Au Revoir Les Enfants - Criterion Collection (1987)

Wonderful film

This is a sensitively told story about friendship and war. The story is told through the eyes of 12 year old Julien, and takes place in France during 1944. The cinematography creates a cold, harsh world that reflects the attitudes of many of the adults in the film. Although the film deals with war, it also shows us the simple pleasures in the everyday lives of the boys. May 11, 2008

Au Revoir Les Enfants

Goodbye, Children (Au revoir, les enfants) [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.4 Import - Australia ]
A great movie. Moving film about friendship. I can see why it won a gold award in Europe. The acting is excellent, and the movie is well worth buying. If you speak French, it's even more enjoyable. Super movie, and I highly recommended it. December 29, 2007

Lost Innocence

I had heard the "Au Revoir les Enfants" was an exceptional film and I had a pretty good idea what it was about. I watched it the other night and must admit that it IS an exceptional movie. At first I figured that it might be just another over-rated French movie as I watched a well-done production of the standard boy's school hyjinks. However, the characters were more substanitive that usual (even for a group of pre-teens nearing puberty) and the setting of France during WWII added a lot to the dramatic effect.

You could guess what was coming but I kept getting more and more impressed by the depth of the story, supporting cast, and the way Malle let us see Occupied France. We see the collaborators, the anti-semites (somewhat redundant), the ones who buried their heads in the sand, and those brave enough to risk their lives for others. The ending is not action-filled nor overly dramatic. The ending evolves from a series of events that seem to happen too fast and then it is over. A narrator from the future puts it all into perspective as we realize we have glimpsed a scene of horror that happened too easily. Malle has given us an excellent movie and he has given his fellow French an uncomfortable (for many) look at their recent past. October 31, 2007

a beautiful and moving drama.......

I couldn't review SCHINDLER'S LIST, LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL and THE GREAT DICTATOR (films related to some of the darkest saddest times in humanity, during Nazi rule) and pass up AU REVOIR, LES ENFANTS (GOODBYE, CHILDREN). This is, in my opinion, one of the finest films made by the late, great Louis Malle. It is a semi-autobiographical account of a young boy living a sheltered life in a Catholic school and the chance encounter he has with his classmate, who is first a rival and then becomes a beloved friend. This friend is concealing a secret during a time when the Nazis were cracking down on and removing Jews from schools, among other places. I don't need to say too much for you to know the gist of the plot, the pressures that the young protagonists face and the brutal reality of life that hits them smack between the eyes. This film sensitively and honestly depicts their plight, during a very dark point in history. AU REVOIR, LES ENFANTS is truly poetry for the eyes, and you will never be the same after viewing it. September 13, 2007

Essential French cinema: Malle's 'Au revoir les enfants.'

Based on his own childhood boarding school experience, Louis Malle's (1932-1995) Au revoir les enfants ("goodbye children") (1987) tells the heartbreaking story of Julien Quentin (Gaspard Manesse), a young boy who befriends another student, Jean "Bonnet" Kippelstein (Raphaël Fejtö), while attending Sainte-Croix College in Vichy during World War II. Jean is Jewish, and is attending Sainte-Croix to escape persecution in Nazi-occupied France. In January 1944, German soldiers arrive at the school and arrest the school's headmaster, Father Jean (Philippe Morier-Genoud), and three Jewish children, including Jean Bonnet, all of whom are later executed (with the exception of Father Jean, who dies at Mauthausen concentration camp). Malle's film was nominated for two awards, Best Foreign Language Film and Best Original Screenplay, at the 60th Academy Awards; it won the Golden Lion award at the 1987 Venice Film Festival;and at the 1988 César Awards, it won in seven categories, including Best Director, Best Film and Best Writing. This film is as much about friendship as it is about profound loss, and the power of a childhood experience to affect us for a lifetime.

Criterion's superb edition of Malle's subtle coming-of-age film features a new high-definition digital transfer (supervised by director of photography Renato Berta), the original theatrical trailer, and improved English subtitles. Highly recommended.

G. Merritt August 1, 2007

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