A Masterpiece

Rating: 10/10 (8 June 2006)

There once was a small class of master filmmakers well studied in the now seemingly lost art of cinematic subtlety. Louis Malle was their king. Lovingly and desperately inspired by his own childhood attending a French Catholic boarding school where a handful of Jewish children were being hidden, "Au Revoir, Les Efants" is a film of small moments leading to one of the most heartbreaking finales you will ever see. What makes it so tragic and resonant is the subtle build-up. Malle's on-screen alter ego Julien is a spoiled kid who reluctantly befriends one of the new kids who he later discovers is Jewish. The progression of their friendship and the day-to-day activities at the school are done without one bit of pretense and so laize-faire, that when the accidental betrayal occurs with a simple glance in the classroom witnessed by the Gestapo, it happens so casually and naturally that neither we, nor Julien, can even begin to process it until long after the film has ended. That's subtle film-making at its best.
Louise Malle crafted a masterpiece showing both the innocent child's view of WWII and the almost insane passivity adopted not only by the French (who didn't seem to mind being occupied as long as they could drink their wine and smoke their cigarettes) but by a greater portion of the world that was asleep at the wheel and allowed the Holocaust to happen. With nary a scene of violence or warfare to be found on the screen, "Au Revoir, Les Efants" is probably the most low-key film you will ever find on the topic, and long after it's over, its universal themes and quiet tragedies will haunt you.