Au revoir les enfants (1987)

Director:

Louis Malle

Writer:

Louis Malle (scenario)

Release Date:

December 1987 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | War

Plot:

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.

Plot Keywords:

School | Boarding School | Boy | Priest | Catholic

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 26 wins & 9 nominations

Cast

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)
Daniel Edinger	...	Tinchaut
Marcel Bellot	...	Guibourg
Ami Flammer	...	Florent
Irène Jacob	...	Mlle Davenne
Jean-Paul Dubarry	...	Père Hippolyte
Jacqueline Staup	...	Infirmière
Jacqueline Paris	...	Mme Perrin
René Bouloc	...	Le restaurateur
Alain Clément
Michael Rottstock
Detlef Gericke
Michael Becker
Thomas Friedl
Christian Sohn
Michel Ginot
Philippe Despaux

Directed by
Louis Malle

Writing credits
Louis Malle		(scenario)

Produced by
Louis Malle	....	producer (uncredited)

Cinematography by
Renato Berta

Film Editing by
Emmanuelle Castro

Casting by
Jeanne Biras
Iris Carrière		(as Iris Carriere)

Production Design by
Willy Holt

Costume Design by
Corinne Jorry

Makeup Department
Susan Robertson	....	hair stylist
Susan Robertson	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Jean-Yves Asselin	....	unit manager
Jérôme Boussier	....	assistant unit manager
Gérald Molto	....	production manager (as Gerald Molto)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Mathieu Amalric	....	trainee assistant director
Patrick Cartoux	....	second assistant director
Yann Gilbert	....	assistant director

Art Department
Benoît Clémenceau	....	property master: furniture
Michel Grimaud	....	property master

Sound Department
Daniel Couteau	....	foley artist
Jean-Pierre Duret	....	sound assistant
Jean-Claude Laureux	....	sound
Bernard Leroux	....	sound co-mixer
Jacques Lévy	....	post-synchronization (as Jacques Levy)
Claude Villand	....	sound mixer

Camera and Electrical Department
Jeanne-Louise Bulliard	....	still photographer
Stéphane Cresta	....	key grip
Jean-Marie Fadier	....	second assistant camera
Marc Koninckx	....	Steadicam operator
Robert Prévost	....	chief electrician
Jean-Paul Toraille	....	first assistant camera

Casting Department
Sylvie Meyer	....	casting assistant

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Hélène Robin	....	costumer

Editorial Department
Didier Jouyaux	....	editor trainee
Marie-France Poulizac	....	assistant editor (as Marie France Poulizac)

Other crew
Chantal Desmoulins	....	production secretary
Christian Ferry	....	production consultant
Miyoko Gushiken	....	hats
Alain Guyard	....	location manager
France Lachapelle	....	script supervisor (as France La Chapelle)
Eva Simonet	....	press attache
Bernadette Zinck	....	production accountant (uncredited)

Thanks
Jérôme Baroni	....	thanks
Nicolas Beaugrand	....	thanks
Frank Cocteaux	....	thanks
Samy Costet	....	thanks
Jean-Marc Crappé	....	thanks
François Cros	....	thanks
Philippe Doyen	....	thanks
Pascal François	....	thanks
Erwin Huck	....	thanks
Sébastien Lelaizant	....	thanks
Stéphane Moreau	....	thanks
Jérôme Navarro	....	thanks
J.Ch. Negrevergne	....	thanks
J.Ph. Negrevergne	....	thanks
Sylvain Paul	....	thanks
Xavier Pouchin	....	thanks
Philippe Rolin	....	thanks
Alvaro Rubio	....	thanks
François Rubio	....	thanks
Damien Salot	....	thanks

Production Companies

• Nouvelles Éditions de Films (NEF) (as Nouvelles Éditions de Films S.A., Paris)
• MK2 Productions (Paris)
• Stella Film (as Stella Film GmbH, Munich)
• N.E.F. Filmproduktion und Vertriebs (I) (as N.E.F. GmbH. Munich)
• Centre National de la Cinématographie (CNC) (support) (as Centre National du Cinéma)
• Soficas Investimages (support) (as Sofica Investimage)
• Images Investissements (support)
• Sofica Créations (support)
• Rai Uno Radiotelevisione (participation) (as RAI Uno)

