Subscribe to watch - 14-day free trial, then £4.99 a month
This film is certified

- Moderate sex references, moderate bad language, scenes of smoking.

Au revoir les enfants
A French boarding-school friendship threatened by Nazi hatred in Malle's elegant tale of World War Two.
War 1987 105 mins
Director: Louis Malle
Overview
The story is set in January 1944 at an exclusive Catholic boys boarding school near Fontainebleau. Twelve-year-old Julien (Gaspard Manesse), a bright, popular pupil at the school, is asked by headmaster Père Jean to look after a new boy, the shy, sensitive Jean Bonnet (Raphaël Fejtö). As the boys slowly become friends, finding a shared love of reading and music, Julien discovers that Jean is Jewish and that he is being kept hidden from the Nazis by the priests of the school under an assumed name. Within an exceptionally moving, yet deliberately unsentimental central story, Malle blends fact with fiction to create notable characters such as Julien’s glamorous mother and Joseph, the much-taunted kitchen helper who runs a black market with the boys.
Au revoir les enfants was a worldwide box-office triumph, winning critical acclaim and numerous awards, including Golden Lion for Best Film at the 1987 Venice Film Festival, seven French Césars and a BAFTA. It was also nominated for two Academy Awards.

Related
War

Reflection Reflection
Drama 2021 127 mins Director: Valentyn Vasyanovych
A prisoner of war exposed to extreme cruelty and trauma struggles to readjust to civilian life upon his release, in Valentyn Vasyanovych's bold and brutal drama.

JSA: Joint Security Area JSA: Joint Security Area
Thriller 2001 109 mins Director: Park Chan-wook
Gunfire breaks out in the demilitarised zone between North and South Korea in this gripping thriller from Park Chan-wook.

The Painted Bird The Painted Bird
Drama 2019 169 mins Director: Vaclav Marhoul
Based on Jerzy Kosiński’s 1965 novel and a long time in the making, Václav Marhoul’s extraordinary The Painted Bird finds a lone Jewish boy on a dark odyssey towards home during wartime.

Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence
War 1983 123 mins Director: Nagisa Oshima
An unflinching study of brutality and resistance, fear and desire in a Japanese WWII POW camp, directed with verve by Oshima and starring David Bowie, Ryuichi Sakamoto and Tom Conti.

Rome, Open City Rome, Open City
War 1945 103 mins Director: Roberto Rossellini
Roberto Rossellini’s landmark of Italian neorealism often cited as one of the greatest films ever made.

Germany, Year Zero Germany, Year Zero
War 1948 73 mins Director: Roberto Rossellini
The concluding part of Roberto Rossellini’s celebrated War Trilogy, set amid the war-torn ruins of Berlin.
3 You Must See

Wake in Fright Wake in Fright
Drama 1971 109 mins Director: Ted Kotcheff
In this classic, broiling Australian thriller, an exasperated schoolteacher finds himself stranded in the dusty outback town of Bundanyabba, where the growing isolation and unhinged locals begin to eat away at his sanity.

Pauline at the Beach Pauline at the Beach
Comedy 1982 95 mins Director: Eric Rohmer
Eric Rohmer's final collaboration with the great cinematographer Néstor Almendros follows a holidaying teenager as she begins to navigate the adult world.

Tides Tides
Drama 2017 100 mins Director: Tupaq Felber
Four thirtysomethings find some much-needed time to reconnect in this beautifully observed and subtly insightful debut.

A Man Escaped A Man Escaped
Drama 1956 101 mins Director: Robert Bresson
Robert Bresson’s riveting tale of a Gestapo prisoner determined to regain his freedom, based on real events.

Les Dames du Bois de Boulogne Les Dames du Bois de Boulogne
Drama 1945 87 mins Director: Robert Bresson
Robert Bresson’s tale of sexual intrigue, rivalry and revenge among Parisian socialites, with glittering dialogue by Cocteau.

The Trial of Joan of Arc The Trial of Joan of Arc
Historical drama 1962 64 mins Director: Robert Bresson
The legendary story of Joan of Arc is powerfully retold in Robert Bresson’s minimalist masterpiece.
Directed by Louis Malle

Lift to the Scaffold Lift to the Scaffold
Crime 1958 91 mins Director: Louis Malle
Julien Tavernier plans the perfect murder of his boss. Having emerged from the scene of the crime, he returns to retrieve a vital piece of evidence but finds himself trapped in a lift, increasingly desperate to escape before the police arrive.
New

Saint Jack Saint Jack
Melodrama 1979 115 mins Director: Peter Bogdanovich
An American pimp spends his days hustling on the streets of 1970s Singapore, but dreams of more, in Peter Bogadanovich’s sultry screen adaptation of Paul Theroux’s novel.

No Place Like Home: Redux No Place Like Home: Redux
Drama 2019 89 mins Director: Perry Henzell
Perry Henzell’s long-lost second feature is a love letter to Jamaica, as we follow a filmmaker searching the island for a lost actor.

Les Dames du Bois de Boulogne Les Dames du Bois de Boulogne
Drama 1945 87 mins Director: Robert Bresson
Robert Bresson’s tale of sexual intrigue, rivalry and revenge among Parisian socialites, with glittering dialogue by Cocteau.

Dogman Dogman
Drama 2018 103 mins Director: Matteo Garrone
Gomorrah director Matteo Garrone presents a masterful tale of twisted friendship, not-so-petty crime and revenge.

The Trial of Joan of Arc The Trial of Joan of Arc
Historical drama 1962 64 mins Director: Robert Bresson
The legendary story of Joan of Arc is powerfully retold in Robert Bresson’s minimalist masterpiece.

Bull Bull
Crime 2021 88 mins Director: Paul Andrew Williams
After ten years’ absence, a vicious gangster (Neil Maskell) returns to his old stomping ground to find his son and take revenge on the gang that double-crossed him.