Army of Shadows (1969)
Directed by Jean-Pierre Melville
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Synopsis by Jack Rodgers
WWII tale of heroic French Resistance fighters battling the occupying Nazi forces. Vignettes include an escape from Gestapo headquarters, the execution of a traitor and the attempted rescue of a tortured comrade. Critically ignored in France when it first opened in 1969, the film was later rediscovered and hailed as a lost masterpiece, finally receiving a U.S. release in 2006. Lino Ventura, Paul Meurisse, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Simone Signoret, Claude Mann, and Christian Barbier co-star. Written and directed by Jean-Pierre Melville, who served in the French Resistance himself before becoming a filmmaker.
Characteristics
Moods
Themes
Keywords
capture, escape, resistance-fighters, Nazism, prostitute/prostitution, war, France, Gestapo, arrest, firing-squad, informer, occupation [military], rescue
Attributes
High Artistic Quality, High Historical Importance