Army of Crime

This is a beautiful film about an ugly era. With subtly beautiful photography and quietly nuanced acting, it captures the mood of occupied France. Parisians bicycled, canoed and made love in the summer sun while Wehrmacht soldiers strolled, marched and rubber necked. If you were a German soldier in 1940 or 41, Paris was the place to be. The film also has that wonderful European quality that Hollywood never has managed to match or even understand. The performances are outstanding, often conveying more with a nervous glance or a cautious gesture than a page of dialogue could achieve. The vintage French cars and buses are a treat in themselves as are the scenes in the Paris Metro with the vintage carriages. (I rode in these as late as the seventies. I believe they are all retired now.) But the real worth of the film is that it challenges the common notion that all Frenchmen fought the "boche." Indeed many welcomed them and supported Petain. A powerful, beautifully done movie but it's unlikely to turn up as in flight entertainment on Air France.