of anecdotes from the Resistance movement written during the war - he vowed to make a film based on it. He finally achieved his ambition in 1969. His movie did much to dispel many of the hagiographic myths about La Resistance dispelled during that era. It’s not just the Germans who were bad.

This is a war film, but it is not an action movie. It deals with survival and suspicion. The enemy, more than anything, is from within, as the insurgents attempt to evade capture, and the subsequent possibility of betraying their associates under torture. The central character, a former engineer who is the number two of a resistance cell, is played by Lino Ventura with laconic economy. He is supported by a superb cast, notably Simone Signoret and Jean-Pierre Cassel. All the acting is underplayed. The pace of the movie is very slow, which, aided by a melancholic score, heightens the tension. There are no flashy Hitchcockian tricks, but you never fully understand exactly what is going on. If anything the plot hinges on the impossibility of showing any sentimentality in such brutal circumstances.
Army in the Shadows is over two hours long, but it is incredibly spare, as if Raymond Carver had written a novel. I bought the dvd last week, and I’ve already watched it three times. I’m seriously considering watching it again at the All Saints on a big screen (as well as everything else, the cinematography is stunning), and I recommend, if you love well-crafted films, that you do the same. DL