a brilliant meeting between great actors and touching story. a story about war, at the first sigh. in fact, a story about ideal, sacrifice and profound definition of patriotism. bitter, cold, gray, simple. a story about survive and the price for it. the theme is not original but the precision to present the details and the structure of emotions, gestures and decisions, the construction of characters, the science to give not exactly stories of few people but the space in who the viewer becomes part of events is the splendid pillar of film. because , in a pragmatic society, to remind the value of the ideals seems strange. The Army of Shadows is a precious pledge for rediscover the necessity to not ignore the sacrifices and the force of links with the country who remains, again and again, yours.

Most films about the opposition of occupied people against their oppressors tend to trivialize the cause of freedom as the depiction of heroes and heroic deeds of freedom fighters tend to get highlighted. This is not the case with French director Jean-Pierre Melville's masterpiece "L'Armée Des Ombres". It is one of those few war films which present a true picture of French resistance. Based on a book by Joseph Kessel of L'Académie Française, "L'Armée Des Ombres" does not make a hero out of any fighter. It honestly depicts the tough lives of resistance fighters who accord top priority to their mission. As they confront dangers too often, there is no scope for personal feeling in the hearts and minds of these daredevils. Melville has extracted excellent performance from all actors but it is nice to watch two of French cinema's greatest actors Lino Ventura and Simone Signoret as resistance fighters. Their performance are genuine to such an extent that one is forced to sit glued to the screen. At the time of its initial release "L'Armée Des Ombres" was ignored and somewhat neglected by certain idiots in France. It is great to learn that its lost glory has been restored as it has been chosen as one of the films to be shown in French schools by CANOPE, The network for creation and educational support in France.

What we would expect when the ideas behind The Army of Shadows are described to us? The image the viewer draws in their head is probably not what's represented in the actual film. The Army of Shadows is a taut film that chooses to represent the ways of secret organizations of France during the time of the Nazis with honesty...some may think with too much honesty, such as the brutal violence that's carried out by our protagonist. The writer and director, Jean-Pierre Melville, conducts his film with the feeling he wants to share with the world about the French Resistance: ambiguity. The writing knows the plot, but leaves much of the answers blank, even at the conclusion of the film to make the audience feel how the members of the Resistance felt. They trusted no one, not even those who claimed to be loyal to the beliefs of their cause. Everything about themselves had to remain a secret, which isolated them from the world to specific measures.The asset that is most surprising, when watching today, is how technically skilled the filmmakers are. The cinematography is beautiful, the sets are realistically scary, the make-up will make your make your stomach churn, and the editing is noticeably advances the story by cusses out the big moments with emotion. It's the French version of Bonnie Clyde with its production values and methods of technology. Army of Shadows has a big story that is told in a small way. It doesn't concern itself with the blockbuster action scenes that we would expect from a Nazi film. Instead it focuses on the conversations and the running of the French Resistance, the moral code, and the day-to-day struggle of trying to move ahead in their lives when Nazis on their tails trying to terminate them. The violence in the film may be more disturbing than huge action sequences because when it's shown, it's deliberately placed to make us react. Rating: 10Grade: A

Based on Joseph Kessel's real life experiences as a member of the French Resistance, the head of the Resistance is imprisoned in a camp after being given away by a traitor. He manages to escape and kill the informant, but this leaves him without knowing who he can trust.Technically its a good movie, the cinematography was really good looking, the acting was subtle in a good way. It reminded me very much of Brian De Palma and Quentin Tarantino films, specially of the films "Blow Out", "Carlito's Way", "Reservoir Dogs", and of course "Inglourious Basterds". It was very alike to those films, for its themes and also for some technical aspects.I enjoyed the voice over narration, it really stood out and there was also a sense of realism as opposed to Hollywood action, like one specific scene when at the beginning when the protagonist escapes from the Nazis by killing one by stabbing him in the neck and instead of getting his machine gun and killing the rest and maybe even saving other prisoners (like what would happen in a Hollywood film) he just reacts like someone who just killed a man would, he runs away. While I have to admit there were parts that had me kind of bored, the film does end with a bang, which left me thinking a while.This is my first Melville film and I'm anxious to see the rest, but I couldn't see anything great or outstanding from this film. I have to mention the DVD quality was pretty bad so that might have something to with me not seeing it as anything special, I already ordered my out of print criterion blu-ray though, so I will be watching it again in better quality later on.I'd recommend it to anyone who liked "Au Revoir Les Enfants", "The Pianist", "Come and See", "The Deer Hunter", "Full Metal Jacket", and/or "Apocalypse Now".