scène is indistinguishable from his policiers, with the focus on coats, bare interiors and old cars, and some of the actors play the same roles. An absorbing ride, and a justifiably revered masterpiece of national cinema, but no picnic.
(The Army in the Shadows)
Country: FR/IT
Technical: col 143m
Director: Jean-Pierre Melville
Cast: Lino Ventura, Simone Signoret, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Paul Meurisse
Synopsis:
The lives of a handful of characters involved in the Resistance between October 1942 and February 1943. Ready to risk everything for their comrades, but also to kill them if the safety of the majority is at stake, they all die grisly deaths at the hands of the Gestapo, an end title informs us.
Review:
Sober, sombre and lucid, Melville's film is typically lengthy and thorough in examining the psychology and motivation of his heroes under pressure: tense, impeccably framed and cut suspense sequences, deliberately paced escapes or near escapes, and conversations in grave tones. The mise en scène is indistinguishable from his policiers, with the focus on coats, bare interiors and old cars, and some of the actors play the same roles. An absorbing ride, and a justifiably revered masterpiece of national cinema, but no picnic.