Army of Crime

Army of Crime is a historical thriller set during the World War II Occupation of Paris, based, in part, on the exploits of French-Armenian poet Missak Manouchian.

A militant Communist who disavows violence, Manouchian's beliefs evolve during the occupation and he becomes the leader of an armed group of anti-Fascist partisans comprised mainly of Jewish immigrants displaced by the war. The title is a reference to both Jean-Pierre Melville’s Army of Shadows (1969), which presented the resistance as a much more unified group, and the Nazi’s infamous "red posters" which carried the photographs of anti-Fascists under the headline "Army of Crime." Eventually captured by the Nazis, Manouchian was executed on the same day as 21 of his comrades, only weeks before Paris was liberated. (139 mins., 35mm)

Army of Crime trailer