Au Revoir, Les Enfants

Au Revoir, les Enfants, a film (1987) by Louis Malle

this is a semi-autobiography film based on the director's experiences growing up in a carmelite boarding school near paris during the world war two.

the story is told from the perspective of julien quentin, a precocious young boy who learns of friendship, fairness and courage through his interactions and conversations with jean bonnet/kippelstein, a jewish boy who was hiding under a pseudonym and identity in the school.

the film made dash think further about the issue of fairness. to what extent do we or should we be exacting fairness? at all times, or only when it matters because its consequences have an impact on our loved ones?

it was an unfair dismissal of a school staff that triggered the the tragic twist of monstrously unjust events that befell the school quietly on that calm morning in january 1944.

when joseph the kitchen boy was made to take the rap for stealing school supplies to make money on the black market, he cried unfair on the grounds that he was not the only one in the school doing it. joseph had been a figure of joke throughout the film - always bullied by the elite students in school, shortchanged by others in his exchanges and commercial dealings with them, and he was also the boy who failed to get the girl. when joseph was dismissed, everyone merely shrugged their shoulders, and life went on.

after joseph lost his job at the school, it turns out that joseph did a judas, ratting out on the priests and the boys in the boarding school to the gestapo. and during the confused state of affairs amidst the gestapo's arrest, when confronted by julien, joseph decried the unfair cards the others had dealt to him, and how he had been forced into this position. joseph also accused julien that he should not to act virtuous or to judge him.

the priests and the 3 jewish boys were arrested and sent to Auschwitz, the concentration camp. after the priest bid the rest of the children at school farewell, the movie's text informed the audience that the priest and the 3 boys died before the war ended.

and dash is of the view that if the film did want to explore the problem of evil, it was friendship between julien and jean and the priest's courage to hide the boys despite the fatal risk, that allowed the tragic last moments of the film to transcend the evils that men do in the film.

on a sidenote, dash was pleasantly surprised to hear some of the older boys discuss about thomas aquinas and his proof for the existence of god, and even make critical comparison with their preferred henri bergson's transcendence approach to reality.

dash's verdict of the film: excellent cinematography, music, acting and script! serious issues such as discrimination, growing pains of adolescence, fairness, courage and friendship were all examined in good depth within the film's smooth story-telling. and the actors who acted the characters of julien and jean did an absolutely fabulous and moving performance! go watch! it will be a 104 minutes of your time well-spent (: