Au revoir les enfants Un film de Louis Malle

Relie les différentes parties de la phrase. Le film est sorti au cinéma en France Le film dure C’est un film de fiction réalisé Mais il est basé sur Il a eu beaucoup de succès en France Le film a reçu 1 heure 42 minutes par Louis Malle en 1987 des prix importants comme le Lion d’or de Venise en 1987 les souvenirs d’enfant de Louis Malle et aussi à l’étranger Copy the sentences and complete them in exercise books. Highlight the key words which may come up in other lessons/contexts. Discuss how you worked out the end of the sentences, did they have to understand every word or could they guess from the gist/single word they knew? Can use the vocabulary box for weaker students or see if they can do it without it first. VOCABULAIRE est sorti- came out les souvenirs- memories prix- prizes réalisé par- directed by l’étranger- abroad reçu- received

Les personnages principaux du film Jean Bonnet/ Jean Kippelstein Julien Quentin Possible homework to research an actor. Produce a poster/paragraph with information about them (recycle personal description vocabulary, filmography, personalities). Joseph Père Jean

Synopsis L’histoire se passe en 1944 pendant l’Occupation. Un nouvel élève, Jean Bonnet, arrive dans l’école de Julien, le narrateur. Julien est intrigué mais devient un ami de Jean. Il ne comprend pas le mystère qui entoure son attitude un peu secret et un peu différent… Read the sentences one at a time. Can they work out the key film vocabulary (yellow) and other vocabulary which may be a bit tricky?

L’intention du réalisateur Français Anglais « Comme vous le savez, l’histoire d’Au revoir les enfants m’est personnellement arrivée. Le film est très proche de ce que j’ai vécu. Mais il s’est passé un chose étonnante : après avoir écrit un premier scénario et fait des des vérifications […] je me suis rendu compte qu’il existait certaines dissemblances, comme si pendant 45 ans, mon imagination avait pris le dessus et fertilisé mon souvenir. » (Extrait de Conversations avec Louis Malle French : 1993, p.201)   « Pendant longtemps, j ai purement et simplement refusé de m’y attaquer [au film Au revoir les enfants], parce que cet événement m’avait traumatisé et qu’il a eu une énorme influence sur ma vie. Ce qui s’est passé en janvier 1944 a joué un grand rôle dans ma décision de devenir cinéaste. » (p.202) « Dans mes films, je me suis intéressé à des personnages qui se trouvent dans une situation òu quelque chose leur tombe dessus, qui les fait sortir de leur chemin. Qui les décolle. Qui les dévie. Qui les oblige à se poser des questions, ce que les gens font assez rarement dans leur vie courante. A partir de là ils sortent de leur milieu, de leurs routines, de leurs normes et c’est le sujet du film. » (Interview dans Positif, octobre 1987). « As you know, the story Au revoir les enfants is personal to me. The film is very close to what I lived through. But it became an amazing thing: after having written the first scene and made some checks (…) I realised that there were certain differences, as over 45 years, my imagination had taken the beginning and my memories had grown. » « For a long time, I had purely and simply refused to attack it (the films, Au revoir les enfants), because this event had traumatised me and had been an enourmous influence on my life. What occured in January 1944 played a great part in my decision to become a scriptwriter. » In my films, I was interested in people who are in a situation where something falls on them, which seperates them, which deviates them. Which obliges them to ask questions which people rarely do in their everyday life. From there, they leave their routines, their norm and that is the subject of the film » A very rough translation of the French text so that the pupils can get the gist that it was based on a true story and did have an effect on the director.

Questions to think about whilst watching the film… Qui racconte l’histoire? Who tells the story? 2) Est-ce qu’il y a beaucoup d’informations historiques dans le film? Is there lots of historical information in the film? 3) Quelles sont les conditions de vie dans l’école ? à l’extérieur ? What are the living conditions at school? In the outside world? 4) Comment Louis Malle utilise-t-il les couleurs ? How does Louis Malle use colours? 5) Y a-t-il beaucoup de musique dans le film? Is there lots of music in the film?   Make notes in English about any of the above points whilst watching the film.

Avez-vous bien compris le film? Vrai ou faux? The children did not have any hot water Julien Quentin’s father is dead Joseph is disabled The school is in the occupied zone Julien Quentin is good at maths Jean Bonnet likes to read Julien plays the piano Joseph is a thief Müller belongs to the Gestapo Père Jean is arrested by the Germans at the end of the film Jean Bonnet dies in a concentration camp Joseph is arrested at the end of the film Are the sentences true/false. Done in English to test the comprehension of the actual film rather than of the questions.

Fiche d’identité Nom: Julien Quentin Âge: Description physique: Personnalité: Hobbies:

Fiche d’identité Nom: Jean Bonnet Âge: Description physique: Personnalité: Hobbies:

Les personnages principaux How would you describe the personality and behaviour of Julien’s brother? How would you describe the personality and behaviour of Julien’s mother? What is the behaviour like of the teacher’s in the school? Think in particular about Père Jean. Why do you think that they behave like this? Who is Joseph? What is his role in the film? What social class are the main characters of the film? Whose voice do you hear at the end of the film?

Hot seat… You are going to have the opportunity to ask questions to some of the characters in the film. In groups, think about some questions that you would like to ask them. Think about school life, what is happening in France in general, how they feel about the war etc. Get the pupil’s to think of questions that they are then going to ask the teacher (who is in character). It doesn’t matter if the questions relate specifically to what we see in the film as the answers could give them an idea of what it may have been like in the outside world. Once the teacher has modelled how to answer the questions in character volunteers from the class could be used to answer instead. (This is something that they should have done in drama and so they should be familiar with the idea).