Au Revoir Les Enfants (Blu-ray)
Directed by Louis Malle
Studio: Criterion
Year: 1987
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1 1080p AVC codec
Running Time: 105 minutes
Rating: NR
Audio: PCM 1.0 French
Subtitles: English
Region: A
MSRP: $ 39.95
Release Date: March 15, 2011
Review Date: February 25, 2011
The Film
5/5
Louis Malle’s memory film of a traumatic moment in his adolescence, the moment when he said a fond farewell to childhood innocence, is memorably brought forth in Au Revoir Les Enfants. In his dealing with a specific period in history (France during the occupation), Malle miraculously captures the essence of childhood regardless of the social implications of the time, and the story of a young boy going through the rigors of adolescence with its nocturnal emissions and chaotic camaraderie with friends who give and take no quarter remains one of the most memorable reminiscences of childhood lost ever filmed. The fact that the movie also subtly slips in a stinging indictment of racism is merely icing on the cake.
The wealthy French Quentin family sends their two sons away from Paris to a private Catholic school once the Nazis gain a foothold in France during World War II. Younger son Julien (Gaspard Manesse) is liked by most of the boys in his class, but when a new student Jean Bonnet (Raphael Fejto) is admitted, his shy ways and overt interest in his studies and music don’t endear him to his fellow classmates. Julien is intrigued by the new boy, and they form a grudging friendship though Julien senses something “off” with him: he speaks a strange language during the night with lit candles at his bedside, he refuses to eat pâté, he has a book inscribed to someone whose name ends in “stein.” He then realizes that Jean is Jewish and is being hidden by the school’s Father Jean (Philippe Morier-Genoud) from the Gestapo. Though he doesn’t really understand what it means to be Jewish or why they’re disliked, Julien begins to notice all around him that the Jews are despised by Vichy government representatives in the neighboring town.
The film is made memorable by its very simplicity. Apart from a starling denouement as Nazis search the camp, the movie relishes its small moments, all seamlessly and delicately directed and written by Louis Malle. We see challenges on stilts in the schoolyard at recess, the biweekly cleansing at the local bathhouse in frigid water during the depth of winter, the stolen moments of reading books after lights out, or classroom scenes of grammar or mathematics lessons. Malle takes the time to share special memories even if they’re not inheriently dramatic. One such moment is a community screening of Charlie Chaplin’s The Immigrant. Nothing much happens during the scene except that the children and adults share a moment a common delight with one of the world’s great clowns, a calm before the storm as it were. Especially unforgettable, however, is an extended sequence where Julien and Jean on a treasure hunt in the woods get lost and must wind their way back home as best they can, even if it means hitching a ride with some German soldiers they come across on the road. Malle’s camera inauspiciously tracks the youngsters on their quest and then captures their panic as they realize they’re lost and alone, one of the film’s real highlights. A later piano duet between the two boys playing boogie woogie is another of those “magic in a bottle” moments that seem so spontaneously charming and unplanned. These delights make the ending with its somewhat subdued but nevertheless hateful bigotry even more horrific for Julien and unforgettable for the viewer.
The two boys Gaspard Manesse and Raphael Fejto playing the leading roles were not trained actors, but their completely natural and believable performances are pretty revelatory. Neither goes out of his way to be particularly sweet or amiable, but in spite of this, we come to love and care about them. Francine Racette has an effective moment or two as Julien’s mother, and Stanislas Carre De Malberg as Julien’s older brother Francois is likewise completely convincing as a sibling who loves his brother but who also doesn’t want him hanging around him and his older friends. Francois Negret as kitchen helper Joseph has perhaps the most difficult role in the movie as he peals away layers of his personality until we eventually see what is actually hiding underneath.
Video Quality
5/5
The film’s theatrical aspect ratio of 1.66:1 has been faithfully reproduced here in a 1080p transfer from the original camera negative using the AVC codec. It’s an exemplary transfer filled with stunning detail on trees, clothes, faces, and with no signs of any age-related artifacts present at all. Color has been slightly drained from the photography to represent a long ago era, and that decision brings forth that mesmerizing forest sequence with the lost boys that is the film’s high point. The English subtitles are in white and are very easy to read. The film has been divided into 16 chapters.
Audio Quality
4/5
The PCM 1.0 (1.1 Mbps) audio track has been beautifully engineered to remove any age-related problems like hiss, pops, crackle, or flutter. The sound is pure and clean. There isn’t a great amount of fidelity to the mix though voices are always discernible, sound effects are strong when needed, and music when it’s a part of the scene (piano lessons, violin and piano accompaniment during the Chaplin short) has more than adequate resonance.
Special Features
4/5
All of the video featurettes are presented in 1080i.
Pierre Billard discusses Louis Malle in this 30 ¾-minute video interview which touches on his life and also his various film works, particularly his early documentaries and later work in France. (His American period is barely touched on.)
Louis Malle’s widow Candice Bergen talks about her husband in this 13 ½-minute video interview. She makes special note of his vast disappointment in not winning the Oscar for Au Revoir Les Enfants but delight in winning many Cesars and the Golden Lion in Venice.
“Joseph: A Character Study” is an unusual 5 ¼-minute video piece analyzing the character of Joseph (played by Francois Negret). It’s by director Guy Magen.
The Immigrant, Charlie Chaplin’s brilliant 1917 Mutual short, which is the cornerstone of a delightful sequence in the movie, is presented in its 25 ¼-minute entirety.
A Q & A session with Louis Malle held at the American Film Institute in 1988 is presented in an audio-only featurette which runs 53 ¼ minutes and is divided into eight chapters. Among the topics he discusses are his memory films, his aversion to working with trained child actors, his preference for the small, tight-knit crews of his European films rather than the huge crews of his American ones, and his collaboration with the cinematographer.
The film’s teaser trailer runs ¾ minute while the theatrical trailer runs 2 minutes.
The enclosed 22-page booklet, contains the chapter listing, cast and crew lists, some color stills from the movie, an appreciation of the picture by film historian Philip Kemp, and biographical information by historian Francis Murphy on Father Jacques who was the basis for Father Jean in the film.
The Criterion Blu-rays include a maneuvering tool called “Timeline” which can be pulled up from the menu or by pushing the red button on the remote. It shows you your progress on the disc and the title of the chapter you’re now in. Additionally, two other buttons on the remote can place or remove bookmarks if you decide to stop viewing before reaching the end of the film or want to mark specific places for later reference.
In Conclusion
4.5/5 (not an average)
Louis Malle’s Au Revoir Les Enfants, like Bergman’s Fanny & Alexander and Truffaut’s The 400 Blows, gives viewers a picture of childhood that’s impossible to forget, and this Blu-ray release of the film offers exquisite picture quality to help keep those memories etched firmly in our minds. With some excellent bonus material, the set earns a high recommendation!
Matt Hough
Charlotte, NC
