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Army of Shadows

Army of Shadows

War · Drama · Thriller · 1969

Betrayed by an informant, Philippe Gerbier finds himself trapped in a torturous Nazi prison camp. Though Gerbier escapes to rejoin the Resistance in occupied Marseilles, France, and exacts his revenge on the informant, he must continue a quiet, seemingly endless battle against the Nazis in an atmosphere of tension, paranoia and distrust.

Movie details

Army of Shadows

“Betrayal. Loyalty. Collaboration. Resistance.”

1969 War · Drama · Thriller 2h 25m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

7.9 / 10

Community rating

Betrayed by an informant, Philippe Gerbier finds himself trapped in a torturous Nazi prison camp. Though Gerbier escapes to rejoin the Resistance in occupied Marseilles, France, and exacts his revenge on the informant, he must continue a quiet, seemingly endless battle against the Nazis in an atmosphere of tension, paranoia and distrust.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Army of Shadows?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Diplomacy

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A commanding officer defends three scapegoats on trial for a failed offensive that occurred within the French Army in 1916.

Mr. Klein

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Paris, France, 1942, during the Nazi occupation. Robert Klein, a successful art dealer who benefits from the misfortunes of those who are ruthlessly persecuted, discovers by chance that there is another Robert Klein, apparently a Jewish man; someone with whom he could be mistakenly identified, something dangerous in such harsh times.

Alone in Berlin

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War · 2016

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Army of Crime

Army of Crime

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This gripping historical drama recounts the story of Armenian-born Missak Manouchian, a woodworker and political activist who led an immigrant laborer division of the Parisian Resistance on 30 operations against the Nazis in 1943. The Nazis branded the group an Army of Crime, an anti-immigrant propaganda stunt that backfired as the team's members became martyrs for the Resistance.

The Boy in the Woods

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The remarkable true-life survival story of a Jewish boy hiding and being hunted in the forests of Nazi-occupied Eastern Europe, based on Maxwell Smart's memoir.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Jean-Pierre Melville

Written by

Jean-Pierre Melville

Lino Ventura

Lino Ventura

Philippe Gerbier

Paul Meurisse

Paul Meurisse

Luc Jardie

Jean-Pierre Cassel

Jean-Pierre Cassel

Jean-François Jardie

Simone Signoret

Simone Signoret

Mathilde

Claude Mann

Claude Mann

Claude Ullman / Le Masque

Paul Crauchet

Paul Crauchet

Félix Lepercq

Christian Barbier

Christian Barbier

Guillaume Vermesch / Le Bison

Court is in session

Put Army of Shadows on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Auteur Devotee

“Ambition earns the room.”

The film reaches for consequence and scale, accepting the risk of seriousness instead of shrinking from it.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Importance has entered the chat.”

The production keeps announcing its significance, as though awards-season posture were proof of insight.