This Special Friendship (1964) Les amitiés particulières (original title)

Director:

Jean Delannoy

Writers:

Jean Aurenche
Pierre Bost (dialogue)
(more)

Release Date:

4 September 1964 (France)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

THIS SPECIAL FRIENDSHIP tells of the tender relationship between a twelve-year-old boy and the upperclassman who is the object of his desire...

Plot Keywords:

Boarding School | Blood Pact | Priest | Pedophilia | Gay Interest

Cast

Francis Lacombrade	...	Georges de Sarre
Didier Haudepin	...	Alexandre Motier
François Leccia	...	Lucien Rouvière
Dominique Maurin	...	Marc de Blajean
Louis Seigner	...	Le père Lauzon / Father Lauzon
Michel Bouquet	...	Le père de Trennes / Father Trennes
Lucien Nat	...	Le père supérieur / Father Superior
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Gérard Chambre	...	André Ferron (uncredited)
Henri Coutet	...	L'employé de l'institution (uncredited)
Dominique Diamant	...	Maurice Motier (uncredited)
Alain-Philippe Malagnac	...	Un élève (uncredited)
Bernard Musson	...	Le père enseignant (uncredited)
Colette Régis	...	La religieuse (uncredited)

Directed by
Jean Delannoy

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Jean Aurenche
Pierre Bost		dialogue
Roger Peyrefitte		novel

Produced by
Christine Gouze-Rénal	....	producer

Original Music by
Jean Prodromidès

Cinematography by
Christian Matras

Film Editing by
Louisette Hautecoeur

Production Design by
René Renoux

Production Management
André Hoss	....	unit manager
Fred Surin	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
François Dupont	....	first assistant director

Sound Department
Jacques Lebreton	....	sound

Camera and Electrical Department
Roger Delpuech	....	camera operator

Editorial Department
Arlette Lalande	....	assistant editor

Production Companies

• Lux Compagnie Cinématographique de France
• Progéfi

Distributors

• Award Films International (1986) (USA) (video)
• Pathé Contemporary Films (1967) (USA) (subtitled)

Also Known As:

"Les amitiés particulières" - France (original title)

Runtime:

100 min | USA:99 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Black and White

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

Lux Compagnie Cinématographique de France

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Lucien looks at his watch we can see that the time is 6:15 but he reads it as 10:35.

The fine friendship between two boys

Francis Lacombrade stars as the young Comte Georges de Sarre, student at a French boarding school run by the priests. Didier Haudepin is the even younger Alexandre, another student at the same school. It is post WWII France, and the school is run with heavy discipline.

Georges develops a special friendship with Alexandre, hence the title of the novel and the movie made from the novel. Roger Peyreffite is quite a famous French author, and this story is his best work.

The two boys develop their friendship in spite of the rules of the fathers who are dead set against this sort of thing happening at their school. Not that there is anything sensual about the relationship, just a few chaste kisses and poems with Georges describing Alexandre as his "bijoux".

There is a touching scene in the movie with the two boys hidden in a haystack lying besides each other, sharing the joy of their company and a stolen cigarette.

Not to give away the ending, but tragedy befalls the two boys.

Interesting to note that a friend of Peyreffite, who also worked as a French civil servant, Henri de Montherlant also wrote a novel about the love between two boys. The Boys is also set in a Catholic boarding school, but around the turn of the 19th century. And a similar tragic ending.

In both stories, the Church and its rules against too much affection between schoolboys plays a major role in the story as one of the antagonists. We are left wondering just how well both stories might have turned out if the boys had been left alone to share their friendships.