Eavesdropping At The Movies

Jean-Pierre Melville draws upon his experiences in the French Resistance for 1969's Army of Shadows, which depicts an ensemble including Lino Ventura, Simone Signoret and Paul Meurisse working to disrupt the Nazi occupation of France, rescuing Resistance members from captivity, operating safehouses... and killing informants. Army of Shadows' view of the Resistance is far from romantic, showing the ordinary people who comprise it being driven to extreme measures in the cause of remaining hidden and evading capture, and the threat of capture and death hanging over them at all times. We compare it to The Great Escape, a caper in which prisoners of war work towards a big victory - there's nothing of the sort in Army of Shadows, the Resistance only ever staying one step ahead of the Nazis pursuing them. Resistance itself is the victory, and it comes with costs. We think about continuities between this film and Melville's other work. The isolation felt in Un flic and Le Doulos comes through here, the Resistance