Au revoir, les enfants
Encyclopedia
Au revoir les enfants is a 1987
film written, produced and directed by Louis Malle
. The screenplay was published by Gallimard in the same year. The film won the Golden Lion
at the Venice Film Festival
.
, 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
. All four were gassed on arrival. The school's headmaster, Lucien Bunel - Père Jacques de Jesus
, was arrested for harboring them and sent to the concentration camp at Mauthausen
. He died shortly after the camp was liberated by the American 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 Père Jacques the title of Righteous Among the Nations
.
, is returning to school from vacation. He acts tough to the students at the school, but he is actually a pampered mother's boy
who still wets his bed. Saddened to be returning to the tediousness of boarding school
, Julien's classes seem uneventful until Père 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 discovers that Bonnet is wearing a kippah
and is praying in the Hebrew language
. After digging through his new friend's locker, Julien learns the truth. His new friend's name is not Bonnet, but Jean Kippelstein. Père Jean, a compassionate, sacrificing priest
of the old school, had agreed to grant a secret asylum to hunted Jews. After a game of capture the flag
, 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 Pétain
, Madame Quentin responds, "No one is anymore." However, the Milice
arrives and attempts 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 Léon 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, François. Although Père 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
raids the school. 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 on, kid."
As the students are lined up in the school courtyard, a Gestapo officer denounces the illegal nature of Père Jean's actions. He further accuses all French people of being weak and undisciplined. Meanwhile, Père Jean and the three Jewish students are led away by the officers. Heartbroken, the children call out, "Au revoir, mon père!" Père Jean responds, "Au revoir, les enfants! À bientôt!"
In a voiceover epilogue, an older Julien reveals that the passage of forty years still has not dimmed his memory of that horrible day. The children, he states, died at Auschwitz
. Père Jean was imprisoned with other anti-Nazi priests at Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp
, where he died shortly after being liberated.
. The film was also a box office success having 3,488,460 admissions in France and grossing $4,542,825 in North America.
award at the 1987 Venice Film Festival
. At the 1988 César Award
s, it won in seven categories, including Best Director
, Best Film
and Best Writing
. It was nominated for two Academy Awards
: Best Foreign Language Film
and Best Original Screenplay at the 60th Academy Awards
. It was also nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 1988 Golden Globe Awards.
1987 in film
-Events:*January 31 - The Cure for Insomnia premieres at The School of the Art Institute in Chicago, Illinois, to officially become the world's longest film according to Guinness World Records....
film written, produced and directed by Louis Malle
Louis Malle
Louis Malle was a French film director, screenwriter, and producer. He worked in both French cinema and Hollywood. His films include Ascenseur pour l'échafaud , Atlantic City , and Au revoir, les enfants .- Early years in France :Malle was born into a wealthy industrialist family in Thumeries,...
. The screenplay was published by Gallimard in the same year. The film won the Golden Lion
Golden Lion
Il Leone d’Oro is the highest prize given to a film at the Venice Film Festival. The prize was introduced in 1949 by the organizing committee and is now regarded as one of the film industry's most distinguished prizes...
at the Venice Film Festival
Venice Film Festival
The Venice International Film Festival is the oldest international film festival in the world. Founded by Count Giuseppe Volpi in 1932 as the "Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica", the festival has since taken place every year in late August or early September on the island of the...
.
Actual events
The film is based on events in the childhood of the director, Louis MalleLouis Malle
Louis Malle was a French film director, screenwriter, and producer. He worked in both French cinema and Hollywood. His films include Ascenseur pour l'échafaud , Atlantic City , and Au revoir, les enfants .- Early years in France :Malle was born into a wealthy industrialist family in Thumeries,...
, who at age 11 was attending a Roman Catholic boarding school near Fontainebleau
Fontainebleau
Fontainebleau is a commune in the metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is located south-southeast of the centre of Paris. Fontainebleau is a sub-prefecture of the Seine-et-Marne department, and it is the seat of the arrondissement of Fontainebleau...
. One day, he witnessed a Gestapo
Gestapo
The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...
raid in which three Jewish students and a Jewish teacher were rounded up and deported to Auschwitz
Auschwitz concentration camp
Concentration camp Auschwitz was a network of Nazi concentration and extermination camps built and operated by the Third Reich in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany during World War II...
. All four were gassed on arrival. The school's headmaster, Lucien Bunel - Père Jacques de Jesus
Lucien Bunel - Père Jacques de Jesus
Father Jacques de Jésus was a Roman Catholic priest of the Carmelite Order and headmaster of the Petit Collège Sainte-Thérèse de l' Enfant-Jésus....
, was arrested for harboring them and sent to the concentration camp at Mauthausen
Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp
Mauthausen Concentration Camp grew to become a large group of Nazi concentration camps that was built around the villages of Mauthausen and Gusen in Upper Austria, roughly east of the city of Linz.Initially a single camp at Mauthausen, it expanded over time and by the summer of 1940, the...
