From director Gael Morel, this story and its characters seem to have been reborn from his previous works, albeit in slightly different incarnations.
Two schoolboys form a friendship, one that overlaps traditional boundaries. One boy is a leader, the other a follower. One boy is determinably unconventional, from a middle class family, The other is traditional because he has seen nothing other than the life of a poor rural farm family.
The brother of one boy has joined the army, and Morel and (his favorite actor) Stephane Rideau show up playing teachers (literature and gym, respectively). Their appearance, and the setting and theme of the movie evokes other Morel films. In a sense, it leans on Morel's oeuvre for support. And it kind of needs it; this is definitely a minor work.
And as with most of Morel's films, there is a lot going on here, a lot of which is not completely spelled out. I don't think this is bad thing, but I liked these characters enough to have wanted to know more about them.
For me, Morel's work is always interesting, and always a cut above. I enjoyed this, though I can't honestly say how much was because of the film's quality or how much was because of the nostalgia Morel's work evokes for me.
{I saw this on YouTube in its original French with Spanish subtitles. I know enough of both languages to have understood what was going on, but I know I missed a lot. Unless you are fluent in either language, English speakers should look for it with English subtitles.}