Distributors

• MK2 Diffusion (1987) (France) (theatrical)
• Arte Vidéo (2005) (France) (DVD)
• Orion Classics (1987) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Transmundo Films (1988) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• Concorde Home Entertainment (2007) (Germany) (DVD)
• Criterion Collection, The (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• Orion Home Video (1989) (USA) (VHS) (subtitled)
• Transmundo Home Video (THV) (1988) (Argentina) (VHS)
• VCL Communications (????) (Germany) (VHS)
• Video Film Express (2005) (Netherlands) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Éditions Gallimard  book publisher
• Cinécam  camera equipment
• Les Films Michel François  titles
• S.N.C.F.  thanks
• Studio Philippe Sarde  auditorium
• Studios de Billancourt  auditorium (as Paris-Studio-Billancourt)
• Transpalux  electrical equipment

Also Known As:

"Au Revoir Les Enfants" - International (English title), UK, USA
"Arrivederci, ragazzi" - Italy
"Au revoir les enfants (Goodbye, Children)" - USA
"Auf Wiedersehen, Kinder" - West Germany
"Goodbye Children" - Australia (TV title)
"Adiós a los niños" - Argentina, Peru (imdb display title)
"Adeus, Meninos" - Brazil
"Adeus, Rapazes" - Portugal
"Adiós, muchachos" - Spain
"Adio paidia" - Greece (transliterated ISO-LATIN-1 title)
"Adios a los niños" - Chile
"Do vidjenja deco" - Serbia (imdb display title)
"Do zobaczenia, chlopcy" - Poland
"Näkemiin, lapset" - Finland
"På gjensyn" - Norway (imdb display title)
"Sayonara, kodomotachi" - Japan
"Vaarwel kinderen" - Netherlands (informal literal title)
"Vi ses igen" - Denmark
"Vi ses igen, barn" - Sweden (imdb display title)
"Viszontlátásra, gyerekek!" - Hungary (imdb display title)

Runtime:

104 min

Country:

France | West Germany | Italy

Language:

French | German | English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Australia:PG | South Korea:12 | Portugal:M/12 | UK:PG | Spain:T | France:U | Peru:PT | Singapore:M18 (DVD rating) | Singapore:PG | Argentina:13 | Chile:TE | Finland:K-12 | Iceland:L | Sweden:11 | USA:PG | West Germany:6 (bw)

Filming Locations:

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

Company:

Nouvelles Éditions de Films (NEF)

Trivia:

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

Goofs:

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

Quotes:

Julien Quentin:I'm the only one in this school that thinks about death. It's incredible!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Dead Poets Society (1989)

Soundtrack:

Rondo Caprioso

Lived-in feeling gives sad film great depth

The movie was a project close to Louis Malle's heart (he was in tears when the film premiered at a film festival in 1987) and it shows in the multi-layered treatment he gives the central setting, this fascinating boarding school with its broad cast of characters. Because there are so many different strands and affecting moments tangential to the central plot, one is not entirely prepared for the finale even if you are expecting it. French film is characteristically digressive, often to a fault, but here it works to splendid advantage. It also lends itself to repeat viewings.

I don't think you need to have lived in occupied Europe to appreciate this wonderful film; it speaks to all of us who have lived through childhood's quickly-passing parade and know its lifelong regrets. That last image of the stone wall is emblazoned in many consciousnesses, as it is in mine.

There are many interesting choices Malle makes in this film. For example, while the central subject is the Holocaust, nearly all the Germans we actually see in the film are fairly decent if nonetheless menacing types. The real villains here are almost entirely French collaborators, which was done I think to call attention to collaboration during a period when the French were dealing with the Klaus Barbie trial. [Barbie was a Gestapo officer who was aided in his work rooting out Resistance leaders by many French collaborators.] But casting French people as the heavies also suggests the central evil of prejudice and oppression is not something exclusive to one nationality, and it broadens the scope of the movie.

The tender treatment Malle affords the Catholic hierarchy in the movie is unusual, too, when you see other more anti-clerical Malle efforts like "Murmur of the Heart." There is an unexpected sense of spirituality throughout this film, somewhat muted but there all the same.

This may well stand as the cinematic masterpiece of a man who, at his best (see also "Atlantic City" and "My Dinner With Andre") was to motion pictures what his countrymen Zola and Hugo were to novels: An artist who filled his canvas with the verve and breadth of human life.