Army of Crime (2009)

An action-packed slog

The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

Firstly I could not feel like watching 40s.It was because of the atmosphere of the movie and actors. For example I did not find the quality of "la vita e bella" or "schindler's list" on this one. Emotions and story chain were not strong and were not made strong by director and actors. Originality was not alive also. By the drama side this movie is not successful. Let's look at it by politic fiction side. I know it is base on a true story but some issues were not taken seriously. "The genocide claim: It is not certain that Turks massacred the Armenians" That was certain in the movie. I think that kind of points damage drama by the side of reality. What I have ranked is the scenario of writers because well written chain of actions and character relations are smooth. Right people and characters even not all are in the right places. Must watch? I do not think so. If you are interested in WWII in France.

Liberté, égalité et fraternité. The motto of France is certainly not very apt to describe the time of Nazi occupation. The nationalistic French mainly capitulated to the Germans, and left the resistance to a bunch of immigrants - Italians, Armenians, Jews, Hungarians, Spaniards, etc.This is the real Inglorious Basterds. The story of those who continually picked at the Germans and made their lives miserable. They don't go home in glory, but their names are on a role of honor for those who served to fight oppression everywhere.An American poet, Missak Manouchian (Simon Abkarian), and his wife Mélinée (Virginie Ledoyen) lead the group.Director Robert Guédiguian does an excellent job of capturing the period, and letting us get to know the actors before the action starts.

I was pleasantly surprised by this film. The movie is very well made. The lighting and cinematography is impeccable. The scenes are constructed beautifully. The casting was brilliant. The actors did a very good job. The direction was good. Robinson Stévenin and Gregoire LePrice-Ringuet were fantastic. Virginie Ledoyen is also maturing into a great leading lady.Aside from the technical brilliance of the film in its fine classic film making, the movie is about heroic men and women who risked their lives for their country even though many of the characters were immigrants. These men and women loved France and died for their rights as well as for the rights of their families and fellow citizens. There were some controversies surrounding this film due to possible historical inaccuracies, yet, I found this movie objective in its portrayal of the characters. There are no long drawn melodramas here but just characters who are compelled to fight for their freedom and the rights of others. I highly recommend this film.

This movie is not very good at all. Just a generic Nazi-killing movie. A complete waste of time.What you probably didn't even realize is, why they made this movie.This move was made to hide the crimes of Armenian Nazi-SS groups in World War II. They made this movie to highlight that Armenians fought against Nazis, but in fact, if we want to be historically accurate, we would realize that quite a large number of Armenians participated in the Nazi SS groups. Why did they participate? Because Armenian culture is very much controlled by the Armenian Apostolic church, a usually antisemitic and anti-Islamic church (though not always but generally it is).Consider that the director is Armenian and a few members of the cast.This is why Armenia was regarded by the Nazis as an 'Aryan nation'. This is why Armenian newspapers during the time were cheering for Hitler (and they really really hoped that Nazi Germany would have invaded Turkey and Azerbaijan, Armenia's mortal enemies, since Nazi plans were to seize oil fields in Azerbaijan eventually, but Nazis allowed the Turks to stay neutral and went through Russia instead).They believe so strongly in their religion as superior to others that they even fight with other Christian groups with direct violence, just to prove they are better. (Remember the incident with the Armenian priests attacking the Greek priests?)