385 Army of Shadows

[souvenir]

DVD Savant review

[Narshty]

That was rather a lukewarm review. "Ha ha, look at the miniatures!" And did he really have to give away the last 30 seconds of the film?

[thechallenger]

DVD Savant review

Thanks for posting that. Maybe I'm blind, but I didn't see the image quality mentioned anywhere on that review. They usually devote a short paragraph to the audio and video. I see that they gave the video quality four stars under in the graphical review legend but farther down at the bottom it says, "Video: Excellent."

[arsonfilms]

Glenn Erickson's (DVD Savant) reviews are actually sort of... syndicated, if you will, by DVD Talk, so they don't always conform to DVD Talk's typical style. He tends to prefer to talk about the movie itself, and then only really goes into the technical presentation and extras if they really strike him. By and large I usually really enjoy his writing, but I will admit I was a little disapointed by this review in particular.

[Gigi M.]

Back cover and spine

[triodelover]

Their big plus is the battery of extras and Vincendeau commentary.

The Vincendeau commentary is on the R2 BFI release, as is Le Journal de la Resistance. Both have English subs for the hearing impaired.

[kinjitsu]

Phil, I believe David is referring to the fact that there are more extras on the Criterion than the BFI.

Allora, I have the disc at hand. Screen captures anyone?

[triodelover]

Phil, I believe David is referring to the fact that there are more extras on the Criterion than the BFI.

His wording made it seem that he was suggesting that only the Criterion had the Vincendeau commentary and the R2 was rather bare bones. The R2 has both the commentary and the major documentary included on the Criterion. My point was that there is overlap that might make owners of the BFI think twice, since it appears the transfers are from the same source.

To be sure there is more in the Criterion package, although the BFI booklet contains two essays on the film (I don't have it in front of me so the authors escape me, although one is from Cahiers) plus a short Melville bio. And IIRC there's a short - very short - entitled Jean-Pierre Melville Filmmaker from 1968.

One nice, considerate touch of the BFI is that all the extras are subtitled for the hearing impaired, which I happen to be. It's not clear that Criterion has gone the extra mile there.

I'm not trying to argue with David. It's just that the BFI is hardly a skimpy package and I don't think the choice of the Criterion is a "slam dunk", to capitalize on all the recent publicity for a spineless weasel's new book.

Edit: Just re-read the above and it comes across as a tad snippy. Didn't mean it that way at all, it's just that I thought David's language was a bit imprecise.

Hell, we're contemporaries - I'll turn 60 next year if I make it - so I should be more forgiving of the lapses of us old codgers.

[kinjitsu]

Caps over here.

[triodelover]

Screen caps look good but not different (running on memory) than the BFI. Would like to see a comp and I guess the Beaver will do one.

[triodelover]

So do you see a difference? I'll admit I don't think i do, but the second of your caps may be slightly sharper in the BFI version. Of course, the systems are different, so it's not really an apples-to-apples comp. Even then I think static screen caps may not tell all the story.

I own the MoC Vengeance and I agree with those who said that Gary's screen caps made the MoC look considerably worse than it is (and I've seen nothing that makes me want the Criterion Vengeance over the MoC).

There is an aspect of this that just makes my head hurt and reminds me (and not in a positive way) of another hobby of mine. I design and build (non-commercially) vacuum tube audio amplifiers based on pre-WWII receiving and transmitting triodes (hence the odd screen name). I used to write and review for the late, lamented Listener magazine.

I know from that hobby that many folks obsession with the "visual" aspects of stereo reproduction got in the way of being able to relax and enjoy the music. While the desire for the best transfer of a film is understandable, I wonder if that pursuit sometimes gets in the way of just enjoying the film.

It's a double-edged sword. The digital revolution has enabled us to have in our possession the Fantomas series in a watchable condition despite approaching 100 years of age. But it also seems that digital play back, whether through flat-panel screens or chip-based projectors, has brought dissatisfaction with what's available and engendered a search for a "holier" grail, for lack of a better term.

OK, I've veered way off topic, so I'll stop here. If anyone's interested in pursuing my ramblings, maybe a moderator could relocate this in a more appropriate venue and we'll continue.

[Greathinker]

The Criterion has some slight contrast boosting, that's about it I think.

[kinjitsu]

Gary's comparison

[skuhn8]

Gary's comparison

Well, no need to double-dip there, that's for sure. CC looks great, slightly better, but in motion inconsequential. Thanks BFI.

[tryavna]

And finally we have a Melville film in which Criterion has not manipulated the colors! That may be the most important news of all.

[Kinsayder]

As David's Oz caps show (and Gary's scaled-down BFI caps conceal) you get 20% more vertical detail in the PAL - which really does make a difference when viewing on a PAL-native projector.

