Conflicts both resolved and enduring
Most American filmgoers know auteur Jean-Pierre Melville
from his gobsmacking gangster flicks like 1955’s Bob le Flambeur and 1967’s Le Samouraรฏ.
But long before he made the movies that would cause John Woo to shatter his
kneecaps genuflecting, he participated in the French Resistance movement during
World War II. Melville’s 1969 epic Army of Shadows is a defiant tribute
to his fellow countrymen who risked everything to try and drive the Nazis out
of France
as well as a tense j’accuse to those who looked the other way.
Based on the 1943 novel by Joseph Kessel
(he also wrote Belle de Jour), Army of Shadows stars Lino Ventura (from ClasseTousRisques) as Philippe Gerbier, who, as the film opens, is busting his way out of
Nazi custody after a stint in an internment camp (he’s “suspected of Gaullist
ideas”). It turns out the kindly, bespectacled Gerbier
is actually an effective leader in charge of a cadre of dedicated freedom
fighters operating throughout France, and the first order of business once
sprung is finding and eliminating the turncoat who ratted out Gerbier. It’s a heartbreaking interlude, as Gerbier and his deputies must become the executioners they
are so clearly not.
The balance of the gripping Army of Shadows observes as Gerbier’s
Resistance network tries to stay a step ahead of the Nazis, whether they’re
negotiating with the British for weapons support or laying out elaborate plans
to rescue captured comrades. Gerbier’s brave
operatives include the dashing Jean-Franรงois (Jean-Pierre Cassel, whose son Vincent is now an international star), the loyal Felix
(Paul Crauchet, from Melville’s Le Cercle Rouge, soon to be remade by
Woo), and the clever Mathilde (the awesome Simone Signoret, Les Diaboliques), acknowledged among the men as the most
invaluable of them all.
Army of Shadows is
just now enjoying its first proper American release, and its stateside unspooling further bolsters the case for Melville’s
greatness… not that anyone needed more proof. The pacing is taut and
deliberate, the performances completely devoid of histrionics in that classic
Melville way, and the action often without any actual action. Witness the
barbershop scene early in the film: Gerbier has just
escaped Nazi custody and ducks into the first illuminated door. It’s obvious
that Gerbier has something to hide, and we don’t know
the political leanings of the shop’s proprietor as he’s carefully tending to Gerbier’s neck with a straight razor. It’s only through a
deceptively simple act that we’re relieved of our anxiety. Any filmmaker worth
his salt knows that the suspense escalates during the quietest moments, though
few filmmakers possess enough restraint to let the silence do the talking.
Approximately one jillion movies have been made in which a
person brings their intended home to meet the family. The genders are often
reversed, as can be the races and creeds. One detail is always the same,
however: the relatives are complete lunatics. The well-meaning Spanish comedy Only
Human, written and directed by the husband-and-wife team of Teresa De Pelegrรญ and Dominic Harari,
doesn’t stray from this tried-and-true formula but it does incorporate a novel
spin: the future bride is Jewish and her fiancรฉ is Palestinian.
Leni assures Rafi
that her open-minded family will love him as she does, but once Rafi’s ethnicity comes to light in the Madrid apartment
much of Leni’s kin calls home, the wheels begin to
fall off (admittedly, however, they weren’t attached too securely anyway). Leni’s brother is in the throes of an Orthodox Jewish phase
and for some reason keeps a baby duck in the bidet. Grandpa is blind and eager
to demonstrate how quickly he can load his rifle. Black-sheep sister Tania has
a bratty daughter and possibly an eye for Rafi, while
Mom is slowly beginning to believe that her husband’s late work hours are
indicative of an affair. They may never find out about that last point,
however, since Rafi dropped a bucket of frozen soup
out of the kitchen window and onto the head of a man who may or may not be Leni’s dad.
The script by De Pelegrรญ and Harari is more than a little ambitious, attempting to flesh
out a bunch of characters, make a point about Muslim-Jew tolerance, and
convince us to care about any of it, all in under 90
minutes. They’re fairly successful, with hit-and-miss slapstick and underlying
affection, but it might be a little insensitive in light of current events,
especially when Norma Aleandro’s frazzled mom wails,
“There’ll be peace in Israel
before your father gives me an orgasm!”
Army of Shadows (NR), directed by Jean-Pierre Melville, and Only
Human (R), directed by Teresa De Pelegrรญ and
Dominic Harari, both open Friday, August 11, at the
Little Theatres.
This article appears in Aug 9-15, 2006.
