Au Revoir Les Enfants (1987)
"Au revoir les enfants" (original title)

A French boarding school run by priests seems to be a haven from World War II until a new student arrives. He becomes the roommate of top student in his class. Rivals at first, the roommates form a bond and share a secret.

Director:

Louis Malle

Writer:

Louis Malle (scenario)

Stars:

Gaspard Manesse, Raphael Fejtö, Francine Racette

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 26 wins & 9 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Gaspard Manesse	...	Julien Quentin
Raphael Fejtö	...	Jean Bonnet / Jean Kippelstein
Francine Racette	...	Mme Quentin
Stanislas Carré de Malberg	...	François Quentin (as Stanislas Carré De Malberg)
Philippe Morier-Genoud	...	Père Jean
François Berléand	...	Père Michel
François Négret	...	Joseph
Peter Fitz	...	Muller
Pascal Rivet	...	Boulanger
Benoît Henriet	...	Ciron
Richard Leboeuf	...	Sagard
Xavier Legrand	...	Babinot
Arnaud Henriet	...	Negus
Jean-Sébastien Chauvin	...	Laviron
Luc Etienne	...	Moreau (as Luc Étienne)

Storyline

In 1944, upper class boy Julien Quentin and his brother François travel to Catholic boarding school in the countryside after vacations. Julien is a leader and good student and when the new student Jean Bonnet arrives in the school, they have friction in their relationship. However, Julien learns to respect Jean and discovers that he is Jewish and the priests are hiding him from the Nazis. They become best friends and Julien keeps the secret. When the priest Jean discovers that the servant Joseph is stealing supplies from the school to sell in the black market, he fires the youth. Sooner the Gestapo arrives at school to investigate the students and the priests that run and work in the boarding school.

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Plot Keywords:

school | boy | boarding school | priest | class | 

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | War

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

France West Germany Italy

Language:

French German English

Release Date:

December 1987 (USA)

Also Known As:

Au Revoir Les Enfants

Filming Locations:

Institution Sainte-Croix, Provins, Seine-et-Marne, France

Box Office

Gross:

$4,542,825 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Nouvelles Éditions de Films (NEF), MK2 Productions, Stella Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Based on an incident from Louis Malle's own youth.

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Goofs

Jean's pants are dirty after wrestling with Julien, but clean at the restaurant.

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Quotes

Julien Quentin: Arithmatic is useless, unless you want to be an accountant.
Jean Bonnet: My father was an accountant.

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Crazy Credits

Pour Cuotemoc, Justine et Chloé. (opening credits)

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Connections

Referenced in Jeopardy!: Episode #22.92 (2006)

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Soundtracks

"Moment musical no 2"
Written by Franz Schubert (as Schubert)
Performed by Ami Flammer, violin

User Reviews

touching film; probably based on an actual event

This is a very moving film, most likely based on an actual event. The Carmelite priest,Lucien Bunel (1900-1945, "Pere Jacques") was founder and director of the Petit College d'Avon, near Fontainebleau. He was arrested on Jan. 15, 1994, accused of hiding 3 Jewish boys among his students, and was deported to the infamous Mauthausen concentration camp. He died in Linz, Austria on June 2, 1945. Malle's film depicts the intense trauma of Jewish children who were separated from their families and forced to take on a new identity in hiding, always afraid of being found out. They also faced the dilemma of how to maintain their Jewishness in the setting of a Catholic school. So, not just another war movie, this film depicts some of the real struggles facing hidden children, many of whom were saved by courageous Christians in Europe.