DVD & Blu-ray: ARMY OF SHADOWS (1969) - Criterion Collection - Reissue

army-of-shadows-1969-new-on-dvd-and-bluray-reissue

Product Description: The most personal film by the underworld poet JEAN-PIERRE MELVILLE (Les enfants terribles), who had participated in the French Resistance himself, this tragic masterpiece, based on a novel by Joseph Kessel, recounts the struggles and sacrifices of those who fought in the Resistance. LINO VENTURA (Elevator to the Gallows), PAUL MEURISSE (Diabolique), JEAN-PIERRE CASSEL (The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie), and the incomparable SIMONE SIGNORET (Casque d’or) star as intrepid underground fighters who must grapple with their conception of honor in their battle against Hitler’s regime. Long underappreciated in France and unseen in the United States, the atmospheric and gripping thriller Army of Shadows is now widely recognized as the summit of Melville’s career, channeling the exquisite minimalism of his gangster films to create an unsparing tale of defiance in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds.

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Movie Details

Available Formats (Purchasing Links)

Video

Audio

Subtitles

Special Features & Extras

Trailer and Clips

Pictures

MOVIE DETAILS

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Director: Jean-Pierre Melville

Starring: Lino Ventura, Paul Meurisse, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Simone Signoret

Genre: Drama, War

Runtime: 145 min

Rating: Not Rated

Language: French

Studio: Criterion

Home Video Release Date: April 7, 2020

AVAILABLE FORMATS (click links to order from Amazon):

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DVD - Criterion

Blu-ray - Criterion

iTunes Store

VIDEO

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DVD

Codec: MPEG-2
Resolution: 480i
Aspect Ratio: 1.84:1
Encoding Format: 16:9
Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only)

Blu-ray

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Resolution: 1080p
Aspect Ratio: 1.84:1
Region: Region A/1

AUDIO

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Dubbed:

DVD: None
Blu-ray: None

Audio Formats:

DVD: Dolby Digital Mono
Blu-ray: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0, LPCM Mono

SUBTITLES

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DVD: English

Blu-ray: English

SPECIAL FEATURES & EXTRAS

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High-definition digital restoration, supervised by director of photography Pierre Lhomme, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
Alternate 2.0 surround soundtrack, presented in DTS-HD Master Audio on the Blu-ray
Audio commentary from 2006 featuring film scholar Ginette Vincendeau
Interviews from 2007 with Lhomme and editor Françoise Bonnot
On-set footage and excerpts from archival interviews with director Jean-Pierre Melville, cast members, author Joseph Kessel, and real-life Resistance fighters
Jean-Pierre Melville et “L’armée des ombres” (2005), a short program on the director and his film
Le journal de la Résistance (1944), a rare short documentary shot on the front lines during the final days of the German occupation of France
Restoration demonstration by Lhomme
Trailers
PLUS: An essay by critic Amy Taubin, along with (for the Blu-ray) a piece by historian Robert O. Paxton and excerpts from Rui Nogueira’s Melville on Melville