. He died shortly after the camp was liberated by the American Army
United States in World War II
The United States participated in World War II in several different ways. The following articles cover the respective topics:*United States home front during World War II - activities on the Home Front during World War II...
, having refused to leave until the last French prisoner was repatriated. Forty years later Yad Vashem
Yad Vashem
Yad Vashem is Israel's official memorial to the Jewish victims of the Holocaust, established in 1953 through the Yad Vashem Law passed by the Knesset, Israel's parliament....
, Israel's official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust, granted Père Jacques the title of Righteous Among the Nations
Righteous Among the Nations
Righteous among the Nations of the world's nations"), also translated as Righteous Gentiles is an honorific used by the State of Israel to describe non-Jews who risked their lives during the Holocaust to save Jews from extermination by the Nazis....
.
Plot
During the winter of 1943, Julien Quentin, a student at a Catholic boarding school in Vichy FranceVichy France
Vichy France, Vichy Regime, or Vichy Government, are common terms used to describe the government of France that collaborated with the Axis powers from July 1940 to August 1944. This government succeeded the Third Republic and preceded the Provisional Government of the French Republic...
, is returning to school from vacation. He acts tough to the students at the school, but he is actually a pampered mother's boy
Mother's boy
Mother's boy, also mummy's boy or mama's boy, is a term for a man who is excessively attached to his mother at an age when men are expected to be independent...
who still wets his bed. Saddened to be returning to the tediousness of boarding school
Boarding school
A boarding school is a school where some or all pupils study and live during the school year with their fellow students and possibly teachers and/or administrators. The word 'boarding' is used in the sense of "bed and board," i.e., lodging and meals...
, Julien's classes seem uneventful until Père 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
Arithmetic
Arithmetic or arithmetics is the oldest and most elementary branch of mathematics, used by almost everyone, for tasks ranging from simple day-to-day counting to advanced science and business calculations. It involves the study of quantity, especially as the result of combining numbers...
and playing the piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
.
One night, Julien wakes up and discovers that Bonnet is wearing a kippah
Kippah
A kippah or kipa , also known as a yarmulke , kapele , is a hemispherical or platter-shaped head cover, usually made of cloth, often worn by Orthodox Jewish men to fulfill the customary requirement that their head be covered at all times, and sometimes worn by both men and, less frequently, women...
and is praying in the Hebrew language
Hebrew language
Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
. After digging through his new friend's locker, Julien learns the truth. His new friend's name is not Bonnet, but Jean Kippelstein. Père Jean, a compassionate, sacrificing priest
Priest
A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...
of the old school, had agreed to grant a secret asylum to hunted Jews. After a game of capture the flag
Capture the flag
Capture the Flag is a traditional outdoor sport generally played by children, where two teams each have a flag and the objective is to capture the other team's flag, located at the team's "base," and bring it safely back to their own base...
, 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 Pétain
Philippe Pétain
Henri Philippe Benoni Omer Joseph Pétain , generally known as Philippe Pétain or Marshal Pétain , was a French general who reached the distinction of Marshal of France, and was later Chief of State of Vichy France , from 1940 to 1944...
, Madame Quentin responds, "No one is anymore." However, the Milice
Milice
The Milice française , generally called simply Milice, was a paramilitary force created on January 30, 1943 by the Vichy Regime, with German aid, to help fight the French Resistance. The Milice's formal leader was Prime Minister Pierre Laval, though its chief of operations, and actual leader, was...
arrives and attempts to expel a Jewish diner. When Julien's brother calls them, "Collabos
Collaborationism
Collaborationism is cooperation with enemy forces against one's country. Legally, it may be considered as a form of treason. Collaborationism may be associated with criminal deeds in the service of the occupying power, which may include complicity with the occupying power in murder, persecutions,...
," the Milice commander is enraged and tells Madam Quentin, "We serve France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, madam. He insulted us." However, when a Wehrmacht
Wehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
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 Léon Blum
Léon Blum
André Léon Blum was a French politician, usually identified with the moderate left, and three times the Prime Minister of France.-First political experiences:...
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, François. Although Père 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
Gestapo
The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...
raids the school. 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 on, kid."
As the students are lined up in the school courtyard, a Gestapo officer denounces the illegal nature of Père Jean's actions. He further accuses all French people of being weak and undisciplined. Meanwhile, Père Jean and the three Jewish students are led away by the officers. Heartbroken, the children call out, "Au revoir, mon père!" Père Jean responds, "Au revoir, les enfants! À bientôt!"
In a voiceover epilogue, an older Julien reveals that the passage of forty years still has not dimmed his memory of that horrible day. The children, he states, died at Auschwitz
Auschwitz concentration camp
Concentration camp Auschwitz was a network of Nazi concentration and extermination camps built and operated by the Third Reich in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany during World War II...
