Film Illiterate, wherein the proprietor records movies seen, and sporadic progress through assorted lists of the "best". Originally started after regretfully renting something forgettable for the third time. I've forgotten what, but never again! A tedious endeavour since 2005. Hello. 🙂
Bleak portrait of the French resistance to German occupation during World War 2, something like the exact opposite of Inglourious Basterds. Philippe Gerbier (Lino Ventura) and his cohorts fight the Germans like rats scrabbling in a trap. If they achieve anything of note, it's not shown: all we see is hiding, running and sacrifice.
I watched this specifically because Roger Deakins frequently cites it on the Team Deakins podcast and it's easy to see why; so many shots look like he could have composed them. It's worth it for that beautiful cinematography alone, with lamps and stark light through windows falling onto faces half in shadows.
After seeing The Northman, I reflected on the way that film tries to convey the experience of living in that time period: how must it have felt to actually believe in gods and monsters, rather than look on them as quaint mythology? Army of Shadows feels like that, from the perspective of a fighter in a long resistance against a seemingly unbeatable oppressor. Years of uncertainty, years of wins that must have felt inconsequential. It's like how the Hollywood version of COVID-19 ends with a cure and a swelling John Williams score, but the reality was months and years of lockdowns and quiet despair. All you can do is persevere.