Army of Shadows

Name: Army of Shadows
Genre: Drama, War
Released: April 28, 2006
Duration: 145 min
Rating: 99

2006

METASCORE

Universal acclaim based on 24 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 99 Ratings

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7.9

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7.9	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 99 Ratings

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Movie Details & Credits

Rialto Pictures | Release Date: April 28, 2006

Summary: Making its U.S. debut, Jean-Pierre Melville's 1969 Army of Shadows is an intimate epic of the French Resistance in WWII.

Director: Jean-Pierre Melville

Genre(s): Drama, War

Runtime: 145 min

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Metascore

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Critic Reviews

100

Shawn Levy

The protagonists have subsumed their identities to the collective, and they rise and fall in their hearts as the collective prospers or suffers. Their effort is absurd, but their intent is pure. Watching it evokes a combination of pity for their naive idealism and awe at Melville's uncanny brilliance. Read full review

100

Peter Travers

From the first sight of German soldiers goose-stepping past the Arc de Triomphe to a postscript that spells out the fate of characters whose moral confusion is all too real, Army of Shadows is a movie of its time -- and ours. Read full review

100

David Ansen

Infused with the bleak romanticism of Melville's gangster movies ("Le Samouraï," "Bob le Flambeur"), and deepened by his own experiences in the Resistance, this hard-bitten tribute to freedom fighters makes most current movies look flabby and undisciplined. Don't miss it. Read full review

100

Roger Ebert

This restored 35mm print, now in art theaters around the country, may be 37 years old, but it is the best foreign film of the year. Read full review

100

Scott Foundas

The result is a brilliant and relentless thriller, painted in Melville's trademark shades of charcoal and midnight blue, marked by daring escapes, unimaginable moments of self-sacrifice and unconscionable acts of betrayal. Read full review

100

Jami Bernard

It's a white-knuckler all the way, with most of that tension coming from the smallest facial expressions exchanged in uneasy silence between compatriots who knew what they were getting into, but were nevertheless unprepared for the moral and emotional fallout of their patriotic actions. Read full review

Mick LaSalle

Everything Melville shows us, he shows us for a reason, and these reasons are never obscure but are rather pertinent to the action and to the moral movement of the world and the characters. Read full review

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User Reviews

TedP.

Jul 1, 2006

Difficult to imagine that one can strip a series of perilous encounters down to their existential terror any better than Melville.

1 of 2 users found this helpful

J.Weeks

Nov 29, 2007

I fell in love with Melville's work when I first saw Le Samourai a year or two ago. He was the master of showing you rather than telling you and this film is no exception. It is true that this film may seem a little slow but there is so much under the surface that no one should be I fell in love with Melville's work when I first saw Le Samourai a year or two ago. He was the master of showing you rather than telling you and this film is no exception. It is true that this film may seem a little slow but there is so much under the surface that no one should be bored. I particularly loved the unspoken way that regular French people recognized the members of the resistance and helped them without a word. I loved that these were regular people, a mathematician, a civil engineer...they were not elite special forces. This story takes the glamor out of the resistance and that, to me, makes it all the more heroic.… Expand

1 of 2 users found this helpful

ClayC

Sep 15, 2009

A truly great film. Your users that have given ARMY OF SHADOWS poor reviews seem not just ignorant of cinema, but, especially, ignorant of history. (They actually seem to be just plain ignorant, and very full of themselves.)

3 of 3 users found this helpful

EpicLadySponge

Mar 17, 2016

Army of Shadows is finally lovable and something almost godlike. If critics love this one, I bet users are going to have a great time watching this more than the critics.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

OlivierPiel

Dec 27, 2019

One of my childhood's favourite films (I'm French). I kept a vivid memory of some of the most gruesome scenes. It is probably the best film about the French resistance. For this accuracy not only in facts, situations but, more importantly, its existentialist, sombre, but powerful tone it isOne of my childhood's favourite films (I'm French). I kept a vivid memory of some of the most gruesome scenes. It is probably the best film about the French resistance. For this accuracy not only in facts, situations but, more importantly, its existentialist, sombre, but powerful tone it is a superior film.

However, aside from some beautiful scenes, Melville's cinematography feels very bland and dated in many unnecessary wide scenes (e.g. the Wehrmacht march, the description of the camp at the beginning). It seems the camera is too passive, too far from the action.

The voice overs, always a sign of despondency for a filmmaker, feel too dry and awkward.
Compared with a Tarkovsky's depiction of the similar WWII struggles, Lino Ventura's asides should have been conveyed by the camera not by words.… Expand

1 of 3 users found this helpful12

JohnN.

Jul 9, 2007

I kept hoping for the plot to move forward, but it never picked up pace. The acting and cinematography were top notched but the story, outside of 1 or 2 good scenes just didn't hold my attention for 2 1/2 hours. PS..Had trouble with the DeNiro and Shelly Winters French look alikes...!?

0 of 1 users found this helpful

AlyoshaM.

Feb 15, 2008

I almost fell asleep watching this film. It has caused me to distrust the Metacritic ratings.

1 of 7 users found this helpful

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