A STRONG AND BRAVE `ARMY'.Byline: Glenn Whipp Film Critic Jean-Pierre Melville's French Resistance saga ``Army of Shadows'' opens with a shot of German soldiers marching down the Champs-Elysees, the Arc de Triomphe Arc de Triomphe Largest triumphal arch in the world. A masterpiece of Romantic Classicism, it is one of the best-known monuments of Paris. It stands at the centre of the Place Charles de Gaulle, at the western terminus of the Champs-Élysées. prominent in the background. It's a gut-punching image that remains haunting to this day, and one can only imagine the bad memories it conjured up for French moviegoers when the movie opened in 1969. Melville's movie isn't focused on the German occupation, though the Nazis are always there in the background. Melville is more interested in his countrymen. As he noted after the movie was released, ``Don't forget that there are more people who didn't work for the Resistance than people who did.'' ``Army of Shadows'' chillingly shows the mortal cost of wartime patriotism just as it silently indicts the large number of people who went along with the Vichy regime. Melville's masterpiece has never been seen outside France. When it was released, critics labeled it as ``Gaullist film art.'' (De Gaulle wasn't big with French young people back then.) Its arrival here, with a beautifully restored print and new subtitles sub·ti·tle n. 1. A secondary, usually explanatory title, as of a literary work. 2. A printed translation of the dialogue of a foreign-language film shown at the bottom of the screen. tr.v. , is nothing short of a cause for celebration, much like the restoration of Sam Fuller's war epic ``The Big Red One'' was last year. Movies don't get any better than this. The central character in ``Army of Shadows'' is an aloof resistance leader (Lino Ventura) who hopscotches between Paris, Marseilles Marseilles (märsā`), Fr. Marseille, city (1990 pop. 807,726), capital of Bouches-du-Rhône dept., SE France, on the Gulf of Lions, an arm of the Mediterranean Sea. , London and the French countryside, landing in and out of prison, always looking over his shoulder for the next possible betrayal. His job is to organize the Resistance. We don't see him blowing up bridges or committing other acts of sabotage. He is detached, almost monkish. He has to be in order to remain alive. Survival is the utmost concern for the film's Resistance members, who include a fierce woman played by the great Simone Signoret Simone Signoret (French IPA: [si'mɔn siɲɔ'ʀɛ]) (March 25, 1921 - September 30, 1985), was an Academy Award-winning Jewish-French actress. . They are justly paranoid and quite capable of pragmatic ruthlessness when faced with traitors in their midst. There are many thrilling sequences in the movie, but Melville (best-known for gangster thrillers like ``Bob Le Flambeur'' and the noir noir adj. 1. Of or relating to the film noir genre. 2. Of or relating to a genre of crime literature featuring tough, cynical characters and bleak settings. 3. Suggestive of danger or violence. masterwork mas·ter·work n. See masterpiece. ``Le Samourai'') wrings most of the excitement out of a minimum of words and movement. In this world, anything beyond a quick glance or nod could land you in a Gestapo interrogation interrogation In criminal law, process of formally and systematically questioning a suspect in order to elicit incriminating responses. The process is largely outside the governance of law, though in the U.S. room. Melville himself was a Resistance fighter, and his experiences inform the film, just as Fuller's wartime service colored ``The Big Red One.'' There is no romanticism romanticism, term loosely applied to literary and artistic movements of the late 18th and 19th cent. Characteristics of Romanticism Resulting in part from the libertarian and egalitarian ideals of the French Revolution, the romantic movements had on display here. In fact, the movie has a detached, almost clinical, tone, one that builds to a chilling conclusion that spells out the price these people paid in their struggle for freedom. It's a patriotism defined not by slogans or symbols but cyanide cyanide (sī`ənīd'), chemical compound containing the cyano group, -CN. Cyanides are salts or esters of hydrogen cyanide (hydrocyanic acid, HCN) formed by replacing the hydrogen with a metal (e.g., sodium or potassium) or a radical (e.g. . Glenn Whipp, (818) 713-3672 glenn.whipp(at)dailynews.com ARMY OF SHADOWS - Four stars (Not rated: violence, torture) Starring: Lino Ventura, Simone Signoret. Director: Jean-Pierre Melville. Running time: 2 hr. 19 min. Playing: Laemmle's Playhouse 7 in Pasadena; Laemmle's Royal in West Los Angeles
In a nutshell: Jean-Pierre Melville's masterful 1969 epic about the French Resistance finally makes it to America. You won't see a better movie this year. In French with English subtitles. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Simone Signoret is a member of the French Resistance in ``Army of Shadows.'' |
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