Au Revoir les Enfants was written and directed by Louis Malle based on his own experience as a child. One of the two main characters, Julien Quentin, is clearly Malle’s alter ego in this story. Malle is an accomplished director, best known for such French films as The Lovers (1959), Zazie (1960), Murmur of the Heart (1971), Lacombe, Lucien (1974), and Black Moon (1975), as well as some American films including Pretty Baby (1978) and Atlantic City (1981). Yet, Au Revoir les Enfants stands apart from his other work as his most personal and intense cinematic contribution. In this film, Malle bares his soul for his audience.

The Story: The story opens in January of 1944 in Nazi-occupied France. After a brief Christmas vacation, it is time for Julien Quentin (Gaspard Manesse) and his older brother, François (Stanislas Carré de Malberg), to return to Catholic boarding school in Fontainebleau, France. Julien and his mother, Mme. Quentin (Francine Racette), are undertaking a tearful farewell at the train station, though Julien would very much prefer to stay in Paris with his mother. He has no interest in another semester of Latin, religion, short-sheeting, and Hail Marys. Disconsolate, Julien even tells his mother that he hates her for making him leave. She kisses and hugs him in response.

It is the start of the second semester and three new students have enrolled in the school. They are Jews in hiding, assuming Christian names to protect them from the Nazis. None of the students know the true identity of the new children. The youngest of the three, Jean Bonnet (Raphael Fejto) is the same age and is bunked next to Julien. Julien introduces himself in classic tough guy fashion, “I’m Julien. Don’t mess with me.” Though war is raging in Europe, the boys are largely insulated from it, other than occasional air raid drills. Julien’s brother favors the resistance and takes special delight in giving wrong directions to German soldiers.

Jean Bonnet and the other new boys get razed by the other children – not so much because they are perceived as “different” as because they are new. Initially, Julien contributes his share to the razing, but gradually he begins to take an interest in Jean. After all, Jean and Julien are the two smartest boys at their class level and that creates both a natural bond and a rivalry. Neither participates fully in the chaos that is recess in the courtyard (walking on stilts, occasional fights, etc.) but both share an interest in children’s literature, from The Arabian Nights to Sherlock Holmes and The Three Musketeers. Both take instruction in piano, though Jean is a good deal more proficient than Julien. They sometimes study together and share the dirty pictures they encounter.

Julien begins to snoop and observe things about Jean that don’t seem to fit his preconceptions about boys in his school. He encounters an inscription in a book in Jean’s locker that suggests that Jean’s last name might really be Kippelstein. He notices that Jean is not taking communion and doesn’t make the sign of the cross after prayer. Jean tells Julien that he is a protestant but Julien doubts that “Bonnet” is a protestant name. Julien also notices that Jean will not eat some kinds of meat and sees Jean praying after the other boys have fallen asleep with two white candles. Still, their bond of friendship grows stronger – not so much by intent or design but through shared experiences. They have their ups and downs, but an overall slope toward mutual respect is evident.

On one occasion, Jean and Julien get lost in the woods while playing a mock-military game similar to “capture-the-flag.” Julien even discovers the “treasure”, but, in so doing, he and Jean become separated from the rest of the boys. As they try to find their way out of the woods, they encounter a wild boar and creepy sounds of the forest. They finally reach a roadway and are picked up by a squad of German soldiers – “Krauts” in the language of the French. Jean initially runs when he sees the soldiers approaching, but is caught and the two are returned safely to the school. “Are you scared?”, Julien inquires. “All the time,” answers Jean. As well he should be.

