SmugKitZine Tied for the best movie I have ever seen

Nonureva Really Surprised!

HottWwjdIam There is just so much movie here. For some it may be too much. But in the same secretly sarcastic way most telemarketers say the phrase, the title of this one is particularly apt.

Taraparain Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

Lee Eisenberg After a few years making movies in the United States, Louis Malle returned to his native France and made "Au revoir les enfants", based on his memories of growing up in Nazi-occupied France. The movie focuses on the friendship between two boys in a Carmelite boarding school, one of whom is keeping his real identity secret.A particularly effective scene is in the restaurant. There are some Wehrmacht officers at a table, but they keep to themselves. Then the Milice enters and orders a Jewish patron out of the restaurant. The Wehrmacht officers then order the Milice to leave. This emphasizes not only the role of the Vichy government, but also the role of the collaborators in every country that Germany occupied.I haven't seen all of Malle's movies, but this is probably the best of his movies that I've seen. The final scene has to be one of the most chilling in cinema history. I recommend the movie.

CinemaClown An elegantly crafted tale of friendship, compassion & boyhood, Au Revoir Les Enfants is a heartbreaking, poignant & tragic cinema that's actually based on the events which took place during the childhood of this film's director and is an endearing portrait of life at school, student rivalry & beauty of friendship.Set in France during the final years of the Second World War, the events of Au Revoir Les Enfants takes place in a Catholic boarding school and is narrated through the eyes of Julien Quentin; one of the students at the school. The plot covers his relationship with a newly arrived enigmatic student with whom he's at odds at first but the two learn to get along & share a big secret.Directed by Louis Malle, the film is nicely crafted with many details beautifully captured by its calmly moving camera. The screenplay tries to get an authentic vibe of education in Catholic schools, the conversations between its characters carry the childlike innocence & the performances by its cast, especially the child actors, becomes more captivating as the story progresses.On an overall scale, Au Revoir Les Enfants (also known as Goodbye Children) isn't in anyway a hard-hitting or emotionally scarring cinema but the gentle manner in which it depicts its premise really makes you care for its characters, makes you wish they get away, makes you wish for a miracle & although its subject matter has been dealt in a better manner, the film is worthy of a watch for its two main characters alone.

Jackson Booth-Millard I have been able to recall many titles featuring in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, and this French film is one of those that I remember and was certainly looking forward to watching, from BAFTA winning director Louis Malle (Atlantic City). Basically, set during World War II, and term is beginning at a Catholic school run by priests, and upper class boy Julien Quentin (Gaspard Manesse) and his brother François (Stanislas Carré De Malberg) are attending after being on vacation, and Julien reestablishes himself as the leader of the fellow students. The school sees a new student arriving, Jean Bonnet (Raphael Fejtö), who instantly becomes a victim to bullying by the other boys, and of course Julien does not like him for a while. As time goes by though Jean does become much more part of the gang and accepted, and he gains a friend in the leader, Julien even finds out Jean is Jewish and hiding out from the Nazis. There are a few other things happening while the boys attend their lessons and hang out together, such as assistant cook Joseph (François Négret) caught selling food on the black market. The big point come though when Nazis are searching the school, aware that there may be Jewish students hiding out, and in the end Jean and three others are caught and taken away, leaving Julien devastated. Also starring Francine Racette as Mme Quentin, Philippe Morier-Genoud as Father Jean, François Berléand as Father Michel and Peter Fitz as Muller. The cast of young actors all do pretty well, I will admit I did not understand everything going on, but it is an interesting enough story and concept from what I did follow, especially as it is semi-autobiographical based on the past of the director, I suppose it is a Second World War drama to see. It was nominated the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film and Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen, it was nominated the BAFTAs for Best Film, Best Film not in the English Language and Best Original Screenplay, and it was nominated the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film. Good!

jotix100 The sad days of France during WWII take a new meaning, as a Jewish mother, in order to spare her young son of the horrors of the times, decides to send him to a catholic boarding school, where the local Carmelite priests welcomed, and protected, some of these unfortunate children. It was not an easy for Jean Bonnet, the newly arrived boy to settle into a world that was totally foreign to him.One thing becomes clear immediately, Jean was a smart kid, way ahead of his classmates. He was an easy object of ridicule because of his introspective nature. At the same time, Jean attracted the attention of Julien Quentin, who went on to become Jean's best friend, and whose life was touched by the incident he lived at the school. Life in the boarding school was not a happy one for many of the children. Being away from family took a heavy toll on most of them, while for others was a great time to be away in a somewhat safe environment. Justin, who spies on Jean as he prays during the night, is the first to discover his real identity, which was a well kept secret. In fact, Justin is quite concerned as the boys are brought to a bath house knowing Jews were not welcome. The same goes when during mass, Jean makes an attempt to receive communion from one of the priests, who clearly knew he was not catholic and passes him by without giving him the sacrament. The film is Louis Malle's tribute to a similar incident he lived during his boyhood. It is the most autobiographical of his work, dedicated to his children. "Au revoir les enfants" is a timeless account about an era in which the horrors of the war was seen through the eyes of innocent children, totally at sea in the madness going on around them. The gloomy winter atmosphere was photographed by Renato Berta, a frequent collaborator of Mr. Malle.The two principals do an excellent work. Gaspard Manesse who played Justine Quentin and Raphael Fejto, showed great promise, but did not go into great screen careers as one would have hoped.