Movielogr

Rating: 7.5 stars

Tags

Netflix France resistance torture espionage WWII

All movies seen on 01/30/2011

View on: IMDb | TMDb

Army of Shadows (1969)

Directed by Jean-Pierre Melville

Drama | War | Thriller

Overview

Betrayed by an informant, Philippe Gerbier finds himself trapped in a torturous Nazi prison camp. Though Gerbier escapes to rejoin the Resistance in occupied Marseilles, France, and exacts his revenge on the informant, he must continue a quiet, seemingly endless battle against the Nazis in an atmosphere of tension, paranoia and distrust.

Length 145 minutes

Actors

Lino Ventura | Paul Meurisse | Jean-Pierre Cassel | Simone Signoret | Claude Mann | Paul Crauchet | Christian Barbier | Alain Dekok | Alain Libolt | Jean-Marie Robain | Albert Michel | Georges Sellier | Marco Perrin | Hubert de Lapparent | Jeanne Pérez | Alain Mottet | Denis Sadier | Serge Reggiani | Colin Mann | Anthony Stuart | Gérard-Antoine Huart | Percival Russel | Michel Dacquin | Jacques Marbeuf | Marcel Bernier | Gaston Meunier | Nathalie Delon | Jacques Léonard | Pierre Vaudier

Viewing History (seen 1 time)

Viewing Notes

Once thought lost and just restored in 2005, this frank portrayal of the French resistance, the titular Army of Shadows, during World War II is well done.

Director Jean-Pierre Melville served in the resistance, as did writer Joseph Kessel, whose novel the movie is based on.

You won’t find any wildly crazy action scenes here. Instead, what you get is an honest, and sometimes tedious, portrayal of history. That said, there are some pretty startling scenes of brutal violence.

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