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9 out of 10 people found the following review useful: A milestone of youth culture, 9 January 2006 Author: Benoît A. Racine (benoit-3) from Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Youth culture in the 20th century is literally a mystery. It may have started, innocently enough, with a couple of grand celebrated coming of age novels - Booth Tarkington's "Seventeen" in the U.S. and Alain-Fournier's "Le Grand Meaulne" in France, both published appropriately enough in the teens of the last century. But from then on appeared mystery and action novels aimed squarely at a teenage public in no hurry to grow up and set in a contemporary setting (unlike, say, period pieces like "Treasure Island" or "Kidnapped", or all-out fantasies like "The Lord of the Rings"). The elements of danger, mystery and suspense were always present in that sub-genre of literature as if the thrill of puberty and adolescence had to be naturally expressed through the predominant feeling of fear, left over from the terror of childhood fairy tales. This tradition yielded an untold number of "Hardy Boys" novels and Boy Scout romances on both sides of the Atlantic. This is the tradition that would eventually produce "Scoobidoo" cartoons as well as the Harry Potter novels and that gave the book from which "Les Disparus de St-Agil" is extracted. It is a worthy film with many brilliant adult and juvenile actors (Eric Von Stroheim, Michel Simon and the young Marcel Mouloudji who would eventually loose his first name to become the singer-composer Mouloudji of St-Germain-des-Prés fame in the 50's; even eventual singers and actors Charles Aznavour and Serge Reggiani appear uncredited as school-boys). This story of children disappearing and reappearing while solving a murder-disappearance enigma with supernatural overtones that has stumped more mature minds in their boarding school is a microcosm of adolescent identity acted out with all the natural of Jean Vigo's earlier "Zéro de conduite", thanks to Jacques Prévert's gift for believable dialog. The school's secret society is called "les chiche-capons", which is synonymous with after-school shenanigans and has become the name of a famous French pop group today. The expression is an argot rendering of the chicken games kids play to dare themselves into being braver (chiche = I dare you; capon = chicken, coward, non-entity). Christian-Jacque's direction of this claustrophobic drama is modern, sympathetic, limpid and utilitarian but very different from the sweep and scope of his "comic epics" like "Les Perles de la Couronne" (1937, for Sacha Guitry) or "Fanfan La Tulipe" (1952, with Gérard Philipe).
7 out of 7 people found the following review useful: Schoodays were the best days of our life., 29 April 2004 Author: dbdumonteil
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
This movie was made for all these who feel nostalgic for their schooldays :an insert at the beginning of the movie tells us so..So it may have been ,and if so then,it magnificently succeeds in its purpose.Pierre Very ,the scenarist,worked wonders here.Saint-Agil is a boarding -school where three pals have formed a secret society "les chiche-capons" (I do not even know what it means in my first language).One of them is writing a novel which takes the three boys in a world of adventures in Mexico.And there are the teachers;one of them (Von Stroheim)is an alien,probably a German ,although he teaches English,and the others do not like him very much.We are in 1938,and there are hints at war ("A war is always against the aliens" , a rather dumb teacher says ,forgetting the numerous civil wars).Pierre Very astutely mixed two stories which seem independent but which will become one towards the ending (think Hitchcok's "family plot ").One concerns the students :two of them disappear ,where have they gone?A mysterious postcard is sent from America.The other deals with the teachers:one of them falls in the stairs: was it an accident,did he jump,or was he pushed?It's all the more puzzling as the fuses have blown at the same time.And why is there a fork on the floor?Spoiler:Von Stroheim's presence is very moving.In his part of a misunderstood teacher,he almost outshines Michel Simon,no small feat.The ending,which sees this (German?) teacher join the secret society can be interpreted as a plea for friendship ,not only between adults and adolescents but also between nations.End of spoiler"Les disparus de Saint-Agil" ,released at the time when the French cinema was at its absolute peak ,is one of Christian-Jaque 's finest films :he tried to repeat the formula (two stories ,a children and an adult one) in "l'assassinat du père noel"(1941) which was written by Very too,but it was not as convincing."Les anciens de Saint-Loup"(1950),although featuring different characters ,was supposed to be a sequel to "les disparus.." but the magic was gone and although it retains some charm in the first part,it's finally a disappointment.
4 out of 4 people found the following review useful: Now You See Them ...., 11 January 2006 Author: writers_reign
You can get a great Trivia question out of this movie: In which film did Charles Aznavour and Serge Reggiani have uncredited roles and Jacques Prevert supply uncredited dialogue. Dix sur dix. You got it in one. This would probably be a great film even without Prevert's linguistic touches because all the elements are in place; a cloistered setting which serves as a microcosm for the world outside, a story that holds the attention with just the right amount of suspense/mystery and an exceptional and, dare I say it, SYMPATHETIC performance from that man you love to hate Eric Von Stroheim who goes toe-to-toe with Michel Simon and is still standing at the end of fifteen rounds. Stroheim - with hair yet - is a member of the faculty at a boarding school for boys or, to put it another way, a German actor is playing an English teacher (teacher OF English)in a French school, quite a trick which he pulls off despite his French being about three times as slow as that of the natives. The film reeks of atmosphere and has perhaps been unfairly overshadowed because it was produced at a time - 1938 - when France was turning out really classic drama such as Hotel du Nord, Quai des brumes, Le Jour se leve, Carnet du bal etc. The good news is that there's an excellent print now available on DVD so what are you waiting for.
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