Film of the Day: 32
Army of Shadows (1969)
Today was a very unpleasant day for France in 1940, as Nazi tanks entered Paris and began taking control of the city. Thus began the Gestapo, the arrests and the interrogations whilst witnessing the flag of the swastika beneath the Arc de Triomphe. All of Northern France and the western coast became Nazi-occupied zone.
However this did not stop the French from fighting back. Many brave men became part of the French Resistance who fought for their country to the bitter end. They fought with allied forces, killed informers and did all this with very little food and money and with the knowledge of knowing that they could be captured and executed any day and could trust no-one.
No film I have ever seen, captures the French Resistance with such honest and pure direction as Jean-Pierre Melville’s masterpiece Army of Shadows (however on a much smaller scale, The Train is also a great film about the French Resistance). As an example, there is a scene in the film that I will never forget (amongst many others) where a few members of the resistance grabs a fellow French man who has informed on one of them. Not only does the informer not look guilty but he is just a boy, maybe 20 years of age. He is scared and is fully aware of what is about to happen and you can even see the shame in his eye.
The members take him to a hide out where they must kill him, but are ill equipped and inexperienced. No-one wants to do the kid in as they feel he is a fellow man in the war still, but orders are orders and they strangle him with a piece of curtain cloth whilst gagged and the other men are holding him down. The informer is of course pleading for his life but the killer has full pressure on the kid, yet, is so disgusted with what he has done and we genuinely feel for him. They were mostly average men who were constantly terrified and did not want to be in this position.
We also get another member of the resistance who is captured and knows there is no escape, unless he uses a fellow French man as a diversion so that he can escape, which even he knows this is wrong, but he also knows it is better that one man dies rather then then both of them.
Whilst watching this masterful film, we ourselves feel the fear, the tension around the characters and the feeling that any day can be their last.
Not only do I urge you to see this film for its brilliance and it’s masterful directing, but also for its importance in French cinema.
However this did not stop the French from fighting back. Many brave men became part of the French Resistance who fought for their country to the bitter end. They fought with allied forces, killed informers and did all this with very little food and money and with the knowledge of knowing that they could be captured and executed any day and could trust no-one.
No film I have ever seen, captures the French Resistance with such honest and pure direction as Jean-Pierre Melville’s masterpiece Army of Shadows (however on a much smaller scale, The Train is also a great film about the French Resistance). As an example, there is a scene in the film that I will never forget (amongst many others) where a few members of the resistance grabs a fellow French man who has informed on one of them. Not only does the informer not look guilty but he is just a boy, maybe 20 years of age. He is scared and is fully aware of what is about to happen and you can even see the shame in his eye.
The members take him to a hide out where they must kill him, but are ill equipped and inexperienced. No-one wants to do the kid in as they feel he is a fellow man in the war still, but orders are orders and they strangle him with a piece of curtain cloth whilst gagged and the other men are holding him down. The informer is of course pleading for his life but the killer has full pressure on the kid, yet, is so disgusted with what he has done and we genuinely feel for him. They were mostly average men who were constantly terrified and did not want to be in this position.
Whilst watching this masterful film, we ourselves feel the fear, the tension around the characters and the feeling that any day can be their last.
Not only do I urge you to see this film for its brilliance and it’s masterful directing, but also for its importance in French cinema.
Hi dude, I've seen a lot of war films, but this one is new to me & sounds interesting enough to see it. But I did see The Train which I liked very much.
ReplyDeleteWar is ugly, but in itself it brings out the true human spirit....I surmise that this is what Army of Shadows is all about!
Good review on the French Resistance!