Really Good Approach to its topic
http://feelthefilms.wordpress.com/2013/10/08/army-of-shadows/
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: 10
Grade: A
Feel the Films: A Blog by R.C.S. -> http://feelthefilms.wordpress.com/