765. Au revoir, les enfants

Au revoir, les enfants
Goodbye, My Children
1987
Directed by Louis Malle

I remember watching this in my French class and trying not to get too emotional.  As I was determined to be invisible in high school, crying would have made my head explode with embarrassment (a rare but documented phenomenon).  Thankfully, since I am now alone in bed, I can cry to my heart's content.

Julien Quentin is a spoiled bully who attends a boarding school during World War II.  He soon discovers that the headmaster is granting asylum to young Jews, which include Jean Bonnet, a new student.  A friendship develops and Julien begins questioning the behavior of everyone in his life, including himself.

Our last Louis Malle film was Atlantic City, which I thought was rather horrendous.  With this film we have rekindled the old flame, as this reminded me heavily of Murmur of the Heart.  I don't often like movies staring children, but the actors here were perfect.

A heartbreaking story and one that deserves to be told.

RATING: ****-

Interesting Facts:

Based on a real incident in Malle's childhood.

660. Atlantic City

Atlantic City
1980
Directed by Louis Malle

I asked my parents if they wanted to watch this film with me.  Since it stars Susan Sarandon and Burt Lancaster, it seemed like one of the less frightening entries on the List.  Still, about twenty minutes into the movie, my mom said, "I think I hate this."  I couldn't help but agree with her a tiny bit.

Sally is an aspiring blackjack dealer whose life is complicated by the arrival of her estranged husband and her pregnant sister, whom he ran away with.  She lives in the same apartment building as Lou, a bookie who frequently watches Sally wash herself, but somehow no one is creeped out by this.  Their lives become even more entangled when Sally's husband tries to sell stolen cocaine and enlists Lou's help.

I feel like that was a really poor summary, but honestly, this film is all over the place anyway.  The Book seems to think that the fact that this movie doesn't fall into any kind of genre is a merit, but it felt incredibly messy to me.  I thought the character's actions and dialogue were startlingly unnatural.  For example, at one point, the elderly lady who Lou takes care of (and apparently has old people sex with) started talking about how she dreamed of owning shoes with live goldfish in them.  I think it was supposed to be a beautiful moment, but it just fell flat for me.

The film did have its exciting moments, but overall it felt forced and I was very happy when the credits rolled.

RATING: **---

Interesting Facts:

It is rumored that Burt Lancaster would have won an Oscar for his performance if it wasn't for Jane Fonda's aggressive campaign for her father's, Henry Fonda, work in On Golden Pond.

Louis Malle and Susan Sarandon were romantically involved prior to filming.

537. Le souffle au couer

Le souffle au couer
Murmur of the Heart
1971
Directed by Louis Malle

I am pretty sure my sister thinks I am a bit of a pervert for saying this (and maybe for a myriad of other reasons) but I am going to go ahead and say it anyway: I loved this film.  The fact that the director took a subject like incest, which almost everyone believes is disturbing or disgusting, and made it into something actually beautiful was amazing to me.  What also amazed me was what an astonishingly bad kisser the main character was.  But we shall get there.

Laurent is a fifteen year old school boy, who is a pretty typical French kid.  He gets sexually harassed by a priest, compares his penis size with his brothers', visits a brothel, and believes that any woman who isn't interested in him is a lesbian.  Once he develops a heart murmur, his relationships begin to change.  However, he is still consistently kind of a dick.

What did I like this movie so much?  It seems like the sort of thing I wouldn't like.  Maybe I had such low expectations for it that it was impossible not to be impressed.  I was picturing something gloomy and depressing because, let's face it, any film with European schoolchildren is generally pretty dark.  But I loved watching these characters; I loved how they viewed everything with laughter without ever crossing over into being glib.

Overall, I adored this film.  It reminded me that The List can still surprise me with treasures like this.

RATING: ****-

Interesting Facts:

Louis Malle based much of the film on his own experience.  Which, presumably, did not include incest.