You know at that particular time I think only certain, very atypical people were able to work the "Resistance" job. I just have to think that as soon as one opened his/her mouth and wished to "join" the resistance they signed their own death warrant since from then on your existence was based on the fact that the other individuals you'd speak in your narrow circle would not betray you. I'm sure those early rseistance fighters pretended to themselves that they were as good as dead when they got in. Just one less thing to think about as they went on day by day by day.

I liked the tone of this film -not blood and guts- but the internal point of view or the personal relationships of the people involved. In that way it reminded me of Smiley's People and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and Reilly: Ace of Spies. I would rather see these than the blood and guts.

You should watch the documentaries in the two-disc DVD release because there were post war interviews and discussions among veterans of the Resistance who touched upon this point. The British and the Resistance leaders in London (De Gaulle, Col. Passy) were more focused on German movements in France and discouraged a national insurrection called for by those actually in the field. Why? Because too many raids amounting to a general insurrection would have made the Germans beef up their forces in France and that would have made the Allied Normandy landing even more difficult. In short, they wanted the Resistance to concentrate on espionage and at the same time lull the Germans into complacency.

I suspect you realize this, but Melville wanted to show the "un-romantic" side of resistance, it's "nuts and bolts" or utilitarian aspects. Since ANY depiction of blowing up trains or killing German officers in their massive squad cars would lend itself to romanticism (at least on the part of the audience) and deprive the film of its quiet air of existential desperation, he chose to show a resistance cell which is under mounting pressure from without and within. And it certainly is not (as another poster says) because Melville wishes to show the "futility of their cause" because I am certain Melville did NOT think resistance to the Germans was futile. He is however showing (first) the day-to-day loneliness and anguish of what was essentially an existence lacking many immediate rewards, and (secondly) what real heroism and struggle consists of; this is not a film about poetic and epic LEGENDS (writ large) but about a sort of working man's army. In truth, life in the resistance could be mostly protecting yourselves, and "going about" one's business: the actual moments for resistance were few and far between and meant months of quiet planning.

LSigno - great post. One other thing I'd add, specifically in the case of France: the collaborationist government was run by Philippe Ptain, one of the greatest heroes of the previous war. Most French people initially had great confidence in this man. If someone like him, who had heroically resisted the Germans in 1917, felt that the war had been lost, why should anyone else disagree? Only gradually did it become clear that in the 1940 armistice, Ptain had completely caved and that the French people had been pretty much sold out.

It was something like being the last human settlement besieged by the zombies: your first priority is to keep alive, then trying to figure out a way your descendent may survive, but little or not hope for yourself. I believe that, more or less, this should have been the feeling Gerbier and the other character of the movie must have felt.
LSigno..It's amazing how the background you give can enhance the entire film experience of watching "Army of Shadows" from our comfy armchairs and relatively peaceful living rooms. Such a key to open up a whole world that's really, at bottom, difficult to fathom among those who didn't 'walk the walk'.
And I could imagine how those early Resistance fighters felt about those who came out after the war and said they fought with the Resistance when, in fact, they did not participate or were "Pierres come lately" who simply wanted to bathe in the accolade given to Resistance fighters.

Signo hits the nail on its head, except that he/she is still a tad too optimistic about resistance in 1943. Already shortly after May 1945 several Dutch writers demythologized resistance. A fine example is Pastorale 1943, finished as early as August 1945, so the author Simon Vestdijk had quite fresh memories.
The heroism in the early years was not in spectacular actions, it was in the courage not to accept the supremacy of a seemingly undefeatable evil enemy.

What a lot of people doesn't seem to realize, is that "Army of Shadows" is one of the few movie that states a very very VERY uncomfortable truth, which was conveniently forgotten in the years after WWII - the truth is that in 1942 (the year "Army of Shadows" is supposed to happen) the "resistance" to Nazism in occupied Western Europe was close to nihil. There was some guerrilla in Norway, but elsewhere (I mean, in West Europe) the only kind of active resistance to the Nazi and their local collaborators was made by few hundreds of people, who were either strongly patriotic or communists, or (few) Jews, or disliked the Nazi for a whole set of different reasons (sometimes even religious).
And the reason why so few people chose to side actively against the Nazi in 1942 was that, well, the Axis was more or less winning everywhere (or at least, they weren't losing). The only nation in W Europe still actively fighting the Axis was Great Britain, as America hd his hands full on the Pacific - all hopes were on the URSS to resist, and in mid 1942 the outlook of the war in the East looked, for the Allies, quite grim. The Nazi armies had reached the Volga, most of Russia was in shambles, and it looked like Stalin would collapse from one moment or the other. And the common understanding was that, once Russia was conquered, the war in Europe was settled for good - the Thousand Year Reich would really happen etc etc. Everyone believed that (except for, to be honest, the people actually fighting in the Eastern Front - they knew things weren't so simple)
So Resistance in 1941 in France was COMPLETELY HOPELESS. The people portrayed in the movie had not hope at all - they knew they were walking dead, stubbornly refusing to give up, and providing vital informations to the Allies (if the 1944 invasion succeed it was also because of 4 years of intelligence provided by French patriots). But in 1942, hopes for Allies freeing France in a couple of years were absolutely not existent. It was something like being the last human settlement besieged by the zombies: your first priority is to keep alive, then trying to figure out a way your descendent may survive, but little or not hope for yourself. I believe that, more or less, this should have been the feeling Gerbier and the other character of the movie must have felt.
It should be also remembered that one year later (1943), things had COMPLETELY changed. The Russian had kicked the Nazi butts all the way from Stalingrad to Kurks the Dnepr; The Afrika Korps had been destroyed in Northern Africa; The Allies had invaded Sicily and Italy had dropped out of the Axis (and incidentally in Italy it had started a vicious anti-Nazi guerrilla fueled mostly by disgruntled Eastern Front veterans). For the Nazi, the Alps weren't anymore a safe R&R haven, but a dangerous guerrilla terrain. Not only Hitler wasn't winning anymore - he was losing quite rapidly. So everyone in Western Europe scrambled to find Jews to hide, and "Resistance" became something that could finally not only "resist", but inflict damage to the Axis.
But for the Gerbier and the rest of the "army of shadows" it was already too late.

