7pm, Wasserman Cinematheque.
Watch the trailer for ARMY OF SHADOWS (L'armée des ombres)
Directed by Jean-Pierre Melville (France, 1969, 2h25 min.) French with English subtitles
A classic thriller of the French Resistance, directed and adapted from Joseph Kessel's 1943 novel by Jean-Pierre Melville , who served in the Resistance himself. An escape from the Gestapo, so sudden as to leave the toughest of tough guys gasping with the icy sweat of terror and relief; two brothers remain unaware, to the end, of each other’s clandestine activities; patriots, who, in relentless pursuit of traitors, must steel themselves to the most brutal of face-to-face violence. Gallic icon Lino Ventura, aided by compatriots including maitresse of disguise Simone Signoret, goes underground in the face of the German Occupation—but heroism comes at a truly high price.
The most personal film by the acclaimed director Jean-Pierre Melville (Le Samouraï), who had participated in the French Resistance himself, this tragic masterpiece, based on a novel by Joseph Kessel, recounts the struggles and sacrifices of those who fought in the Resistance. Lino Ventura, Paul Meurisse, Jean-Pierre Cassel, and the incomparable Simone Signoret star as intrepid underground fighters who must grapple with their conception of honor in their battle against Hitler’s regime. Long underappreciated in France and unseen in the United States, the atmospheric and gripping thriller Army of Shadows is now widely recognized as the summit of Melville’s career, channeling the exquisite minimalism of his gangster films to create an unsparing tale of defiance in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds.
“...any moviegoers with a weakness for dry heroism, dark-toned humor, and storytelling of pantherish pace and grace—in short, lovers of cinema—should reach for their fedoras, turn up the collars of their coats, and sneak to this picture through a mist of rain.” – The New Yorker
