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Home > French > Extension Course > Prescribed text > Au revoir les enfants > Shots 406-411 > Sample questions for Au revoir les enfants shots 406-411

 

Au revoir les enfants shots 406–411

Part A

Question 1

Read the extract from Au revoir les enfants, shots 406–411 and answer the questions below in ENGLISH.

1. Tu vas rester au collège quand la guerre sera finie? T’as peur?
   Y a combien de temps que tu l’as pas vu?
   
   What do these questions reveal about Julien’s understanding of Bonnet’s situation? (3 marks)
   
   Julien is seeking to further his friendship with Bonnet at this point, but in so doing he reveals his naïveté. He wonders whether Bonnet will stay in the school when the war is over, but the audience knows that this is highly unlikely. Bonnet is a Jewish boy in a Catholic school and he is here because of the war, to receive protection.
   
   Julien asks if Bonnet is frightened, showing that he is unaware of how difficult things are for Bonnet who is constantly afraid.
   
   He asks about Bonnet’s father and then states that he doesn’t see his father either. However, we know that it is due to his father’s work commitments. In any case, Julien doesn’t seem too perturbed about his father. It is possible that he makes this comment to strengthen the bond between them and to make Bonnet feel accepted. Julien is trying to sympathise with Bonnet but, given his privileged background, it is hard for him to attain a very high degree of understanding of the Jewish boy's situation.
   
   
2. In what way is this scene important in the development of the boys’ friendship? (3 marks)
   
   Initially there was hostility and rivalry between Julien and Bonne. Julien was jealous of Bonnet’s intellectual prowess and of his obvious musical talent. Yet he was clearly interested in him and sought to solve the enigma that seemed to surround this new boy.
   
   The two young adolescents are first brought closer together in the treasure-hunt scene, but it is the shared experience in the restaurant that cements their friendship. Julien soon confides in Bonnet about his bed-wetting and the pair share their love of books.
   
   In the previous scene, Bonnet and Julien defy the air-raid siren and play music together. This is the happiest time for Bonnet. In this scene (shots 406–411), we see a real intimacy between the boys. For the first time Bonnet is able to confide his fears to someone who shows care and concern for his situation.
   
   
3. How has the director created a sense of foreboding in the scene in the courtyard? (2 marks)
   
   The courtyard is empty and snowflakes are falling. The boys are seen in the distance as small figures. The absence of other people and the surrounding silence create a feeling of unease which is reinforced by the apparent vulnerability of the boys in this empty, cold and unprotected environment.
   
   The long pauses and the intensity of their gaze serve to impress on the viewer the significance of what the boys are saying. Julien stops to look at Bonnet when he asks the question about remaining at school. There is a deep silence before Julien asks whether Bonnet is afraid, followed by a long hesitation which makes the boy’s answer quite chilling.
   
   
4. Explain the effect of the arrival of Joseph in the kitchen scene. (3 marks)
   
   Prior to this scene Julien and Bonnet are depicted having fun playing the boogie-woogie on the piano. This is followed by an exchange of confidences while eating hot chestnuts in the kitchen. The sense of intimacy created in these shots produces a warm atmosphere that is quickly altered when Joseph arrives in the room. His presence is a sharp reminder of the discomforting situation in which he was last seen: he had just been dismissed for theft from the college and had denounced the boys' blackmarket activities. In shot 411, Joseph appears confident, in contrast with the scene of the dismissal when he was begging to keep his job. The change in his attitude, particularly as he challenges the boys' presence in the kitchen, pre-empts his future siding with the Gestapo.
   
   
5. Explain how shots 406 to 411 explore the issue of belonging versus alienation in the film. (4 marks)
   
   Both Bonnet and Joseph are alienated in the film.
   
   For Bonnet, it is because he is a Jew whose life, under the German occupation, is endangered. Throughout the film several elements make him differ from the others in the college: his race, his religion, his background and his behaviour. However, in these shots, he finds an ally in Julien and is no longer on his own. His alienation is transformed as the friendship with the Catholic boy brings him a sense of belonging.
   
   On the other hand, Joseph is an outsider because of his social status and his job in the college. The students make fun of him, use and cheat him. The black marketeer is dismissed while the privileged boys escape with a serious lecture and a grounding. As he arrives in the kitchen in shot 411, Joseph is even more out of place as he no longer works there. The question posed by Julien: Mais qu'est-ce que tu fais là, Joseph? reinforces the fact that he is not welcome by the boys whom he has betrayed and that there is no desire to retain the relationship they once had with him. His alienation is now complete and will lead to the remorseless act of betrayal seen later in the film.

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