..oh no!..really Phillipe and Luc wouldn't want you to think that their life was dull while you're sittin' in that chair watching them doing things that will eventually get them killed;-).

have to agree, the film got more boring as it went on. i have no idea what the germans would be arresting people for, as they did absolutely nothing. dull dull dull.

The OP does make a fair observation of the film though - a large chunk of time is spent on the arrests and rescues. (Also significant screentime is spent in cafes or otherwise eating.)
However, the actual resistance operations are there too: they smuggle some downed pilots out of the country to a waiting British Submarine, visit England for exchange of information, and coordinate Lysander landings in France for English commando missions.
Speaking more about the film in general, I rather enjoyed it.
I appreciated more than anything else that the members of the resistance were ordinary untrained people. The main character, Bergier, was an engineer. For relaxation, he read books about Math - being in an underground war was certainly not his element. As deeveed says above, that's the whole point of the film - to see ordinary people reduced by the war to having to assassinate their own friends, and to then see the coda in which we learn that they all died "in the line of duty" is very very powerful.

And that's the idea isn't it? Ordinary French people doing what they did even not knowing where they stood as group in the face of the German occupiers. The Resistance,in its essence,was just the sum of each individual who was willing to simply say "no" and act on it. No talk of heroics or awards or praise. It was all just individual action coming from their consciences to see the Germans
out of France.

I thought that was the point. The whole thing was about how they suffered and struggled, never really sure they were doing any good.
"Be wary of Wenk I want to warn you!"

I will have nothing to add. Your post is a complete misunderstanding. Better for you to watch an hollywoodian Rambo. I forgot : french are cowards and surrender monkeys. Feel better ?

As an 'American', I find the post title and your 'amusement' to be trivializing of the subject. Otherwise what? the movie needs scenes of shooting and exploding to make its point? As mentioned elsewhere, these weren't the 'foot soldiers' of the Resistance movie was about 'administration, those who arranged for supplies and rescues, obviously. What's wrong with that
One of the more interesting parts was it seemed that the brothers didn't know each other were working in the Resistance. And it seemed the younger brother purposely got himself caught to help his friend Felix with whom he had flown
Perhaps.

You're acting like a bit of an a$$hole, hannah. He/She has a valid point of the people in the Resistance not actually accomplishing much. THat's not to insult their characters or the French Resistance, it's more Melville's point about the fighter's persistence in the face of futility. There's really no need to condescend to the poster like that.
Now then, you sound like you know Melville's films pretty thoroughly, and I'd like to see more of his work. Which of his films do you think is must-see?
Believe me, you don't want Hannibal Lecter inside your head."

All the same: if you wish to see ambushes, streams of faked blood and spectacular explosions, go to the nearest Blockbuster. Melville is not for you. Sorry, dear.

That was the EASTERN front "dear" not the one facing England/France.
You're perfectly right, Sir. It was the EASTERN front where the Nazis were crushed.

That was the EASTERN front "dear" not the one facing England/France.

This movie is about the activities of the LEADERS of the Rsistance, not about the ground fighters'. That's why there are no scenes of bravoury against the enemy depicted in this movie (although the showing of the tortures lead by the Gestapo already renders quite well what resistance was all about).

"Good thing we stopped the germans huh?"
Sorry dear, but actually the RUSSIANS stopped the Germans. Period.

Blah blah blah. Us yanks are so stupid. If we enter a war to help someone, were stupid ignorant dicks just 50 years later. Good thing we stopped the germans huh? I love Europe and think our country is making lots of bad decisions. And that is what the vast majority of Americans think and feel.
Is this clear and understood? Hopefully so, because then I can get back to writing about how much the French Resistance sucked in Army of Shadows (not in real life, they kicked ass back in the day). This film's resistance couldn't resist a wet paper bag. They just sat around getting arrested and then shot the arrested once they got out. Tres bon! They killed more french than german. Thats how you win a war. If only Al Quedia were so efficent.

As I heard it, France didn't go to war against Nazi Germany with any great elan, either. How long did the drole de guerre (phony war) go on before the Germans attacked westward in May, 1940?
["We have all strength enough to bear the misfortunes of others./"]
La Rochefoucault

If we're going to nitpick (since Germany wasn't exactly storming onto US shores)
According to the German declaration of war:
"On September 11, 1941, the President of the United States publicly declared that he had ordered the American Navy and Air Force to shoot on sight at any German war vessel. In his speech of October 27, 1941, he once more expressly affirmed that this order was in force. Acting under this order, vessels of the American Navy, since early September 1941, have systematically attacked German naval forces. Thus, American destroyers, as for instance the Greer, the Kearney and the Reuben James, have opened fire on German sub-marines according to plan. The Secretary of the American Navy, Mr. Knox, himself confirmed that-American destroyers attacked German submarines."
..
Yes frankly, Iraq is a mess, always has been always will be, but we liberated Sadaam well enough.