Kirpianuscus First virtue - the trace of Montherlant work. the second - the performances. not the less - the delicacy. a story who could be not comfortable at first sigh. but who propose more than one of many obscure secrets in a Catholic college. it is an exploration of limits. for love, faith, decisions and facts. and, maybe, this is the basic motif to not ignore it. for a sort of portrait of a time more than portrait of characters.

Luis Ribeiro This is a small, slow-paced, poised, beautiful movie only the French can make. Of course, the old buildings, paint-flaking doors, and the sounds of the French language help to set the tone.It is about childhood and priesthood, friendship and love, honesty and lack of malice, and how a religious, heterosexist culture can mess them up. It is worth watching even if you don't buy the whole catholic/theological argumentation (I don't).It also alludes to the oft-pointed fact that the Church - while despising same-sex love/sex - has been a safe haven for those God-fearing individuals who cannot act/feel otherwise.Enjoy!

willev1 We are told that this is the story of the love/friendship between two pupils at a repressive Catholic School for Boys in post-war France. One of the boys is a brilliant upperclassman, the other a much younger poor pupil with behavioral problems. As the movie opens, the friendship between these two is already established, but no explanation or dramatic incident is shown to justify this unlikely combination. Why would the older kid, about to graduate, bother with the younger boy? I know about schoolboy crushes, but aren't they usually between peers or from student to teacher? At the same time, the strict Abbot (the #2 priest at the school) has developed a powerful attraction to the younger boy as well, so that a rivalry is set in motion between the Abbot and the older boy for the affections of the younger one. All of this might be more believable if the child actor, the object of their affections, displayed some sort of magnetic charm/beauty/attraction. He doesn't. The two boys are meeting in secret. When eventually the older one bestows a kiss, the camera cuts away quickly and leaves the impression that something nasty is about to take place. I doubt it.What IS nasty is the power play and the the games used by the Abbot to eliminate his rival. All of this has been observed silently by the Father Superior who runs the school. The Abbot has his rival expelled, and the Father Superior gets rid of the younger one. Both boys disappear and are not seen again. So much for the "story" of their friendship!What remains is the powerful and extended final scene in which the Father Superior confronts the Abbot and chastises him for his abuse of power. They debate the issue of Christian love and charity, and the Abott must inevitably yield to the censure of his boss.We have here, then, a film that is primarily a character study of the repressed and devious Abbot, and how, in the name of "love," he abuses the students without laying a finger on them. This puts in perspective the later abuses of the Catholic clergy in times of looser restraints and more overt sexuality. It is fascinating, and the film will stay with you. I just wish they had expanded on the original stage play to make the basic situation more believable. A more charismatic actor as the youngster might have helped.

jenny As usual a beautiful performance by young actor Nael Marandin, here only 16 years old. I hope Marandin will continue acting although I don't think he's appeared in a movie since 1998. The story is also beautiful and the subject doesn't feel out of date at all. Recommended to those who can appreciate a nice, little flick with a slow pace.