War of the Buttons

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.

"La guerre des boutons" is based on the same title book by Louis Pergaud, which was published in 1912 - 3 years before its author was killed in action from friendly fire during World War I.

The book and its story, although it can be considered lighthearted and humorous, it is a dark manifestation about the stupidity and the futility of war.

Watching this film, almost 30 years after I firstly read the book (on a Boy Scout summer camp), I remembered not only the joyfulness and the innocence of my own childhood but also themes, points and conflicts from the book, that I couldn't fully perceive them as a child while I was reading it, such as leadership, friendship, camaraderie, tolerance, belonging versus violence, abuse, hating, bullying.

This 1962 film was a nostalgic trip to those years and a fine adaptation of the book.

From the moment José Berghmans wonderful music loudly bursts through the opening credits, and we see the French countryside spread out before us, the scene is set for some comedic kid's action. And the film doesn't fail in its presentation of kid's war games as adventures of childhood than the adult realities. Full of French flavour and populated with excitable adults and children, it's a hilarious picture of how children play together. The penalty for being captured is the loss of all your buttons and the method of one gang to avoid this is a hoot! I watched it without sub-titles and although I don't speak French, it still had me in fits of laughter. Petit Gibus is so funny when, plied with Calvados, he gets very drunk and very merry. This is a film that belies the fact that films need computer graphics and violence to be watchable. This film recalls an era when simples games and adventures were all that were needed to fill your days.

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!!!

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