This is an original Japanese poster printed in 1970 for the first release of Army of Shadows.
This brilliant Japanese STB stands nearly 5 feet tall and features a very beautiful design. The shirt during the very famous interrogations scene is made up of a map of Paris. This tall, slender format had much less print numbers compared to regular Japanese B2s. Therefore this poster is very very rare and collectible!
Army of Shadows (French: L'armée des ombres; Italian: L'armata degli eroi) is a 1969 World War II suspense-drama film written and directed by Jean-Pierre Melville, and starring Lino Ventura, Simone Signoret, Paul Meurisse and Jean-Pierre Cassel. The French-Italian co-production is a film adaptation of Joseph Kessel's 1943 book of the same name, which mixes Kessel's experiences as a member of the French Resistance with fictional versions of other Resistance members.
Army of Shadows follows a small group of Resistance fighters as they move between safe houses, work with the Allied militaries, kill informers and attempt to evade the capture and execution that they know is their most likely fate. While portraying its characters as heroic, the film presents a bleak, unromantic view of the Resistance.
At the time of its initial release in France, Army of Shadows was not well received or widely seen. In the wake of the events of May 1968, French critics denounced the film for its perceived glorification of Charles de Gaulle; at the time, American art-film programmers took their cues from Cahiers du cinéma, which had attacked the film on this basis. Because of this, the film was not released in the United States for almost forty years. In the mid-1990s Cahiers du cinéma published a reappraisal of the film and Melville's oeuvre, leading to its restoration and re-release in 2006. The film was greeted with critical adulation in the U.S., appearing in many critics' year-end top ten lists.
This poster is in a fantastic condition and is very striking. Please refer to the imagery as this is the exact poster that is for sale.
It is 50 years old!
It is not a reproduction or a reprint.
Certificate of Authenticity included.
STB Tatekan Size 20x57" (51x145cm)