--- title: "Au Revoir les Enfants: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/au-revoir-les-enfants/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/au-revoir-les-enfants" critics_score: 81 critics_reviews: 6 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): what the critics said Critics' score 81 from 6 reviews: 6 positive, 0 mixed, 0 negative. 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. ## The Guardian — Philip French Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 9 October 1988. 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 the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/1988/oct/09/features.philipfrench) ## Empire — David Parkinson Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 30 March 2006. 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 the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/au-revoir-les-enfants-review/) ## Little White Lies — Wally Hammond Rating 4/4/4. 30 January 2015. 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 the review](https://lwlies.com/reviews/au-revoir-les-enfants) ## The Times — Kate Muir Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 30 January 2015. 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 the review](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 Rating 4/5. 26 January 2015. 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 the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/au-revoir-les-enfants) ## Evening Standard — Derek Malcolm Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 30 January 2015. 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 the review](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/derek-malcolm-recommends-au-revoir-les-enfants-10014272.html) ## Los Angeles Times — Kevin Thomas 16 December 1987. 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 the review](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-12-16-ca-19410-story.html) ## RogerEbert.com — Roger Ebert 18 March 1988. 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 the review](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/au-revoir-les-enfants-1988) ## Slant Magazine — Glenn Heath Jr. 18 March 2011. 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 the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/dvd/au-revoir-les-enfants/) ## The New York Times — Vincent Canby 12 February 1988. 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 the review](https://www.nytimes.com/1988/02/12/movies/film-au-revoir-les-enfants-from-louis-malle.html) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/au-revoir-les-enfants.md