I don't have very much experience with french cinema but I was curious to know if films like Army of Shadows borrowed heavily from american 1940's-50's film noir. This film has a very similar feel to is as american film noir, even the gritty ending was very film noir-esque. I quite enjoyed this movie, and I quite enjoy film noir so I was curious if there were other, similar, french films worth checking out.
shareI recommend all his movies that you can get your hands on. For me, Le Samourai is at the top of the list but be sure to check out Le Cercle Rouge, Bob le Flambeur, and even Un Flic.
shareOh I didn't know it was the same person that directed Le Samourai. I actually saw that a while back and wasn't too impressed with it. I thought Army of Shadows was incredible however so I'll have to see more of his movies for sure.
shareI haven't seen Melville's other films, but I am pretty sure this film was greatly influenced by Italian Neorealism, in my opinion, it is almost a French version of "Rome, Open City", some fancy techniques were used, though, such as flashback, low angle shot, camera movement in long takes.
I enjoy film noir, but don't really feel this film is typically noirish.
Well, the French did coin the phrase film noir (and English-speakers, can we PLEASE stop invented a plural "film noirs". It's films noir.) I just got Shadows in the mail today, and I'm really interested in seeing Le Samorai and Le Cercle Rouge as well.
shareMost of Melville's work was inspired by American gangster noir of the 40's/50's.
This was a departure from his usual material though, and I think he purposely decided to move away from that 'cinematic' style to portray The Resistance, and he was quite annoyed by critics suggesting it was 'Resistance Noir' after the film was released.
I think, as has been suggested, the style owes much more to the Italian Neo-realists. Sure, the way the film is shot is not too disimilar from say Le Samourai, with its dull greys and blues. Also, many of the characters follow an unspoken internal moral code (similar to his gangster films). There is the mood of fatalism often found in 'noir' in this wonderful film, but that I suppose its due to the nature of the Resistance and the way they operated.
Le Samourai is my favourite Melville, because it is a note-perfect example of his cinematic voice. This comes a close second.
> I was curious to know if films like Army of Shadows borrowed heavily from american 1940's-50's film noir.
Certainly, to certain extent. Jean-Pierre Melville admired the American culture a lot, even his stage-name comes from one of the greatest writers in American literature. Certain stylistic influences, like the claustrophobic use of shadows, are unmistakable. Though...
> even the gritty ending was very film noir-esque.
...that scene certainly nails down the over-all fatalism of the film, but in American cinema of the 40's-50's, that kind of ending must have been totally impossible. The censors wouldn't have certainly accepted such negative portrayal of what was after all considered a heroic struggle against the Nazis.
And the existentialist fatalism that overwhelms this film cannot be simply explained by "influences from Film Noir." The best it can be said is that it shares similar feelings and/or concepts, philosophy, etc. But one important difference here is that we are not watching gangsters here, we are watching resistance members struggling to free their nation from the occupation.
And Melville here goes very deep into the idea of "resistance," which is not just a political concept for him, but much more a moral and philosophical concept. The resistance for him is first and foremost an inner resistance, the refusal of compromises against oppression. It's a question of how to maintain the inner freedom for mankind, and how to maintain one's fundamental dignity.
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In that sense, it should be noted that the "gritty ending" is not really what you are probably mentioning here (the assassination of Mathilde), but what follows that sequence--the inserted titles explaining the fates that await these four men in "that car filled with killers," especially how Gerbier would die--"this time Gerbier refused to run..." states the film.
Please note that in an earlier occasion, Gerbier's dignity was destroyed not only because he run, but also because the German officers were certain he was going to run, and even more because Mathilde and his other colleagues also assumed so naturally that he would, with their plot being completely based on that assumption.
There is a huge difference between here and the way American Film Noirs end with the death of the protagonist, in which the "heroes" are defeated against the universe. While Melville's statement here is still ambiguous about whether his death was a victory or not, it is certainly not a "defeat," since it also forms the completion of the personal resistance that Gerbier maintained throughout the film, however tragic the result would be.