Movie : Army of Shadows, or: The deathly tone of silence
Link : Army of Shadows, or: The deathly tone of silence
Army of Shadows, or: The deathly tone of silence
Army of Shadows (L'armée des ombres) (1969)
Directed by Jean-Pierre Melville
Directed by Jean-Pierre Melville
***SPOILERS***
Silence is golden—that’s what the English poet Thomas Carlyle once wrote. More specifically:
"Silence is the element in which great things fashion themselves together; that at length they may emerge, full-formed and majestic, into the daylight of Life, which they are thenceforth to rule.”
I’m sure Jean-Pierre Melville agreed with this statement. A former member of the French Resistance, Melville certainly held an emotional attachment to the silent rebels featured in Army of Shadows. Thankfully, his sentiments went beyond glorifying the trying tributes of those men and women. Carlyle’s statement is true, but Melville gave texture to the statement, relating the cold and harsh reality lying beneath such a benevolent quote. For while these men and women did sacrifice speech for the greater good, silence came to represent more than defeating the German army. Silence was their profession. Their solitude. Their link to the past. Their identity.
And, to be blunt: silence was a matter of life and death.
The role of silence in Army of Shadows takes on several forms. The physical act of being silent is immediately relayed: the German army marches in unison on the Champ-Elysées, playing their instruments and chanting. Proud of their allegiance, they wear their hearts on their sleeves, declaring their identity to the world. The next shot features Philippe Gerbier (Lino Ventura) cooped in a van with his hands cuffed. There’s music, flair and patriotism, and then: silence. Gerbier is arrested for his allegiance, but more specifically for his unwillingness to speak. He is tossed into a prison cell, where he is secluded and evaluated for further questioning. Here we see Melville toying with the male pissing contest that ensues in every single one of his films, but unlike Le Samouraï, where the trying relationship between law-breaker and law-upholder is bluntly explored, the relentless battle between big government and its rebel opposition is much more complex and strenuous. Gerbier is cooped in a cell with several men arrested for their miniscule opposition to the Germans. He notes it as a power play by the German officer, noting he’s locked up with “three imbeciles and two children,” keeping him separate from any men he can conspire with. But Gerbier isn’t exactly new to disconnecting himself from society.
We’ll come to see how much Gerbier has alienated himself, but we catch early glimpses of his ever-stale personality during his prison stint. He greets his prison patrons, but refuses a game of dominoes. He listens to a young man’s escape plan, but dismisses it as a cute diversion. When a teacher dies and his body is carried off, Melville dots the image with a mise-en-scène featuring each man gathered about the room. Gerbier then walks into the screen’s sole vacant opening, displaying Melville’s masterful eye for space and Gerbier’s distance from his fellow man. He shares these’s prisoner’s plights, but Gerbier’s mission is one that necessitates his complete and utter abandonment of a public life.
The extent of Gerbier’s self-inflicted solitude is explored subtextually throughout the film, but Melville also takes the opportunity to symbolically put such desolation on display. We see Colonel Passy (André Dewavrin) discussing a wooden box he constructed for himself within his own home, regarding the miniature room as “a place to read at night.” Such an idea in contrasted with the tragic image of Gerbier secluded in a dank cabin after being temporarily captured by the Germans. Instead of being infused with the light of Passy’s room, Gerbier’s new home is dark and silent. While Passy reads books for entertainment, the vapid books regarding philosophy and mathematics in Gerbier’s cabin are his sole connection with the outside world. The staleness both relentless and intoxicating, grabbing hold of Gerbier and the viewer and never letting go. As he looks upon those bland textbooks, his mind undoubtedly must have wondered back to the moment he had to decide: "Do I run or not?"
When Gerbier lines up with other prisoners in an attempt to outrun ensuing gunfire from the Germans, he hesitates. His thoughts wonder to four distinct scenes: a YMCA dance, walking in the forest with Mathilde (Simone Signoret), strangling Paul to death and the image of a book. A decision is to be made: run from the gunfire, or finally put an end to such a strenuous lifestyle. Eventually his senses come back and he runs, but those four tragic images represent how deeply Gerbier’s alienation runs. These four moments may have been Gerbier’s closest and most genuine human connections, including a moment he chose to strangle an adolescent. During the YMCA dance scene, Gerbier surveys the room, displaying his entrenched professional methods. But as a small earthquake ensues, we see something much deeper at play. Gerbier reacts, ducking down and looking out the window, but the youthful dancers take no notice. They are young and full of life, blissfully ignorant of the world’s dangers. If Melville makes anything clear, it’s that Gerbier will never experience such a level of human connection again. The closest he'll ever come will be through those goddamned books fittingly placed in his abandoned cabin.
In perpetuating such solitude, Melville ironically infuses a sense of unity into Army of Shadows—a sense of unity that’s both empowering and overwhelmingly tragic. As Gerbier runs from the Germans, he hides out in a local barbershop. The meticulousness in the barber’s proceedings combined with the silent suspense of ensuing Germans is Melville’s crafty method of building tension, but at the same time, we see a silent gentleman’s agreement in Gerbier’s plight. Gerbier offhandedly notices an anti-Marshal sign hanging, instantly uniting these two men’s fight. As Gerbier grabs his coat to leave, the man offers a light brown coat instead. Again, the muted understanding is present, but it goes beyond taking down the Germans. The muted understanding is one of solitude, recognizing Gerbier’s predicament as a French Resistance officer and further preserving such a secluded lifestyle. It may be the only genuine human connection Gerbier intends to receive for quite some time, yet it’s hampered by the mere fact that it’s strictly business.
And, in regards to business: silence is these men’s profession. And keeping in line with any other job: performing your job poorly will get you fired. Unfortunately for the men and women of the French Resistance, breaking your silence results in death. Much like ever other dynamic displayed throughout the film, the stone-cold attitude regarding the rigid laws of the French Resistance are imbued with calamitous undertones that tear away at these men. Paul breaks his silence, thus leading to a prolonged and painstakingly intricate sequence featuring Gerbier discussing Paul’s murder right in front of him. Gerbier decides they must gag him, in a symbolic gesture of permanently installing this boy’s silence. Again we see Melville hard at work. Instead of inserting himself into the film, Melville steps back and views the room. Gerbier closes the blinds, shrouding the room in black silence. The lone light hangs above Paul, leaving only the sounds of his muffled screaming, panting, struggling and, eventually, his silence. We are succumbed to the entire sequence, presenting the physical act of breaking one’s silence in a vile manner.
But more poignantly, silence represents these men’s disguise. Because silence becomes their identity, emotion is suppressed and ties are cut off. Thus, allowing emotion to take control or attempting to mend those ties (as Mathilde does) means breaking one’s silence. Living in solitude allows these men to live. Albeit enduring a slow and painful death, they live nonetheless. But breaking the code and abandoning one’s profession in an attempt to live one’s God-given life results in immediate execution, whether through grotesque strangulation or quick gunfire. So when Mathilde receives her punishment for holding onto a photo of her daughter (her sole link to the outside world), we see just how far Gerbier went in secluding himself in the name of the French Resistance. While Paul and Mathilde are freed from such a lifestyle by allowing emotion to dictate their actions, Gerbier chooses to suppress, until the day finally comes when you just can’t suppress anymore. All your connections to the outside world are severed. You’re completely alone. There’s no life left. The silence has taken everything away. In the face of such emptiness, the final frame of a distressed and war-torn Gerbier brings this dire tale to a barren and catastrophic end.
“Gerbier decided not to run this time.”
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