---
title: "Au Revoir les Enfants"
year: 1987
kind: "film"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/au-revoir-les-enfants"
fi1m_id: "au-revoir-les-enfants"
imdb_id: "tt0092593"
tmdb_id: 1786
wikidata_id: "Q187276"
fi1m_score: 90
critics_score: 81
critics_reviews: 6
published: "2026-09-15"
updated: "2026-09-18T08:38:03.512221+00:00"
region: "LT"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Au Revoir les Enfants (1987)

Directed by Louis Malle · 1h 45m · Drama, War

## Identity

Au Revoir les Enfants

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/au-revoir-les-enfants
- **Type:** Film
- **Fi1m ID:** au-revoir-les-enfants
- **IMDb ID:** tt0092593
- **TMDB ID:** 1786
- **Wikidata ID:** Q187276
- **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092593/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/1786, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q187276

**Fi1m score: 90** · Critics 81 from 6 reviews

*In a sentence:* We had forgotten how much courage it takes to make a friend at school

> Louis Malle’s wartime school drama earns its force through two boys learning how to be friends. We recommend it without hesitation, though the school sometimes feels a little too carefully arranged in memory.

## Synopsis

At a Catholic boarding school in occupied France in 1944, Julien Quentin (Gaspard Manesse) and Jean Bonnet (Raphael Fejtö) develop a friendship whose balance keeps changing. The school shelters Jewish pupils, while the boys navigate their relationships within its ordered daily life. Around them are adults whose responsibilities extend beyond education, among them Father Jean (Philippe Morier-Genoud). Louis Malle writes and directs a drama drawn from his childhood, following the two boys as they learn about one another and about the adult world beyond their school routines.

## Review

Louis Malle’s *Au Revoir les Enfants* deserves an evening of undivided attention. Set in a Catholic boarding school in occupied France in 1944, it is patient about the business of two boys becoming friends, and exact about how difficult that can be. Malle writes and directs from memories of his own childhood, but he does not give the children the understanding he has acquired since. We recommend it warmly for that patience, and for young performances that never ask to be admired for their sensitivity.

Gaspard Manesse plays Julien Quentin, with Raphael Fejtö as Jean Bonnet. Manesse makes Julien’s interest in the other boy inseparable from his need to know where he stands, while Fejtö gives Jean a life that does not depend upon Julien noticing him. The upper hand passes between them without either performance overstating the change. We found their jostling for position unexpectedly painful. The friendship matters because these boys can want each other’s company and still find ways to make companionship difficult.

The school shelters Jewish pupils, so its ordinary routines carry responsibilities that the children cannot fully grasp. Philippe Morier-Genoud’s Father Jean helps make the adult world feel close without making it easy for the boys to understand. Malle keeps our attention on how they live among other children, and on the effort of being accepted. The occupation is frightening partly because the pupils have so much else to think about, none of it insignificant to them.

Renato Berta’s cinematography keeps the children more interesting than their surroundings, a useful discipline in a film about a remembered place. Willy Holt’s production design gives the school the reassuring order that its pupils might expect of it. The school feels capable of organising every part of a child’s life, which makes its promise of protection matter. Berta’s work is most affecting when our attention stays with the boys, searching their faces for some change in how they regard each other.

Emmanuelle Castro’s editing makes the everyday rhythm of school worth attending to. At 105 minutes, the film gives the changing friendship enough time to feel earned, without turning every hesitation into a separate dramatic point. There is tension in that pace, because we know more about the danger outside than the children do. Castro and Malle understand that, if the school is to mean anything to us, spending time there cannot feel like a delay.

There is a limitation to such careful control. Malle’s screenplay can make the school feel a little too neatly remembered, with less waste and distraction than we might expect of childhood. We occasionally wanted more room for the children to be uninteresting, as children are perfectly entitled to be. That reservation matters because the film is otherwise so good at resisting the demand that every young character should become an example.

A boarding-school drama can get easy sympathy by making its children innocent and its adults obtuse. Malle is more demanding, particularly about the children’s capacity to wound each other without fully understanding what they are doing. His affection for them does not excuse them, and neither young actor looks like an adult’s improved recollection of himself. Watch it when there is time afterwards to sit quietly for a while.

