The fascination comes in minute observation of the Resistance soldiers' mannerisms, demeanor and interaction.

It's hard to believe that Melville's 1969 masterpiece--one of the most honest and accurate chronicles of the French Resistance--never got released in the US until 2006; Splendidly acted, this personal-political film draws on the helmer's own experience.

Although it has several suspenseful sequences, "Shadows" is not a spy thriller, precisely. It's much more along the lines of a melancholy mood piece...

The glacial pacing can be an irritant as the film unfolds -- I repeatedly wanted to speed things up -- but Army of Shadows won't leave you alone after you've seen it.

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One of the masterpieces of its era and its genre.

From the first sight of German soldiers goose-stepping past the Arc de Triomphe to a postscript that spells out the fate of characters whose moral confusion is all too real, Army of Shadows is a movie of its time -- and ours.

ARMY OF SHADOWS is a remarkable and superb film, and American audiences should be rejoicing that is finally (if belatedly) has reached theaters.

A fascinating picture of bureaucratic drudgery, even in the middle of war and occupation.

Unlike the romantic images of freedom fighters perpetuated by the popular media, Melville’s movie is stripped of self-congratulatory hero worship and other puffery.