Tuntemattomat sankarit - Army in the shadows (1969) DVD BFI

ei suomenkielistä tekstitystä

L'armée des ombres

Ohjaus Jean-Pierre Melville

Pääosissa Lino Ventura, Paul Meurisse, Jean-Pierre Cassel

(Army in the Shadows)

A film by Jean-Pierre Melville

A personal project for over twenty-five years, Jean-Pierre Melville's adaptation of Joseph Kessel's seminal wartime novel has been praised as the most authentic film of the French Resistance. Made during Melville's most successful period, the film shares the existential themes of his gangster epics Le Samouraï and Le Cercle rouge and reunites the director with Lino Ventura and Paul Meurisse, stars of the 1966 hit Le Deuxième souffle.

Set between the Autumn of 1942 and February 1943, the film follows the story of a band of Resistance fighters living under German-controlled France. As the war continues, the grip of the occupying force tightens and friendships, trust and loyalty give way to secrecy, suspicion and loss.

A tribute to the heroic activities of the everyday members of the Resistance, L'Armée des ombres is a tense, atmospheric tour de force featuring powerful performances from Simone Signoret, Jean-Pierre Cassel and a striking cameo from Serge Reggiani.

DVD Extras

Commentary by Professor Ginette Vincendeau, French cinema expert *

Le Journal de la Résistance (Liberation Committee of the French Cinema, 1945, 33 mins, b&w, English commentary by Noel Coward) *

Jean-Pierre Melville Filmmaker (Pathé (Chroniques de France), 1968, 4 mins, col, English subtitles)

Fully illustrated booklet with essay by Jean-Michel Frodon and review by Jean-Louis Comolli (Cahiers du cinéma)

France, Italy | 1969 | colour |

French language, English subtitles

145 minutes | Ratio 1:1.85 (16X9 anamorphic widescreen)