*Fi1m score 90, published 15 September 2026.*

## What the critics say

Most critics praise Au Revoir les Enfants as a moving, unsentimental account of childhood friendship under occupation. The praise centres on Malle’s handling of the two boys: their growing attachment feels truthful, while the changing balance between them gives the school drama tension. The reviews also value the detail of everyday boarding-school life and the restraint with which Malle brings the adult world’s cruelty into view, drawing emotional force from personal memory without resorting to melodrama.

There is no clear dissent, and the scored reviews sit within a fairly narrow positive range. Differences concern emphasis rather than substantial reservations: Time Out stresses the shifting power within the friendship and the film’s departure from familiar boarding-school stories. The Evening Standard places its emotional power above its ideas, while other reviews give greater weight to moral complexity and the precision of Malle’s recollections.

## Straight answers

**Is Au Revoir les Enfants worth watching?**

*Au Revoir les Enfants* is worth watching, and we scored it 90, our highest bracket. Louis Malle draws on his own childhood at a Catholic boarding school in occupied France in 1944, and the two young leads make the shifting friendship painful without ever asking to be admired. Our one reservation is that the school can feel a little too neatly remembered.

**How long is Au Revoir les Enfants, and what is it rated?**

*Au Revoir les Enfants* runs 1h 45m. It is a drama and war film.

**Where can I watch Au Revoir les Enfants in Lithuania?**

*Au Revoir les Enfants* is not on any streaming or rental service in Lithuania at the moment. It is available in 7 other countries; change your country at the top of the page to see where. Availability is checked daily.

**How violent or frightening is Au Revoir les Enfants, and is it suitable for children?**

*Au Revoir les Enfants* carries a PG certificate and shows very little violence on screen. Its fear comes from what we know about the occupation and the children do not, and from how the boys hurt one another without quite meaning to. Older children can watch it, but its sadness lands hard, so allow time afterwards to talk about it.

**How does Au Revoir les Enfants compare to The Spirit of the Beehive?**

*Au Revoir les Enfants* and [*The Spirit of the Beehive*](https://film.one/film/the-spirit-of-the-beehive) both watch a child grasp only part of an adult fear, but Malle's film is about a friendship and Erice's about a girl alone with her imagination. Malle keeps us close to the boys' faces, while Erice's beautiful images sometimes hold us at a distance. We find Malle's the more affecting of the two, and the easier place to begin.

**What should I watch after Au Revoir les Enfants?**

After *Au Revoir les Enfants*, try [*The Spirit of the Beehive*](https://film.one/film/the-spirit-of-the-beehive) (1973, Fi1m 87): Another child’s partial understanding of adult fear, observed with patience and unease. Then [*The 400 Blows*](https://film.one/film/the-400-blows) (1959, Fi1m 91): For another unsparing account of school, adult authority and a child’s loneliness; and [*The Quiet Girl*](https://film.one/film/the-quiet-girl) (2022, Fi1m 84): A child’s tentative trust receives the same patient attention, with less historical weight.

