Criterion | 1987 | 104 mins. | PG
Set in occupied France in the early months of 1944, the students at a Catholic boarding school in Vichy, France live a somewhat sheltered life, largely shut off from the rest of the world. The towering stone walls that surround the property act as a barrier between them and the inhumanity to man going on around them. As the film begins, the boys are returning from Christmas break and it seems to be business as usual at the parochial school. The Nazis have allowed the school to continue operations. However, the kids are aware of the war because of air raid sirens and the constant presence of German soldiers.
Louis Malle’s Au revoir les enfants is a film about that time in adolescence when we realize that life isn’t as simple as it once seemed. Not everything is black & white or easily understood. Based on Malle’s own experience growing up near Fontainebleau, the director shows the boys of the school acting like typical children their age. Some kids are arrogant and loud, while others are studious and reserved. They can also be pranksters and tease one another. Like all children, any excuse to skip class is a good one, so they treat air raid drills like an amusing escape from their daily lessons. The boys know there’s a war on, but they don’t seem to fully appreciate its significance.
Julien Quentin (Gaspard Manesse), twelve, is spoiled and doesn’t have a care in the world. He still wets his bed and is angry with his mother for sending him to the school. He begs to come home at every possible opportunity. Quentin’s older brother, François (Stanislas Carré de Malberg), jokes with his mother about dropping out of school and joining the resistance. He is
Julien is the smartest kid in his class and he knows it. Naturally, he’s nonplussed when a new student, Jean Bonnet (Raphaël Fejtö), proves to be his intellectual rival. He even joins in the tradition of beating the new kid up. However, over time he finds himself bonding with Bonnet, particularly over an interest in reading. It’s from a book that Julien learns that Jean’s real name is Kippelstein. Father Jean (Philippe Morier-Genoud), the school´s heroic prefect, has risked the school and his own life to hide several Jewish boys from the Nazis.
Malle (who also wrote the script), wanted to tell this story because at eleven, he witnessed the Gestapo take away a Jewish schoolmate. Despite the protection of the stone walls, and his focus on the students daily lives, Malle sprinkles images of German soldiers (and one glimpse of a Jew wearing a yellow star) to remind us of the ongoing tyranny. Those brief glimpses really ratchet up the tension. Despite the best precautions, the biggest threat form of Joseph (François Négret), an older boy who works as a custodian and is ostracized by the much wealthier students, and the grudge he carries against them plays a major role in the unfolding of the inevitable tragedy. While not a surprise, the final sequence of Au revoir les enfants is one of the most unforgettable in Malle’s career and one of the most moving in cinema history.
The 1.66:1 1080p transfer is beyond excellent. Black levels are inky and consistent, color accuracy is perfect; deep, robust blues and more delicate flesh tones, and the transfer print utilized is free of dirt and debris.
The LPCM mono track also preserves the film very well. This track is all about dialogue and music, and both come through as faithfully. It may not be a modern marvel technically, but this lossless mix serves its source material flawlessly.
English subtitles are included.
We get the following special features:
- Pierre Billard – an interview recorded exclusively for Criterion in Paris in 2005, with film critic Pierre Billard, author of the biography Louis Malle: Le rebelle solitaire. Mr. Billard discusses director Louis Malle’s career and body of work. In French, with optional English subtitles. (31 min, 1080i).
- Candice Bergen – an interview recorded exclusively for Criterion in 2005, with actress Candice Bergen, who was married to director Louis Malle for fifteen years. Mrs. Bergen discusses her late husband’s fascination with film, desire to travel America and popularity in France and America. In English, not subtitled. (14 min, 1080i).
- Joseph: A Character Study – Professor Guy Magen, from the University of Paris, discusses the antihero in Au revoir les enfants. In French, with optional English subtitles. (6 min, 1080i).
- Charlie Chaplin’s The Immigrant – there is a sequence in Au revoir les enfants where the boys and their teachers watch Charlie Chaplin’s The Immigrant. The film’s screening is symbolic. (26 min, 1080i).
- Louis Malle at AFI – an edited audio recording of a speech director Louis Malle presented at the American Film Institute in Los Angeles on December 7, 1988. In English, not subtitled.– Two stories of collaboration
— Writing Murmur of the Heart
— The event of his childhood
— Difficulty of simplicity
— Directing Children
— The Dangers of compromise
— Directing as he writes
— The solitude of the director
- Teaser – in French, with optional English subtitled. (1 min, 1080i).
- Trailer – in French, with optional English subtitled. (2 min, 1080i).
- Booklet – 22-page illustrated booklet containing Philip Kemp’s essay “Childhood’s End” and Francis J. Murphy’s “Pere Jacques and the Petit-College d’Avon.”
