It is adapted from the real memory of director Louis Mahler, and the word truth instantly adds a lot of weight to the film. In the cold winter of early 1944, in a cold church school in southern France, strict pastors, principals and teachers led the children to pray, study, and live. Although it was cold and hard, it did not seem to have been affected by that era. The incarnation of childhood Louis Mahler, Julian, one day ushered in a new friend Jean Bonnet. Newcomers are always to be bullied, and it is always unpleasant to get along at the beginning, not to mention that he is a guy who is proficient in reading, writing, piano, chess, and calligraphy. However, as time goes by, we can also expect them to forge a deep friendship. This seemingly clichéd plot, due to the director's real memories as a solid foundation, is very natural and moving. The picture of life in the Vichy French Mission School at the end of World War II also slowly unfolded in front of the audience. Doing questions in class, cheating on exams, taking a shower in the bathroom, peeking at the yellow book "A Thousand and One Nights" at midnight, piano lessons from a beautiful teacher, a small deal with a kitchen guy, fighting on stilts between classes, the two lost their way in the forest... …I barely saw the shadow of the Nazis for 80 minutes. All the real details have made me incorporated into the director’s childhood memories, and I even doubt whether the introduction of the film is wrong.
The main highlight of these 80 minutes is naturally the friendship between the two children. The protagonist Julian, played by Gaspard Manesse, is an elegant, handsome and unruly temperament. She seems to have a good temper, but she hasn't grown up yet. Bonnet is naturally a mysterious and outstanding student, and he must be able to guess his identity. Yes, it is Jewish. Don't worry, this is not a spoiler.
The clinker took a turn for the worse in the last 20 minutes, Bonnet's Jewish identity was exposed, and the Gestapo fell from the sky... And it was the last 20 minutes that the film changed from four stars to five stars. Bonnet shook hands with his classmates one by one, and calmly and Julian presented books to each other, and the details were all cold and real and awe-inspiring. In the small playground with light snow, in front of the children named by the German army, the principal was taken away because of sheltering the Jews. The children's spontaneous "goodbye priest" had the flavor of "Death Poetry Society", but it was more heavy and painful. . At this time, the principal’s last sentence, "See you, children," was more moving than any xx party member’s declaration of bravery. Everything is so calm, there is no shouting, no life and death, no righteousness, but it is suffocating. The camera freezes at the door where Bonnet left, which was the last moment Julian saw him in his life. The film ended in Julian's clear and sad eyes, and the old narration "After more than 40 years, until I die, I still clearly remember every moment, every minute, and every second of that early January morning."
The piano music at the end of the film. Let this moment stay in the hearts of the audience for a long time and it is difficult to disperse.
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