War of the Buttons (2011 Christophe Barratier film)

Last updated
War of the Buttons
La Nouvelle Guerre des boutons.jpg
Film poster
French La nouvelle guerre des boutons
Directed by Christophe Barratier
Written by Stéphane Keller
Christophe Barratier
Philippe Lopes-Curval
Based on War of the Buttons
by Louis Pergaud
Produced by Thomas Langmann
Daniel Delume
Emmanuel Montamat
Starring Guillaume Canet
Laetitia Casta
Kad Merad
Gérard Jugnot
Cinematography Jean Poisson
Edited by Anne-Sophie Bion
Yves Deschamps
Music by Philippe Rombi
Distributed byMars Films
Release date
  • 21 September 2011 (2011-09-21)
Running time
100 minutes
CountryFrance
LanguageFrench
Budget$16 million [1]
Box office$15.1 million [2]

War of the Buttons (French : La nouvelle guerre des boutons) is a 2011 French film directed by Christophe Barratier. [3]

Contents

Plot

The story takes place in March 1944 in a small French village. The young people from the neighbouring villages of Longeverne and Velrans have been waging this merciless war as long as anyone can remember: the buttons of all the little prisoners' clothes are removed so that they head home almost naked, vanquished and humiliated. Consequently, this conflict is known as the "War of the Buttons". The village that collects the most buttons will be declared the winner. Meanwhile, Violette, a young Jewish girl, has caught the eye of Lebrac, the intelligent chief of the Longeverne kids who is coming of age, leading his gang and their rivals to consider putting aside their differences in order to protect her from the Nazis.

Cast

Production

Principal photography began on 23 May 2011 and took place in the villages of Blesle, Lavaudieu and Lavoûte-Chilhac in the Haute-Loire department in south-central France. A few scenes were shot in the Cantal department. Filming continued until 8 August. [4]

Discography

The CD soundtrack composed by Philippe Rombi was released on Music Box Records label.

Reception

As of June 2020, the film holds a 25% approval rating on review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 24 reviews, with an average rating of 4.82 out of 10. [5] At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film received an average score of 41 out of 100, based on 14 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews". [6]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yves Robert</span> French director (1920-2002)

Yves Robert was a French actor, screenwriter, director, and producer.

<i>Charlotte Gray</i> (film) 2001 British film by Gillian Armstrong

Charlotte Gray is a 2001 British drama film directed by Gillian Armstrong. The screenplay was adapted from Sebastian Faulks' 1999 novel Charlotte Gray. It is set in Vichy France during World War II. The film stars Cate Blanchett, James Fleet, Abigail Cruttenden, Rupert Penry-Jones, Michael Gambon and Billy Crudup.

<i>War of the Buttons</i> (1994 film) 1994 Irish film

War of the Buttons is a 1994 comedy-drama adventure film directed by John Roberts. It was written by Colin Welland and based on the French novel La Guerre des boutons, by Louis Pergaud. The story, about two rival boys' gangs in Ireland, the Ballys and the Carricks, is set in County Cork, where it was filmed on location.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Louis Pergaud</span> French novelist, war poet and soldier

Louis Pergaud was a French novelist, war poet, and soldier, whose principal works were known as "Animal Stories" due to his featuring animals of the Franche-Comté in lead roles. His most notable work was the novel La Guerre des boutons (1912). It has been reprinted more than 30 times, and is included on the French high-school curriculum.

<i>War of the Buttons</i> (1962 film) 1962 French film

La Guerre des boutons or War of the Buttons is a 1962 French film directed by Yves Robert. War of the Buttons is about two rival kid gangs whose playful combats escalate into violence. The title derives from the buttons that are cut off from the rival team's clothes as combat trophies. The film is based on La Guerre des boutons, a novel by Louis Pergaud (1882–1915), who was killed in action in World War I and whose works portray a fervent anti-militarism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christophe Barratier</span> French film producer, director, screenwriter and lyricist

Christophe Barratier is a French film producer, director and screenwriter, and lyricist.

Yvette Etiévant (1922–2003) was a French actress. She starred in Yves Robert's War of the Buttons in 1962.

Robert Rollis was a French actor. He mainly starred as a film actor, but also appeared in television and also in theatre in the 1950s and early 1960s. Amongst many roles, he starred in Yves Robert's War of the Buttons in 1962.

Christophe Bourseiller is a French actor, writer, freemason and journalist. He began as a child actor and starred in Yves Robert's War of the Buttons in 1962 on his debut. He made several appearances on stage in the late 1970s and early 1980s and again in 2005 and 2006.

