Review of Au Revoir les Enfants (1987) by Bene F — 18 Apr 2010

Brilliantly understated film about a boarding school in war-time France, centered upon two students and the perilous secret they share. For the duration of the film, it maintained its emotional scenes without slipping into the usual over-sentimentality and melodrama.

And what also makes this film special among same-themed films is its honesty and the genuine intent to transcend emotions, mainly because its also a firsthand experience by director Louis Malle. Hollywood already has a hefty amount of "drama set in war" pictures, with mandatory sequences involving lots of explosions, but "Au Revoir Les Enfants" differed itself from the usual, with visuals of air raids suggested than shown, the Gestapo police more despised than feared, and male adolescents depicted not as brave lads hardened by war, but as mischievous boys with quiet sensibilities.