Accepts the weighty challenge of making a Holocaust movie and acquits itself proudly.

Rating: 8/10 (1 July 2010)

The film is sombre, lovingly detailed... its emotional power remains undeniable. A Catholic boy (Gaspard Manesse) in occupied France betrays his friend's (Raphael Fejto) Jewish identity by mistake.
Goodbye, Children is a carefully controlled and intensely moving semi-autobiographical drama, a late masterpiece from the remarkable director Louis Malle. It achieves an amazing particularity in its portrait of childhood, yet the themes of loyalty, friendship and belonging are universal. The film won the Golden Lion award at the 1987 Venice Film Festival. It was also nominated for two Academy Awards: Best Foreign Language Film and Best Original Screenplay at the 60th Academy Awards.