War of the Buttons

A real delight. Wistfully nostalgic for the innocence and inspired creativity of childhood. Hilarious in parts. Why is this such an obscure film?

This unforgettable movie about poor, rural French kids who battle each other as representatives for the "republic" or for the "monarchy" in the woods after school. The loser has his buttons knifed off by the winner; since the loser has only 1 pair of trousers he must ask his mama to sew on his buttons.... This "simple" outcome has stuck with d me for 20 years--this great simple film that explores how children unwittingly play out their parents' point of view and how that affects their developing identity. It is wondrously un-American: it's not about individuality triumphing over; it is a view of a world that America has never filmed or explored: one where poor people have character but are condemned to repeat unwinnable battles of the past.

The war of the buttons is one of those films that warms the cockles even at a tender age (where such nostalgic sentimentality like cocklewarming is not even a concept yet). The artful description of human nature at its early stages, the heartache of being young, the struggle of empowering onself and of feeling powerless in a world dominated by grown-up violence and/or indifference is so tender, so enchanting that it should be compulsory on school curricula, at least for students of French. Seeing this film makes me yearn for the French countryside, it makes me laugh, it makes me happy, it makes me want to be child and to have a child of my own. And it also moves me to tears, and makes me remember the agonies of childhood. In short, this film is true art in the old philosophical sense: it produces emotion, true emotion, it depicts beauty and it involves its audience in thorough katharsis. A gem.

I don't even recall how old I was when I saw this movie. Probably 7 or 8 years old. The thing is, I never forgot having seen it there, with a bunch of other kids from the orphanage where I was growing up. And I never forgot that I had one of the best times going to the theater and watching it. But a lot of the story was fuzzy in my memory, as I am 47 at the time of this writing. And watching it again last week made me aware of how much there was that I didn't get at the time... the gravity of what the children had done, repeating the silly behaviors of adult, but with a child's perception of the world. Yes, it is funny, and charming, a close up to children's world, with its naive, fresh outlook, its joys and sorrows. Very enjoyable!!!

French director are 90 % of the time great for movies with children, because children looks and sounds like real children, not adults in the bodies of childs. I remember seeing this one when I was a kid in the sixties. Years later, I saw it with my adult eyes and the impressions are the same : this is really a film about children! Adults, here, all looks like people from another planet. There are lots a funny gags and we also have the chance to see a forbiddon rural France, very rustic and in relation with nature. Some English director make a remake in the 1990's, but this is the original. A delight!