Army of Shadows

A faithful adaptation of Joseph Kessel’s celebrated novel about the French Resistance, this is also Melville’s most profoundly personal film.

A faithful adaptation of Joseph Kessel’s celebrated novel about the French Resistance, this is also Melville’s most profoundly personal film. Though its tale of trust, suspicion and betrayal calls to mind his great crime classics, the film is more rooted in factual research and private reminiscence; accordingly, it’s all the more affecting as it deals with agonising dilemmas, troubled soul-searching and tragic sacrifice.