It's a double-edged sword. The digital revolution has enabled us to have in our possession the Fantomas series in a watchable condition despite approaching 100 years of age. But it also seems that digital play back, whether through flat-panel screens or chip-based projectors, has brought dissatisfaction with what's available and engendered a search for a "holier" grail, for lack of a better term.

There are some films that I'm just glad to own in any form whatsoever. Renoir's Nuit du carrefour and Grémillon's Petite Lise are just two examples, a pair of mouldy old boots that I treasure more than any of my Criterions or BFIs. But if rival publishers are thrusting different editions of the same film at us, I think it's reasonable to be picky about which one we spend our money on.

[colinr0380]

Deep Focus Review's essay.

[souvenir]

Specs have been updated and "More!" has become "Less!" (no trailers any more - everything else the same).

It seems strange that they wouldn't be able to at least include the Rialto trailer.

Both the original French trailer and the Rialto trailer are actually on the first disc, though I didn't see it mentioned on the case. Interestingly, in the French trailer, Melville's blue hues are much more muted than on the DVD. I'd be curious to know if the blues were muted only in the trailer, maybe at the behest of the studio, or if the blue tint was also less prominent in the original theatrical prints.

[tryavna]

I just finished the Ginette Vincendeau commentary last night and found it remarkably thoughtful and interesting -- probably the best commentary I've listened to since Stephan Prince's for Yojimbo.

One obvious nit-pick, though: She misidentifies the song that plays in the London club as Glenn Miller's "In the Mood." It is, of course, Benny Goodman's "Stompin' at the Savoy." I'm surprised that nobody at either the BFI or Criterion caught the mistake, but I guess it just supports my long-held belief that most academics don't know shit about music.

[Kinsayder]

Ha! She calls it "In the Mood" in her book also. But I guess the basic point, about American culture as resistance to oppression, is still the same whether it's Glenn Miller or Benny Goodman.

[tryavna]

But I guess the basic point, about American culture as resistance to oppression, is still the same whether it's Glenn Miller or Benny Goodman.

True, and I don't mean to suggest that it's a critical flaw in her commentary. However, the fact that "Stompin' at the Savoy" is a song explicitly about dancing would have driven her point home. (Not to mention that Goodman has always been more highly respected by French artists and intellectuals like Melville than Miller.)

Still, it's just an example of sloppy research. How hard would it have been for her to confirm her assumption by actually listening to "In the Mood"? Despite a few superficial similarities, the songs sound nothing alike.

[Jeff]

This is currently available in HD for free from Comcast On Demand. The bottom of the subtitles are cut off on my television, rendering a rather unpleasant viewing experience, but perhaps this is an indication that a Blu-ray is on the way.

[wiljan]

This title was announced as ready and coming for HDDVD in the early days of that now dead format but never made it, and then of course the format war ended.

I'm not sure about international releases, but it certainly had a Dutch HDDVD release and I picked it up for a couple of euros at a local video store when HDDVD was declared a dead format. Still haven't gotten around to watching it though, as I had just seen the Criterion release, so I can't comment on the quality.

[dad1153]

Rewatched "Army of Shadows" last week during it's Sundance Channel premiere. From that impressive re-enactment of World War II Nazi storm troopers marching through Champs Elysees (why would Melville even think of placing it at the end eludes me) to it's stunning but completely appropriate conclusion (my father also watched the movie in another state at my suggestion and the ending blew him away) "Army of Shadows" tells its story with all the nuanced know-how of someone that was there to witness and live these events first-hand. Since he's also a gifted storyteller Melville employs the techniques of his trade to go beyond memories, anecdotes and romanticized notions of what members of an armed resistance would go through. All the lead characters (composites of real-life Resistance figures) are heroic and stoic but also flawed and prone to mistakes or overconfidence, just as regular people thrown into extraordinary situations would be. Lino Ventura, Simone Signoret or Paul Meurisse take turns stealing the movie from each other (or complement their peers) with excellent performances. Ventura is particularly strong and carries most of the movie's screen time. Even when Melville strikes out (those miniature airplanes for a nighttime parachute drop scene; the 'running away from the machine-gun fire' escape, etc.) you forgive him because there's a Spielberg-type exuberance in seeing him trying out this type of stuff back in '68. I even liked the Charles de Gaulle lookalike scene precisely because it flips a bird to the then-prevalent political correctness in French society of how to portray de Gaulle in popular culture.

Criterion's 2nd bonus disc in the "Army of Shadows" package (which I saw a while back) is like a miniaturized crash course in French Resistance history that helps one appreciate and put the movie in proper perspective. Loved the B&W TV interview in which former Resistance leaders are arguing about decades-old grievances while Melville's bald head sits between them casually listening and turning back to look at the camera (and us! 8-)).

[Le Samouraï]

Was this ever released in a digipak or just in a regular keepcase?