★ 8 / 10
Shock Troops ?
richardchatten
Costa-Gavras' final journeyman piece - and his first film in colour - is a creditable addition to the wartime resistance genre with an impressive lineup of…
Costa-Gavras' final journeyman piece - and his first film in colour - is a creditable addition to the wartime resistance genre with an impressive lineup of Gallic acting talent.But what really sets it apart is two remarkable helicopter shots, the second of which - that ends the film - represents a tour-de-force that would be as famous among students of film as that that ended 'Von Ryan's Express' were the film only better known.
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★ 7 / 10
What it was like to fight the Nazis in the French mountains
robert-temple
This was the second feature film made by Costa-Gavras, two years after his spectacular murder mystery THE SLEEPING CAR MURDERS (COMPARTIMENT TUERS, 1965; see…
This was the second feature film made by Costa-Gavras, two years after his spectacular murder mystery THE SLEEPING CAR MURDERS (COMPARTIMENT TUERS, 1965; see my review) and two years before his third film, the famous Z (1969; see my review). It is not easy to find this rare film with subtitles, but I got it from Movie Detective. This film is non-stop action, and is made in a semi-documentary style. The maquis are always on the move or on the run, or both. The Germans are relentless with their masses of troops and their tanks. The two leading figures in the story are played by Bruno Cremer, a field commander of quick resolution, and Michel Piccoli, who is released from prison by the maquis by mistake, and has to go with them as "un homme de trop", meaning "an extra man' or "one man too many", hence the French title of the film which is "1 HOMME DE TROP". No one is certain whether he can be trusted. He makes strange pacifist comments, and he wears German boots. Did he steal them or was he given them as an informer? Should they kill him or keep him with them? What little plot exists in this meandering film concerns that dilemma. The film is based on a novel, but the novel must have been meandering as well. We see daring lightning raids on a prison (to release their men about to be executed) and on a tax office to seize funds. All of these and many more action scenes are daringly and successfully filmed and move with such rapidity that one wonders how the cameramen could keep up. From the point of view of crowd control and complex action management, this film is remarkable. It is shot mostly hand-held. (Indeed, how else could it have been done?) Most of it is on location in the French mountains, though one is never told exactly where. The film is a completely convincing depiction of what this kind of resistance fighting was really like. One's comrades drop like flies, as a handful of brave men try to outwit the massive German Occupation forces. In short, it is a study in heroism. Costa-Gavras was celebrating the struggle against the Nazis in France, and he succeeds in making us marvel at their determination and bravery. The spectacular cinematography at the very end of the film, and the events which take place then, are simply mind-boggling.
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7.1/10
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