L'armée des ombres (1969)

Director:

Jean-Pierre Melville

Writers:

Jean-Pierre Melville (adaptation) and
Joseph Kessel (novel)

Release Date:

12 September 1969 (France)

Genre:

Drama | War

Plot:

France, 1942, during the occupation. Philippe Gerbier, a civil engineer, is one of the French Resistance's chiefs...

Plot Keywords:

French | Camp | Civil Engineer | Resistance | French Resistance

Awards:

3 wins

Cast

Lino Ventura	...	Philippe Gerbier
Paul Meurisse	...	Luc Jardie
Jean-Pierre Cassel	...	Jean François Jardie
Simone Signoret	...	Mathilde
Claude Mann	...	Claude Ullmann dit 'Le Masque'
Paul Crauchet	...	Felix Lepercq
Christian Barbier	...	Guillaume Vermersch dit 'Le Bison'
Serge Reggiani	...	The hairdresser
André Dewavrin	...	Colonel Passy
Alain Dekok	...	Legrain
Alain Mottet	...	Commander of the camp
Alain Libolt	...	Paul Dounat
Jean-Marie Robain	...	Baron de Ferte Talloire
Albert Michel	...	Gendarm
Denis Sadier	...	Gestapo's doctor
Georges Sellier	...	Colonel Jarret du Plessis
Marco Perrin	...	Octave Bonnafous
Hubert de Lapparent	...	Aubert, Pharmacien
Colin Mann	...	Dispatcher
Anthony Stuart	...	R.A.F. Major
Michel Fretault	...	Anonymous Patriot
Gérard-Antoine Huart		(as Gérard Huart)
Percival Russel
Michel Dacquin
Jeanne Pérez
Pierre Vaudier
Jacques Marbeuf
Franz Sauer
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Adrien Cayla-Legrand	...	Général De Gaulle (uncredited)
Nathalie Delon	...	Une amie de Jean-François (uncredited)

Directed by
Jean-Pierre Melville

Writing credits
Jean-Pierre Melville		(adaptation)
Joseph Kessel		novel

Produced by
Jacques Dorfmann	....	producer

Original Music by
Éric Demarsan		(as Eric De Marsan)

Cinematography by
Pierre Lhomme
Walter Wottitz

Film Editing by
Françoise Bonnot

Production Design by
Théobald Meurisse

Set Decoration by
Théobald Meurisse

Costume Design by
Colette Baudot		(as Madame Colette Baudot)

Makeup Department
Maud Begon	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Alain Quefféléan	....	production manager (as A. Quefféléan)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Jean-François Adam	....	assistant director (as J.F. Adam)
Georges Pellegrin	....	assistant director (as G. Pellegrin)
Jean-Claude Ventura	....	assistant director (as J.C. Ventura)

Art Department
Marc Desages	....	second assistant set decorator
Henri Sonois	....	first assistant set decorator (as Enriqué Sonnois)
Roger Volper	....	property master
Ferracci	....	poster designer (uncredited)

Sound Department
Jacques Carrère	....	sound director
Jean Nény	....	sound director (as Jean Neni)
Alex Pront	....	sound director
Victor Revelli	....	boom operator

Special Effects by
Walter Wottitz	....	special photographic effects

Visual Effects by
Georges Tornero	....	restoration (restored version)

Camera and Electrical Department
Philippe Brun	....	camera operator
Pierre Li	....	first assistant camera
Jacques Renard	....	second assistant camera
Raymond Voinquel	....	still photographer
Walter Wottitz	....	camera operator: aerial unit
Walter Wottitz	....	camera operator: underwater unit

Music Department
Robert Pouret	....	music editor
Bob Vatel	....	musician: piano

Other crew
Betty Elvira	....	script girl
Jean-Pierre Spiri-Mercanton	....	general manager (as J.P. Spiri-Mercanton)
Howard Vernon	....	dialogue: English

