Army of Shadows (L’Armée des ombres) (1969)
89%RT Audience Score:
Awards & Nominations: 4 wins & 1 nomination
Originally made in 1969, this recently reissued classic is a masterful examination of the inner workings of the World War II resistance efforts
Army of Shadows is a movie that will leave you feeling like you just went through a war yourself. But don’t worry, you won’t need to enlist to experience the thrill of this masterpiece. From the opening sequence of Nazi troops swarming through the Arc de Triomphe to the postscript that spells out the fate of the characters, this movie is a rollercoaster of emotions. It’s not your typical hero-worship movie, but rather a bleak and uncompromising look at the paradoxes of war. So grab some popcorn and get ready for a wild ride.
Production Company(ies)
Warner Bros.,
Distributor
NA
Release Type
Filming Location(s)
Bunker de l’armée, Saint-Cyr-l’Ecole, Yvelines, France
MPAA / Certificate
Not Rated
Year of Release
1970
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Mono
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Aspect ratio:1.85 : 1
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Runtime:NA
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Language(s):French, German, English
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Sep 12, 1969 Original
Release Date (Streaming): May 15, 2007
Genre(s)
Drama
Keyword(s)
starring Lino Ventura, Paul Meurisse, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Paul Crauchet, Claude Mann, Christian Barbier, directed by Jean-Pierre Melville, written by Jean-Pierre Melville, produced by Jacques Dorfmann, war, French Resistance, World War II, box office gross $24.6K, runtime 2h 20m, reviewed by Danny Leigh, Glenn Heath Jr., Jeff Shannon, Andrew Sarris, Peter Travers, Marjorie Baumgarten, Brian Eggert, Matt Brunson, Kenneth R Morefield, Jay Antani, Jeffrey Overstreet, Eric Demarsan, Simone Signoret, French (France), Jacques Dorfmann
Worldwide gross: $840,830
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $7,209,729
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,066
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 786,230
US/Canada gross: $771,956
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $6,619,166
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,727
US/Canada opening weekend: $12,620
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $108,211
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,906
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): NA
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): NA
Production budget ranking: NA
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
ROI to date (est.): NA
ROI ranking: NA
Paul Meurisse – Luc Jardie
Jean-Pierre Cassel – Jean François Jardie
Paul Crauchet – Felix Lepercq
Claude Mann – Claude Ullmann dit “Le Masque”
Christian Barbier – Guillaume Vermersch dit “Le Bison”
Director(s)
Jean-Pierre Melville
Writer(s)
Jean-Pierre Melville
Producer(s)
Jacques Dorfmann
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
4 wins & 1 nomination
Academy Awards
All Critics (76) | Top Critics (30) | Fresh (74) | Rotten (2)
Watch it a hundred times and the dread, bad-dream opening sequence of Nazi troops swarming through the Arc de Triomphe might still leave you reeling…
April 1, 2020 | Rating: 5/5
Danny Leigh
Financial Times
TOP CRITIC
“Jean-Pierre Melville cherishes paradox and free thinking,” and both elements are on beautiful display in his masterpiece.
January 12, 2011
Glenn Heath Jr.
Slant Magazine
TOP CRITIC
As close to a masterpiece as any film you’re likely to see this year.
August 17, 2007 | Rating: 4/4
Jeff Shannon
Seattle Times
TOP CRITIC
A film to be seen and savored for its moral magnitude.
April 25, 2007
Andrew Sarris
Observer
TOP CRITIC
From the first sight of German soldiers goose-stepping past the Arc de Triomphe to a postscript that spells out the fate of characters whose moral confusion is all too real, Army of Shadows is a movie of its time — and ours.
January 18, 2007 | Rating: 4/4
Peter Travers
Rolling Stone
TOP CRITIC
Unlike the romantic images of freedom fighters perpetuated by the popular media, Melville’s movie is stripped of self-congratulatory hero worship and other puffery.
November 18, 2006 | Rating: 4.5/5
Marjorie Baumgarten
Austin Chronicle
TOP CRITIC
Gaving fought in the Resistance, Melville understands such a state of mind more than any other filmmaker, which is why Army of Shadows emerges as a meditation more than a historical account.
March 21, 2022 | Rating: 4/4
Brian Eggert
Deep Focus Review
Bleak and uncompromising.
April 9, 2020 | Rating: 3.5/4
Matt Brunson
Film Frenzy
The greatness of Army of Shadows comes from the way it is able to convey many of the cruel paradoxes of war. What is an intimate and messy affair for some ends up being a remote and tactical exercise for others.
February 14, 2019 | Rating: 4/5
Kenneth R. Morefield
1More Film Blog
one of those blessed pictures in which all elements, from its writing through to its editing, coalesce into a work of profound philosophical and emotional unity
April 22, 2010 | Rating: 4/4
Jay Antani
Cinema Writer
As bleak as it is compelling, it will leave you wondering if these freedom fighters haven’t done more damage to each other than they have to the Nazi aggressors.
August 22, 2007 | Rating: A
Jeffrey Overstreet
Looking Closer
a stunning, globetrotting spy masterpiece
May 15, 2007 | Rating: 5/5
Chris Cabin
Filmcritic.com…
Plot
France, 1942, under German occupation. Philippe Gerbier, a civil engineer, is a French Resistance commandant. Denounced by a French collaborator, he is interned in a concentration camp. He manages to escape, and rejoins his network in Marseille, where he has the traitor executed. This movie reveals rigorously and austerely what life was like in the French Resistance: the solitude and fear of its members; their relationships with one another; the constant threat of arrest by the Gestapo; the Resistance command structure and the way its orders were carried out. Head writer Joseph Kessel and co-writer/director Jean-Pierre Melville were both veterans of the “Shadow Army”.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
There is no goofy or funny or odd comment about the film Army in the Shadows on Fresh Kernels.
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