This film from late in the career of revered French director Louis Malle deals with a haunting episode from his childhood. He was at a Catholic boarding school during the German occupation of France and witnessed several Jewish students being sent off to the concentration camps. One of them was a close friend. It's harrowing enough stuff to make cinema out of without the added realization that Malle is having some sort of catharsis by sharing his own history with us. Taken in that context Au Revoir Les Infants may simply be too powerful for some.
This excellent looking Bluray has been restored by the film's DP Renato Berta and contains the original mono soundtrack. There are interview with Malle's biographer and widow as well as excerpts from a 1988 AFI audio interview with Malle himself. Taken together they present a compelling if not comprehensive look at a true cinematic visionary. Joseph: A Character Study offers a look one of the most important characters in the film and a booklet features essays from film critic Philip Kemp and historian Francis J. Murphy. Also welcome is the presence of The Immigrant a 1917 Chaplin short that is used in the film.
Louis Malle is known primarily stateside for films like My Dinner with Andre (1981) and Pretty Baby (1978) but has a rich body of work well worth exploring by anyone who loves great cinema. Other Malle films offered by Criterion include Elevator to the Gallows (1958), Lacomb Lucien (1974) and the upcoming Blck Moon (1975).
Hello! Will definitely be getting this.
Also not to be missed is Criterion's outstanding standard-definition transfer of Louis Malle's The Fire Within (1960), my favorite of his, alongside Vanya on 42nd Street. And Zazie in the Metro (1963) is slated for release on Blu ray in June.