child's memory of occupation

Rating: 10/10 (20 October 2016)

After a few years making movies in the United States, Louis Malle returned to his native France and made "Au revoir les enfants", based on his memories of growing up in Nazi-occupied France. The movie focuses on the friendship between two boys in a Carmelite boarding school, one of whom is keeping his real identity secret.
A particularly effective scene is in the restaurant. There are some Wehrmacht officers at a table, but they keep to themselves. Then the Milice enters and orders a Jewish patron out of the restaurant. The Wehrmacht officers then order the Milice to leave. This emphasizes not only the role of the Vichy government, but also the role of the collaborators in every country that Germany occupied.
I haven't seen all of Malle's movies, but this is probably the best of his movies that I've seen. The final scene has to be one of the most chilling in cinema history. I recommend the movie.