'L'Armée des Ombres'

        

     'Tragedy is the immediacy of death you get in the underworld and or at a peculiar time such as war. The characters of  'L'Armée des Ombres' are tragic characters; you know it from the very beginning.'

     Following my review of Jean-Pierre Melville's film 'Le Cercle Rouge' it may come as no surprise to find out that I have begun working my way through his work.  Yesterday I watched 'L'Armée des Ombres' of 1969.  And what a profoundly moving cinematic experience it was, so much so that in the middle of the night I feel compelled to put down my thoughts in this short review.  It isn't hyperbole to say I don't think I've encountered a film of such artistic and emotional heft in quite a while and I'm not at all ashamed to add that at the end I was in tears.

     'L'Armée des Ombres', based on the Joseph Kessel's semi autobiographical novel of the same name, is the story of a Resistance cell operating in France during the German occupation of the country in WWII.  It is a grim and bitter business, at once heroic and ruthless.  One feels that Melville, who himself fought in the Resistance, poured so much of his own experience into this film; and it is that, along with Melville's great artistic and technical skills, that make this film so compelling.  Much credit is also due to the cinematographer Pierre Lhomme and composer Eric Demarsan for a score of such poignancy.
     I won't spoil the ending except to say that something occurs that is quite exceptional in film making.  I really cannot recommend this film highly enough.

L'Armee des Ombres

1969

Director                 Jean-Pierre Melville
Cinematogrpahy  Pierre Lhomme
Producer               Robert Dorffmann