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Au revoir les enfants
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Wikipedia article
'Au revoir les enfants' (, meaning "Goodbye, Children") is an autobiographical 1987 film written, produced and directed by Louis Malle. It is based on the actions of Pre Jacques, a French priest and headmaster who attempted to shelter Jewish children during the Holocaust. The film won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival.
Plot
During the winter of 194344, Julien Quentin, a student at a Carmelite boarding school in occupied France, is returning to school from vacation. He acts tough to the students at the school, but he is actually a pampered boy who misses his mother deeply. Saddened to be returning to the monotony of boarding school, Julien's classes seem uneventful until Pre Jean, the headmaster, introduces three new pupils. One of them, Jean Bonnet, is the same age as Julien. Like the other students, Julien at first despises Bonnet, a socially awkward boy with a talent for arithmetic and playing the piano.
One night, Julien wakes up and finds Bonnet wearing a kippah and praying in Hebrew. After digging through his new friend's locker, Julien learns the truth. His real name is not Bonnet, but Jean Kippelstein. Pre Jean, a compassionate, sacrificing priest at the school, had agreed to grant secret asylum to hunted Jews. After a game of treasure hunt, however, Julien and Jean bond and a close friendship develops between them.
When Julien's mother visits on Parents' Day, Julien asks his mother if Bonnet, whose parents could not come, could accompany them to lunch at a gourmet restaurant. As they sit around the table, the talk turns to Julien's father, a factory owner. When Julien's brother asks if he is still for Marshal Ptain, Madame Quentin responds, "No one is anymore." However, the Milice arrive and attempt to expel a Jewish diner. When Julien's brother calls them "'Collabos'", the Milice commander is enraged and tells Madam Quentin, "We serve France, madam. He insulted us." However, when a Wehrmacht officer coldly orders them to leave, the Milice officers grudgingly obey. Julien's mother comments that the Jewish diner appears to be a very distinguished gentleman. She insists that she has nothing against Jews, but would not object if the socialist politician Lon Blum were hanged.
Shortly thereafter, Joseph, the school's assistant cook, is exposed for selling the school's food supplies on the black market. He implicates several students as accomplices, including Julien and his brother, Franois. Although Pre Jean is visibly distressed by the injustice, he fires Joseph but does not expel the students for fear of offending their wealthy and influential parents.
On a cold morning in January 1944, the Gestapo raid the school, searching for Jean Kippelstein. As his classroom is being searched, Julien unintentionally gives away Bonnet by looking in his direction. As the other two Jewish boys are hunted down, Julien encounters the person who denounced them, Joseph the kitchen hand. Trying to justify his betrayal in the face of Julien's mute disbelief, Joseph tells him, "Don't act so pious. There's a war going on, kid." Disgusted, Julien runs off. Jean and Julien exchange books, a shared habit of theirs, as they pack away their belongings due to the closure of the school.
As the students are lined up in the school courtyard, a Gestapo officer denounces Pre Jean's actions and further accuses all French people of being weak and undisciplined. Meanwhile, Pre Jean and the three Jewish students are led away by the officers. Pre Jean shouts: "'Au revoir, les enfants! bientt!'" to the children and they respond: "'Au revoir, mon pre!'" As they leave the grounds, Jean glances over towards Julien briefly, and he waves in return.
The film ends with an older Julien providing a voiceover epilogue, in which he mentions that Bonnet, Negus and Dupre died at Auschwitz, whereas Pre Jean died at Mauthausen; the school later reopened in October. He explains that although more than 40 years have passed, he will remember every second of that January morning until the day he dies.
Cast
* Gaspard Manesse as Julien Quentin
* Raphal Fejt as Jean Kippelstein, alias "Jean Bonnet"
* Francine Racette as Mme Quentin (Julien's mother)
* Stanislas Carr de Malberg as Franois Quentin (Julien's older brother)
* Philippe Morier-Genoud as Father Jean/Pre Jean
* Franois Berland as Father Michel/Pre Michel
* Irne Jacob as Mlle Davenne
* Franois Ngret as Joseph (kitchen helper)
* Peter Fitz as Dr. Mller
* Pascal Rivet as Boulanger
* Benot Henriet as Ciron
* Richard Leboeuf as Sagard
* Xavier Legrand as Babinot
* Arnaud Henriet as Negus
* Damien Salot as Dupre
Actual events
The film is based on events in the childhood of the director, Louis Malle, who at age 11 was attending a Roman Catholic boarding school near Fontainebleau. One day, he witnessed a Gestapo raid in which three Jewish students and a Jewish teacher were rounded up and deported to Auschwitz. The school's headmaster, Pre Jacques, was arrested for harboring them and sent to the concentration camp at Mauthausen. He died shortly after the camp was liberated by the U.S. Army, having refused to leave until the last French prisoner was repatriated. Forty years later Yad Vashem, Israel's official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust, granted Pre Jacques the title of Righteous Among the Nations.
Reception
The film was extremely well received by critics and has a 97% "Fresh" rating at the review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes based on 37 reviews, with the consensus: "Louis Malle's autobiographical tale of a childhood spent in a WWII boarding school is a beautifully realized portrait of friendship and youth."
The film was also a box office success having 3.5 million admissions in France and grossing $4,542,825 in North America.
The screenplay was published by Gallimard in the same year.
Awards nominations
'Academy Awards'
* Best Foreign Language Film - Nominated
* Best Original Screenplay (Louis Malle) - Nominated
'Golden Globe Awards'
* Best Foreign Language Film - Nominated
'British Academy Film Awards'
* Best Film (Louis Malle) - Nominated
* Best Film Not in the English Language - Nominated
* Best Direction (Louis Malle) - 'Won'
* Best Original Screenplay (Louis Malle) - Nominated
'Csar Awards'
* Best Film (Louis Malle) - 'Won'
* Best Director (Louis Malle) - 'Won'
* Most Promising Actor (Franois Ngret) - Nominated
* Best Writing (Louis Malle) - 'Won'
* Best Cinematography (Renato Berta) - 'Won'
* Best Production Design (Willy Holt) - 'Won'
* Best Costume Design (Corinne Jorry) - Nominated
* Best Editing (Emmanuelle Castro) - 'Won'
* Best Sound (Jean-Claude Laureux, Bernard Le Roux and Claude Villand) - 'Won'
'David di Donatello Awards'
* Best Foreign Film (Louis Malle) - 'Won'
According to Quentin Tarantino, the title for his first feature-length film, 'Reservoir Dogs' (1992), came about after a patron at a Video Archives rental store, where Tarantino worked, misheard his film suggestion of 'Au revoir les enfants' as "reservoir dogs".
See also
* List of submissions to the 60th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film
* List of French submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
References
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