### Reviews we read (10)

- **The Guardian**, Philip French (90/100, inferred): The critic praises Malle's subtly detailed portrait of life in a Catholic boarding school in occupied France during 1944, focusing on the developing friendship between two boys and the quiet, shattering ending that captures a haunting memory of betrayal and loss. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/1988/oct/09/features.philipfrench)
- **Empire**, David Parkinson (80/100, inferred): The critic calls it possibly Malle at his best, with a subtle but affecting drama based on the director's childhood. Malle's handling of the young leads and their developing friendship stands out for avoiding melodrama while conveying the impact of occupation. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/au-revoir-les-enfants-review/)
- **Little White Lies**, Wally Hammond (4/4/4): The critic finds Malle’s unsentimental depiction of his boyhood during Nazi occupation stands the test of time, praising the truthful portrayal of characters and complex subjects without simplification. [Read](https://lwlies.com/reviews/au-revoir-les-enfants)
- **The Times**, Kate Muir (80/100, inferred): The piece highlights the tender, evocative story of friendship between two boarding school boys in wartime France, noting the director's real-life basis and the moving, unsentimental drama as the boys face the evils of the adult world. [Read](https://www.thetimes.com/travel/destinations/europe-travel/france/paris/classic-film-of-the-week-au-revoir-les-enfants-1987-0fj7b93x7b6)
- **Time Out**, Tom Huddleston (4/5): Praises the film's corrective to typical boarding school movies, highlighting the shifting balance of power in the boys' friendship and the mounting tension. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/au-revoir-les-enfants)
- **Evening Standard**, Derek Malcolm (75/100, inferred): The film is praised as a worldwide success and popular drama that avoids sentimentality while honestly depicting youthful betrayal and the protection of Jewish pupils in a wartime school. Its emotional power is highlighted as more important than ideas. [Read](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/derek-malcolm-recommends-au-revoir-les-enfants-10014272.html)
- **Los Angeles Times**, Kevin Thomas: The critic hails the film as a masterful, semi-autobiographical work with subtlety and devastating impact, comparing it favorably to Renoir and Greek tragedy. It singles out the portrayal of friendship between the two boys and the ordered world of the boarding school under occupation. [Read](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-12-16-ca-19410-story.html)
- **RogerEbert.com**, Roger Ebert: The critic describes the film as a subtle portrayal of a childhood friendship and a single tragic, unthinking moment that haunts the protagonist in Nazi-occupied France. It emphasizes the emotional power of Malle's personal memory and the everyday rhythm of school life disrupted by evil. [Read](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/au-revoir-les-enfants-1988)
- **Slant Magazine**, Glenn Heath Jr.: The critic praises Malle's semi-autobiographical film for its measured examination of youth during the Nazi occupation of France, highlighting the poignant relationships between boys and the moral complexities they face. [Read](https://www.slantmagazine.com/dvd/au-revoir-les-enfants/)
- **The New York Times**, Vincent Canby: The critic calls the film a fiction created from memory and made tough by conscience, about life during the Occupation, privileged childhood, growing up, and the need to find meaning through recollection. It praises its simplicity, ease, and density of detail as the work of a master filmmaker. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/1988/02/12/movies/film-au-revoir-les-enfants-from-louis-malle.html)

## Details

- **Director:** Louis Malle
- **Director:** Louis Malle
- **Screenplay:** Louis Malle
- **Cinematography:** Renato Berta
- **Editor:** Emmanuelle Castro
- **Production design:** Willy Holt
- **Costume design:** Corinne Jorry
- **Producer:** Louis Malle
- **Cast:** Gaspard Manesse as Julien Quentin; Raphaël Fejtö as Jean Bonnet; Francine Racette as Mrs. Quentin; Stanislas Carré de Malberg as François Quentin; Philippe Morier-Genoud as Father Jean; François Berléand as Father Michel; François Négret as Joseph; Peter Fitz as Muller
- **Runtime:** 1h 45m
- **First release (Italy):** 31 August 1987
- **Genres:** Drama, War
- **Also in:** [BAFTA Best Film winners](https://film.one/collections/bafta-best-film.md) (Nominee, 1988); [Golden Lion winners](https://film.one/collections/golden-lion.md) (Winner, 1987)
- **Budget:** $3 million
- **Box office:** $5 million
- **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIaTVS7iQQk

## Where to watch in Lithuania

Not streaming, renting or buying in Lithuania at the last check.

Also available in: AT, BE, ES, FR, GB, IE, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country.

## Awards

- Academy Awards 1988: Best International Feature Film (nominated); Best Writing, Original Screenplay (nominated)
- European Film Award for Best Director 1988: European Film Award for Best Director (nominated)
- European Film Award for Best Film 1988: European Film Award for Best Film (nominated)
- European Film Award for Best Screenwriter 1988: European Film Award for Best Screenwriter (won)
- International Submission to the Academy Awards 1988: International Submission to the Academy Awards (nominated)
- Louis Delluc Prize 1987: Louis Delluc Prize (won)
- Venice Film Festival 1987: Golden Lion (won)

## If you liked this

- *The Spirit of the Beehive* (1973), Fi1m 87: Another child’s partial understanding of adult fear, observed with patience and unease. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-spirit-of-the-beehive.md)
- *The 400 Blows* (1959), Fi1m 91: For another unsparing account of school, adult authority and a child’s loneliness. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-400-blows.md)
- *Germany Year Zero* (1948): A harsher encounter with childhood and war, without comforting explanations or easy innocence.
- *The Quiet Girl* (2022), Fi1m 84: A child’s tentative trust receives the same patient attention, with less historical weight. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-quiet-girl.md)
- *The Class* (2008): School loyalties and adult authority examined through talk, friction and competing accounts.

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/au-revoir-les-enfants