. Père Jean was imprisoned with other anti-Nazi priests at Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp
Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp
Mauthausen Concentration Camp grew to become a large group of Nazi concentration camps that was built around the villages of Mauthausen and Gusen in Upper Austria, roughly east of the city of Linz.Initially a single camp at Mauthausen, it expanded over time and by the summer of 1940, the...
, where he died shortly after being liberated.
Cast
- Gaspard ManesseGaspard ManesseGaspard Manesse is a French actor and musician.He is best-remembered for starring as Julien in the film Au revoir, les enfants . He acted in and composed the music for the film Comme il vient...
as Julien Quentin - Raphaël FejtöRaphaël FejtöRaphaël Fejtö is a French actor, director, and author. He is most famous for co-starring in Louis Malle's semi-autobiographical 1987 motion picture Au revoir, les enfants ....
as Jean Kippelstein, alias "Jean Bonnet" - Francine RacetteFrancine RacetteFrancine Racette is a French-Canadian actress. She is the current and third wife of actor Donald Sutherland, and mother of three of his sons: actor Rossif Sutherland, actor Angus Sutherland, and Roeg Sutherland....
as Mme Quentin (Julien's mother) - Stanislas Carré de Malberg as François Quentin (Julien's older brother)
- Philippe Morier-GenoudPhilippe Morier-Genoud-Selected filmography:* Confidentially Yours * Au revoir les enfants * Cyrano de Bergerac * Safe Conduct -Reference:...
as Father Jean/Père Jean - François BerléandFrançois BerléandFrançois Berléand is a French actor.Berléand was born in Paris, France of . He plays Gilles Triquet, the officer manager and equivalent of David Brent in Le Bureau, the French version of The Office, produced by Canal+. He released a book about his childhood in 2006, Le fils de l'homme invisible...
as Father Michel/Père Michel - François Négret as Joseph (kitchen helper)
- Peter Fitz as Muller
- Pascal Rivet as Boulanger
- Benoît Henriet as Ciron
- Richard Leboeuf as Sagard
- Xavier Legrand as Babinot
- Arnaud Henriet as Negus
- Jean-Sébastien Chauvin as Laviron
- Luc Etienne as Moreau
- Daniel Edinger as Tinchaut
- Marcel Bellot as Guibourg
- Ami Flammer as Florent
- Irène JacobIrène JacobIrène Marie Jacob is a French-born Swiss actress considered one of the preeminent French actresses of her generation. Jacob gained international recognition and acclaim through her work with Polish film director Krzysztof Kieślowski, who cast her in the lead role of The Double Life of Véronique...
as Mlle Davenne (her debut in film role) - Jean-Paul Dubarry as Père Hippolyte
- Jacqueline Staup as l'infirmière
- Jacqueline Paris as Mme Perrin
Reception
The movie was extremely well received by critics and has a 96% positive rating at the critics-aggregate site Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
. The film was also a box office success having 3,488,460 admissions in France and grossing $4,542,825 in North America.
Awards and nominations
The film won the Golden LionGolden Lion
Il Leone d’Oro is the highest prize given to a film at the Venice Film Festival. The prize was introduced in 1949 by the organizing committee and is now regarded as one of the film industry's most distinguished prizes...
award at the 1987 Venice Film Festival
Venice Film Festival
The Venice International Film Festival is the oldest international film festival in the world. Founded by Count Giuseppe Volpi in 1932 as the "Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica", the festival has since taken place every year in late August or early September on the island of the...
. At the 1988 César Award
César Award
The César Award is the national film award of France, first given out in 1975. The nominations are selected by the members of the Académie des arts et techniques du cinéma....
s, it won in seven categories, including Best Director
César Award for Best Director
This is the list of winners and nominees of the César Award for Best Director .-1970s:-1980s:-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:...
, Best Film
César Award for Best Film
The winners and nominees of the César Award for Best Film .-1970s:-1980s:-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:...
and Best Writing
César Award for Best Writing
This is the list of winners and nominees of the César Award for Best Writing .-1975–1979:*1975: Bertrand Tavernier, Jean Aurenche: Que la fête commence...
. It was nominated for two Academy Awards
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
: Best Foreign Language Film
Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
The Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film is one of the Academy Awards of Merit, popularly known as the Oscars, handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences...
and Best Original Screenplay at the 60th Academy Awards
60th Academy Awards
The 60th Academy Awards were presented April 11, 1988 at the Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles, California. The ceremony was the first to be held there since the 20th Academy Awards...
. It was also nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 1988 Golden Globe Awards.
External links
- Au Revoir les Enfants screenplay at Google Books
- Criterion Collection essay by Philip Kemp
- Roger Ebert review