Army of Shadows

1969 war movie

Rating: 17/20

Plot: The precursor for MTV's reality show The Real World, this follows some members of the French Resistance as they find various ways of resisting, stopping only to bicker about who put his finger in the peanut butter or ate the last of the ice cream. Unlike the MTV show, however, some of these guys die instead of just being people you wish you could see die on camera.

Here's the cool thing about this one: there's (if I recall correctly) no violence shown on screen in this one, yet there's this incredible underlying but palpable fear of violence. This is the quiet side of the French Resistance, and nearly all the action takes place inside the characters. Most of the suspense comes from these characters simply making difficult decisions, so instead of getting a gripping action-packed film, you get a gripping reflective and philosophical film, albeit one that is just as exciting. I just love how all the characters go about their business nonchalantly. There's nothing stunning about the performances, but you can see fear beneath the pores and a resignation that they will more than likely die because of what they're doing. They're great characters doing extraordinary in really ordinary ways. They really are more shadows than they are men and woman. The story is almost frustratingly episodic, and many would consider the ending a bit of a let-down, but each individual anecdote is intriguing and packed with tension. But it's that quiet, relaxed tension, almost like Melville was filming this in a library or near sleeping children and had to use an inside voice the entire time. This film is as good as any at showing the human side of this sort of thing. There's nothing tricky here--no special effects, no explosions, no shoot-outs. Just good drama. Man, this Melville cat was good. Expect a review of his Bob the Fumbler, an action-packed tale of a French running back with tiny hands, later this week.

Another solid Cory recommendation.