The film, adapted partly from Joseph Kessel's 1943 novel and partly from Melville's own experience as a resistance fighter, concerned French resistance fighers during the German occupation of France. Though Melville is famed for his gangster pictures including "Le Cercle Rouge," "Bob le Flambeur" and the brilliant "Le Samourai," "Army in the Shadows" made little impact upon release. According to this study, the picture was "eclipsed by the two most famous French films about the occupation - Marcel Ophuls' 'The Sorrow and the Pity' and Louis Malle's 'Lacombe Lucien.'"  

 

But the writer finds a lot of intriguing facets to "Army in the Shadows" asserting that the German occupation "helped give birth to the roman noir and film noir after the war" and that the film has been misunderstood when compared to the director's earlier depictions of occupation. "Army in the Shadows" belongs to his gangster films which are marked by a "bleak fatalism."

 

This is great stuff but frustrating. The film is playing in London. Hopefully a larger release will follow. --posted by Kim