Achieving a Dark Victory
'ARMY of Shadows," Jean-Pierre Melville's taut tale of intrigue and daring among French resistance fighters during World War II, made in 1969, is at last receiving a release here.

Using the style he perfected in gangster noirs such as "Le Samouri" and "Le Doulos," Melville (1917-1973) sets his suspenseful story in late 1942 and early '43. Lino Ventura is grand as a solemn resistance leader. He's backed by a knockout cast that includes Simone Signoret.

There are several brilliantly orchestrated set pieces, including Ventura's escape from a machine-gun firing squad, Signoret's attempt to save a tortured prisoner by posing as part of a German ambulance crew, and Ventura's frightening parachute leap from a plane in the dead of night.

Melville balances these moments with tenderness, like Ventura's discovery of young people dancing to Glenn Miller, and a sojurn in a theater screening "Gone With the Wind."

It isn't clear why it has taken so long for "Army of Shadows" to reach our shores. But why ask questions? Just be thankful