Review of Au Revoir les Enfants (1987) by Zoë P — 07 Nov 2009

Based on an incident from Louis Malle's own childhood, the film manages to capture the everyday lives of young boys at a boarding school perfectly: They get into playground fights, they trade stuff with each other, they discuss women, gossip about their teachers, get homesick, read dirty books, have fun, work hard and everything else inbetween. He makes the boarding school feel like a real place, with real people populating it, making the whole film seem more realistic. It's set during the Nazi Occupation of France in WW2, with Julien Quintin as the main character, a smart kid who finds competition in the new kid Jean Bonnet. But is there more to Jean than meets the eye? Louis Malle never descends into melodrama for one second, and for a film that is very close to his heart, that shows a lot of restraint on his part. He takes his time to build up the initial animosity which turns to friendship between the two kids, also creating a number of other characters that feel genuine and also interact with each other. Malle doesn't try to make an anti-war statement of any kind, his only focus is the people in this school, and it all builds to an outstanding climax, with a final shot and voiceover narration that will haunt you for a long time after the credits roll.

Some outstanding films are great explorations of classic themes, some are great technical or physical achievements, and there are some which touch the heart in such a way that you'll never forget them. Louis Malle has used his personal demons to create a genuinely human film, with human characters fighting an inhumane force, with Julien struggling to make sense of it all. An absolute classic.