Production Companies

• Les Films Corona
• Fono Roma

Distributors

• Valoria Films (1969) (France) (theatrical)
• Studio Canal (2007) (France) (DVD) (HD DVD) (restored version)
• ABC-Kinot (1971) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Rialto Pictures (2006) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Criterion Collection, The (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• Universal Pictures Finland Oy (2006) (Finland) (DVD)

Special Effects

• Eurocitel

Other Companies

• Warmflash Productions Ltd.  trailer
• Warmflash Productions  trailer

Also Known As:

Army in the Shadows
Army of Shadows (USA)
L'armata degli eroi (Italy)
The Shadow Army

Runtime:

Spain:140 min | UK:145 min | USA:145 min | Argentina:145 min

Country:

France | Italy

Language:

French | German | English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono | Dolby Digital (2006 restoration)

Certification:

Iceland:L | Argentina:13 | Finland:K-16 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:AA (original rating) | UK:AA (1978) | UK:12A (re-rating) (2005)

Filming Locations:

Avenue Hoche, Paris 8, Paris, France

Company:

Les Films Corona

Trivia:

Cinematographer Pierre Lhomme claimed that the last surviving, watchable print of the movie had turned completely pink with age. He later supervised the 2k resolution, digital restoration of the film at the Eclair Laboratories in Paris.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: In the London WWII sequence, we see double yellow lines on the road. These were only introduced in the UK in 1956 and didn't become common until the 1960s. Same goes for a couple of the street signs, of a style not known before the 1960s.

Quotes:

Jean François Jardie: She said five minutes, but she'll wait a lifetime.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Broken English (2007)

Soundtrack:

Symphony No. 41 (Jupiter)

aside from his later crime films, this is Melville at his best, and usual challenging self

Jean Pierre Melville, writer/director of Army of Shadows, has said in interviews that the book of which he based his movie from is considered THE book on the French resistance in the second world war. While I can only speculate as to this film being THE film of its category, as I've yet to see other films on the resistance, it sets quite a high standard for painting a very calculated, perfectly cool (or cold on your POV) piece of film-making on the subject. It's basically as if Melville, having lived through the period- this being perhaps an even more personal film than his other crime films- still takes on some of the true knacks of what he does in the rest of his oeuvre. Taking characters who go by codes of loyalty, professional as can be, and in a true underground in society. However this time their opponent being the Germans instead of the police the stakes are raised. Even as a couple of parts in the middle seem to shake with the deliberate pace Melville sets a couple of times, the main core of the story and the characters is remarkable, and honest in a dark, bleak way.

Lino Ventura is at his best as Gerbier, a main man in the French resistance movement, who gets more involved in the proceedings following a brief prison-camp stint (the escape from which is one of the most daring in any film). The film is fairly episodic, however encompassing a group of the resistance people, including Mathilde (Simon Signet, very good as always), Le Masque (Claude Mann), and Jean-Francois (Jean-Pierre Cassel, at a peak as well in his own way). Some of their operations are simple, like retrieving weapons or finding more support through certain channels. Though here and there some payback is in due to the traitors. This becomes a higher issue as the film rolls into its final act, as alliances come into question, and the real ties of humanity together are tested in the midst of the German occupation.

As usual with Melville all of this is told, in its own way, fairly simply- almost clinically- by Melville's camera. There are some zooms here and there, some very intense camera positions (though not awkwardly), and exciting when need be. At the same time, there are some scenes like a short scene on a beach (all blue) or a few others at night or in different lighting modes that are the best Melville's done in the midst of a color scheme used perfectly to correspond with the mood; it works just as well if not better than how he uses it for his crime films. But one of the pleasures of seeing a film like this by a real kind of maverick of European cinema is seeing how much room he gives for his actors. These are not performances that become over-sensational in the slightest. On the contrary, what adds sometimes to the tension in some of the scenes, or the outright tragedy, is how the actors just play as they do professional-wise, sometimes with what's not said meaning more (and how the Melville gets these quiet moments is fantastic). Featuring a superlative musical accompaniment by Eric De Marsan, this is one of the best directed anti-war films ever made.