Written and directed by Jean-Pierre Melville, betrayed by an informant, Philippe Gerbier finds himself trapped in a torturous Nazi prison camp. Though Gerbier escapes to rejoin the Resistance in occupied Marseilles, France, and exacts his revenge on the informant, he must continue a quiet, seemingly endless battle against the Nazis in an atmosphere of tension, paranoia and distrust. Starring: Lino Ventura, Paul Meurisse, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Simone Signoret, Claude Mann, Paul Crauchet, Christian Barbier, Alain Dekok and Alain Libolt.

There’s a countless number of films out there that make spy missions out to be slick, righteous and adventurous, Army of Shadows shows a completely different side to espionage. Jean-Pierre Melville creates a story of grit and despair, adapted from the novel by Joseph Kessel, it’s harsh and cold. It has this hovering cloud of disillusionment, it’s almost difficult viewing how committed it is to showing the grim reality of spy work. The abundance of death and the seemingly unending struggle to end the war.

When the credits roll, you’ll feel the lesson it has left you with in the pit of your stomach. It’s a poignant reminder of the world we have to live in for those types of actions to be deemed necessary, and you’d hope we’d never return to it but maybe we never escaped it in the first place. Melville’s direction perfectly matches that tone, it has a compelling, gloomy and incredibly rich palette. One that is undoubtedly complimented by the superb restoration work. Although it does have quite the slow pacing which can make it difficult to hold onto your attention at times, coming in at almost two and a half hours, not typical at all for a 1960s piece of cinema.

Although, what does keep you glued in are the performances, while it certainly feels more like an ensemble piece, Lino Ventura does slightly take the lead. He gives Philippe a fascinating quality, one that you can never truly figure out because he can seem heartless but Ventura gives us something more, never limiting him to his actions. Simone Signoret is also wonderful, it’s only a shame she doesn’t get more screentime because her character has so much to add. Especially as one of the few women in the film, there’s a lot of extra layers to be added.

Army of Shadows may move a little slow and venture off on tangents at times, but it is an eye-opening, blunt look at espionage work. It’s genuinely bleak and a very different view of wartime from what we typically see. It’s filled with a strong, sincere ensemble who bring to life all of the moral and ethical questions that come into play without having to really discuss them. It may be saturated with calculated, cold moves but will likely hit you a lot harder than you expect.

Verdict: ✯✯✯½ | 7/10

New 4K Restoration will be available on Blu-ray, DVD & Digital from 3 June