Goodbye, Children (Au Revoir Les Enfants) Reviews
December 31, 2017
Without being sentimental, the drama is incredibly moving as the muted light plays over young faces that are about to face the unknowable evils of the adult world.
January 29, 2015
Not the director's best work, but far, far from being his worst either.
Full Review
| Original Score: 4/5
January 28, 2015
Breathtakingly good.
Full Review
| Original Score: 5/5
January 26, 2015
An ever-shifting balance of power is the film's greatest strength.
Full Review
| Original Score: 4/5
August 24, 2010
Louis Malle, possibly at his best here. The drama is subtle but affecting.
Full Review
| Original Score: 4/5
August 24, 2010
In this frightening and beautiful film, a schoolboy must learn hard lessons early.
February 9, 2006
The film's quiet integrity finally depends on his avoidance of heroic clich and stylistic bombast, and on the unindulgent generosity extended towards his characters.
May 20, 2003
It's a work that has the kind of simplicity, ease and density of detail that only a film maker in total command of his craft can bring off, and then only rarely.
Full Review
| Original Score: 5/5
April 18, 2003
Original Score: 5/5
March 10, 2003
The great Louis Malle based this movie on his rueful recollection of an event that happened at his childhood boarding school during WWII.
January 1, 2000
In this season of boyhood remembrances, Malle's is the most devastating -- an inspired elegy to little boys lost.
January 1, 2000
A schoolboy cannot be expected to understand how swiftly violence and evil can strike out and change everything.
Full Review
| Original Score: 4/4
January 1, 2000
If he'd made his childhood movie earlier in his career -- when he didn't have the sense to be so dispassionate -- it might have packed a meatier punch. Now it's just a deftly aimed poke.