Julien is not anti-Semitic. In fact, he has no idea what a Jew is or what it means to be Jewish. In his ignorance, he seeks help from his brother. “What is a Jew?”, he asks, naively. “They don’t eat pork,” replies François, barely more informed than his brother. Julien persists, “But what is their crime?” to which François offers something about them being too smart and they killed Jesus. Julien isn’t buying it, however, and replies, “That was the Romans.” Julien gets his first authentic lesson in anti-Semitism on parents’ day. Julien and his brother go out to dinner at a fancy restaurant with their mother and Jean is invited along (since his parents were unable to be there for parents’ day). During dinner, two French collaborators in uniform come into the restaurant (which has a prominent sign stating “No Jews”) to check identity papers and discover Mr. Meyer, an old customer of the restaurant but a Jew. When they insist that he leave, several of the patrons indicate support for Mr. Meyer though one suggests he be sent to Moscow. The table next to where the Quentins are sitting is occupied by four or five German soldiers, and, ironically, it is they who intervene to throw the French militiamen out. This seems a nice touch on Malle’s part, suggesting that not all Germans are bad and not all Frenchmen good, but the explanation soon offered by François might very well be the truer one: “They just wanted to show off because they think mother’s pretty.” Julien then asks his mother (further complicating a tense situation) if they are part Jewish, suggesting the surname of one of his grandparents. She quickly responds that he must be crazy; they are not Jewish at all – though she has no problems with Jews. Even that much took some courage considering that they were sitting right next to German soldiers!

Several of the boys of the school trade items they receive from home (Julien, for example, gets jam) for cigarettes, marbles, or dirty pictures with Joseph (François Negret), a poor orphan who helps in the school’s kitchen. Joseph and the cook are also skimming from the school’s food supply to trade on the black market. When the operation is exposed, Joseph is fired but the schoolboys get off with a bit of detention (in deference to their wealthy, tuition-paying parents). The disparity in consequences raises issues of class distinction, which point is not lost on the resentful Joseph. Joseph’s anger becomes the impetus for tragedy. I’m not going to spoil any further the ending of the film, although most will have already intuited the virtually inevitable outcome from the film’s title and the circumstances of the plot.

Themes: On one level, Au Revoir les Enfants is a classic coming-of-age film with two boys learning about friendship, diversity, schoolwork, dirty pictures, and the posturing of little boys. We see Julien and Jean exploring their existences through reading and discussing books, their adventure in the woods, looking at pictures of nudes, and role-playing with the other boys. Yet, growing up in a war zone in wartime is never “classic” coming-of-age and Au Revoir les Enfants is more truly an epitaph to the innocence of boyhood.

The point has been made before, but Au Revoir les Enfants reinforces the observation that there can be no “neutral” or “innocent” posture when great crimes are being committed. Ignorance is no excuse. We are each obliged to inform ourselves and to take a stand when evil runs rampant.

Production Values: Malle has given us a detailed and believable depiction of everyday life in this French boarding school. In a way, almost all of the film is mere set-up for the last ten minutes when the real action of significance occurs. But along the way, we are treated to a realistic view of sometimes studious and always playful seventh graders who gripe about the food they are given, conduct pranks, perform their religious rituals perfunctorily, experiment with cigarettes, and wildly cavort in the schoolyard.

Malle typically works with inexperienced actors in accordance with the realistic traditions of European cinema. Neither of his two young stars had significant prior acting experience, yet Malle manages to elicit highly credible performances from them that could challenge those typically offered by experienced adult actors. Malle created an environment in which these boys could simply do what boys do, making it all seem more natural than performance. If there is a weakness in this film, it is a relative lack of depth of character development. We’re not really treated to very deep insight into the thinking of either Julien or Jean or, even, Julien’s mother or the courageous headmaster. That weakness is understandable, however, since this film is a fundamentally honest account of actual events rather than fiction that could be elaborated in any way that would fit good literary requirements.

Bottom-Line: Although this film is a highly personal recounting of a personal childhood trauma by Malle, it also possesses universality and adds one more dimension to the array of horrific individual Holocaust stories. The result is a very powerful and moving film. This film received nominations at the Academy Awards for Best Foreign Film and for best original screenplay. I highly recommend it. Au Revoir les Enfants is in French with English subtitles and has a running time of 104 minutes. It is rated PG.

Recommended:
Yes

Video Occasion: Good for a Rainy Day
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older