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Summary
For generations, two rival French villages, Longueverne and Velrans, have been at war.
But this is no ordinary conflict, for the on-going hostilities are between two armies
of young schoolboys. Their idea of war may be less damaging than that practiced
by their elders, but it is prosecuted with just as much spirit and determination.
One year, the two armies decide to confiscate the buttons, shoelaces and belts of anyone
they capture from the opposing side; victory will go to the army which manages to accumulate
the greatest quantity of these spoils. When he is beaten by his father for having
lost his buttons, the leader of the Longueverne army, Lebrac, has an idea which will give
his side the advantage: next time, he and his brave soldiers will go in battle without
their clothes...
Review
The film was made at the height of France’s protracted and costly war against Algeria,
something which may have contributed to director Yves Robert’s problems in finding a financial
backer for the film. In the end, he had to set up his own production company with
his wife, Danièle Delorme. No French distribution company would touch the
film, so Robert was forced to turn to the Americans - Warner Brothers took up the challenge,
but without any great enthusiasm. No one could have anticipated the film’s success
- it attracted just under 10 million spectators in France (making it the second most popular
film ever made in France at that time), and it was a huge international hit. The
film was not just a popular success; it was also well-received by the critics, and it
won the prestigious Prix Jean Vigo in 1962. This was the first major success for
director Yves Robert who, having established himself as an actor, would win acclaim as
a director. His most popular films include Le
Grand blond avec une chaussure noire (1972) and La
Gloire de mon père / Le
Château de ma mère (1990). John Roberts directed
a respectable British remake of the film, War of the Buttons, released in 1994.
La Guerre des boutons is a work which appeals at many levels, accounting for both
its enduring popular appeal and its reputation as a classic of French cinema. At
its simplest, it is a light-hearted yet realistic portrayal of childhood, which engages
the audience through a combination of its beautiful cinematography and mesmerising performances
from some remarkable young child actors (all non-professionals). There are echoes of Jean
Vigo's Zéro de conduite
and Truffaut's Les
400 coups, which also provide a refreshingly honest depiction of childhood.
It is possible to derive great satisfaction just by laughing at the antics of Laubrac,
Gibus and company, without reflecting too greatly on the film’s deeper significance.
However, what makes this film so special are its underlying social and political messages.
This is actually rather a philosophical film, in which the sad perversities of mankind
are reflected in the microcosm of a child’s war game. It is clear that the way the
children behave is heavily influenced by the adults around them: most have brutal parents
who have no qualms about beating their wayward offspring. The compulsion for acts
of senseless violence is passed from generation to generation, not by some genetic mechanism,
but merely by the injustices we experience as children.
There are some striking similarities with René Clément’s 1952 film Jeux
interdits. Both films offer engrossing yet subtly unsettling depictions
of childhood. Both have an allegorical subtext which a powerful anti-war sentiment.
But whilst Jeux interdits deals with the destructive consequences of war (in a
rather indirect way), La Guerre des boutons appears to show us its origins, far
more explicitly. The children’s love of war reflects humanity’s perverse addiction
for hitting out at an anointed opponent, motivated by insecurity, envy, pack mentality,
and unthinking hatred of others.
Although the mock battles of the schoolboys from Longueverne and Velrans appear harmless,
if not ridiculous, to an adult spectator, there is a disturbing aspect to what we see.
The scene where one army captures a prisoner and contemplate what part of his anatomy
to cut off first is still shocking, no matter how many how times you watch it - these
are not today’s children but tomorrow’s killers in embryo form. Their “game” allows
us to glimpse the tiny grain of evil which is planted within each one of us, the very
thing which allows mankind to perpetuate the worst possible atrocities.
Paradoxically, the film also shows us the better qualities in the human spirit - loyalty,
comradeship, ingenuity, guilt, and honour. La Guerre des buttons is a distillation
of the worst and best that mankind has to offer and, whilst it entertains us, it also
provokes us to reflect on the greatest mystery of them all - the baffling nature of humanity.
How much of what we see in the adult world is merely a child’s game played for higher
stakes, and how much of children’s play is a rehearsal for adult life? If only it
were just a matter of a few clothes buttons...
© James Travers 2003
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