ARMY OF SHADOWS
Special Features: New 4K Restoration | Intro by Sarah Diligenti, Executive Director of Alliance Française of Washington, DC, on June 29
[L'ARMEE DES OMBRES]
Jean-Pierre Melville's adaptation of Joseph Kessel's quasi-autobiographical French Resistance novel was derided by left-leaning critics as being hopelessly reactionary when first released in the politically tumultuous France of 1969. Decades later, critical reappraisal and a long-overdue U.S. release in 2006 by Rialto Pictures have established it as one of the director's greatest films. Philippe Gerbier (Lino Ventura) manages the Marseille resistance network, in constant danger of detection by the Gestapo and Vichy police forces and their code of strict discipline demanding no mercy when it comes to informers, no matter the circumstance. His work puts him and a new recruit (Jean-Pierre Cassel) in contact with members of the Paris cell, including Simone Signoret and Paul Meurisse, and even takes them on a secret mission across the channel to de Gaulle and the Free French in London. When one of their inner circle is arrested, the members undertake a series of increasingly dangerous missions to free him. DIR/SCR Jean-Pierre Melville, from the novel by Joseph Kessel; PROD Jacques Dorfmann. France/Italy, 1969, color, 145 min. In English, French and German with English subtitles. NOT RATED
Scanned in 4K from the original negative by Image Retrouvée, supervised by Studiocanal’s Sophie Boyer and Jean-Pierre Boiget. With the funding support of CNC.
Run Time: 145 Minutes
Opening Date: Saturday, June 28, 2025
Genre: War drama