<i>Arthur 3: The War of the Two Worlds</i> 2010 French film

Arthur 3: The War of the Two Worlds is a 2010 English-language French fantasy animated/live-action directed and co-written by Luc Besson, based on the fourth book of the Arthur children's books series by Besson. It is the sequel to Arthur and the Revenge of Maltazard (2009) and the third installment in the Arthur film series. The film was shot back-to-back with the previous installment.

<i>The Bridesmaid</i> (film) 2004 French film

The Bridesmaid is a 2004 psychological thriller film co-written and directed by Claude Chabrol. Its title in French is La Demoiselle d'honneur. The film is based on the 1989 novel The Bridesmaid by Ruth Rendell.

<i>Declaration of War</i> (film) 2011 French film

Declaration of War is a 2011 French film directed by Valérie Donzelli, and written by and starring Donzelli and Jérémie Elkaïm; it is based on actual events in their lives together, when they were a young couple caring for their dangerously ill son. It was released on the 31 August 2011 and received very positive reviews; Allociné, a review aggregation website gave it an average of 4.3 stars out of five. Le Monde gave it a full five stars, saying "Against cancer, an undoubtable force of happiness". The film was selected as the French entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 84th Academy Awards, but it did not make the final shortlist.

<i>Violette</i> (film) 2013 film

Violette is a 2013 French-Belgian biographical drama film written and directed by Martin Provost, about the French novelist Violette Leduc. It was screened in the Special Presentation section at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival.

<i>War of the Buttons</i> (novel) 1912 book by Louis Pergaud

La Guerre des boutons (Fr.) or The War of the Buttons, a novel of my twelfth year is a French novel written by Louis Pergaud, from the French region of Franche-Comté, and published in 1912. It describes the "war" between two gangs from rival villages, Longeverne and Velrans, in the countryside of Franche-Comté. The author got his inspiration from the village of Landresse, where he taught for two years. The title comes from the goal of the war, to get as many buttons as possible from the opposing side by cutting them off shirts and trousers. For the most part, the story is told from the point of view of the children from Longeverne.

<i>Fatima</i> (2015 film) 2015 film

Fatima is a 2015 French-Canadian drama film directed by Philippe Faucon. It was screened in the Directors' Fortnight section at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival. It won the Prix Louis-Delluc for Best Film in December 2015. It received four nominations at the 41st César Awards and won Best Film, Most Promising Actress and Best Adaptation.

<i>Snowtime!</i> 2015 Canadian film

Snowtime!, also released as La Bataille géante de boules de neige in France and Cleo in the United Kingdom, is a 2015 Canadian animated comedy-drama film from Quebec. Directed by Jean-François Pouliot, it is an animated remake of the 1984 film The Dog Who Stopped the War.

<i>In Bed with Victoria</i> 2016 film by Justine Triet

In Bed with Victoria is a 2016 French romantic comedy-drama film directed by Justine Triet. It was screened in the Critics' Week section at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival. The film received five nominations at the 42nd César Awards. Efira received a Magritte Award for Best Actress at the 7th Magritte Awards for her performance in the film.

<i>At War</i> 2018 film

At War is a 2018 French drama film directed by Stéphane Brizé. It was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival.

<i>Falcon Lake</i> (film) 2022 film

Falcon Lake is a 2022 coming-of-age drama film, directed and co-written by Charlotte Le Bon. Adapted from the graphic novel Une sœur by Bastien Vivès, the film stars Joseph Engel as Bastien, a 13-year-old boy from Paris, France, on a family vacation in Quebec, where he meets and develops a relationship with Chloé, the 16-year-old daughter of his mother's friend Louise.

<i>A Radiant Girl</i> 2021 French drama film

A Radiant Girl is a 2021 French drama film written and directed by Sandrine Kiberlain in her feature directorial debut. The film stars Rebecca Marder as a young Jewish girl aspiring to become an actress during the occupation of France. The film premiered in the Critics' Week section of the 2021 Cannes Film Festival, where it competed for the Caméra d'Or.

References

  1. "La Nouvelle guerre des boutons (War of the Buttons (2012)) (2011)". JPBox-Office. Retrieved 2016-11-19.
  2. https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt1837587/?ref_=bo_se_r_1
  3. "The War of the Buttons (II)". unifrance.org. Retrieved 2014-01-23.
  4. Sauron, Fred (24 July 2011). "La Nouvelle Guerre des boutons : des vedettes en culottes courtes dans les rues de Blesle". Le Progrès (in French). Retrieved 20 February 2024.
  5. "La nouvelle guerre des boutons (War of the Buttons) (2012)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  6. "War of the Buttons". Metacritic. Retrieved 7 June 2020.