Figure 1.--Louis Pergaud's La guerre des boutons provides information on the clothing worn by French village children in the 1950s. This is a scene from the 1960s film. Many of the boysd appear to be wearing school smocks.
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Figure 1.--Louis Pergaud's La guerre des boutons provides information on the clothing worn by French village children in the 1950s. This is a scene from the 1960s film. Many of the boysd appear to be wearing school smocks. |
A famous book also made into a movie is Louis Pergaud's La guerre des boutons (The War of Buttons). It describes war between the kids of two villages where our hero invented the war trophy of all buttons of trousers/smocks. The movie was made by Louis Malle and is very descriptive of French kids and a result French boys' clothing is extensively illustrated, including the smocks that were still commonly worn in the years in which the book was set. A remake of the movie filmed in Ireland was released in 1995 amid some controversy.
A famous book also made into a movie is Louis Pergaud's La guerre des boutons (The War of Buttons).
The book describes a fight between the kids of two villages where our hero invented the war trophy of all buttons of trousers/smocks.
The book was set in the French countryside. It concerns the children of two rural French villages.
The book has been made into two movies. The first was a 1961 film and then a 1995 remake.
Figure 2.--Most of the boys in the film wear short pants. Quite a nyumber wear sandals. Very few boys wear kneesocks. |
The 1961 movie based on the book was made by Louis Malle and is very descriptive of French kids and a result French boys' clothing is extensively illustrated, including the smocks that were still commonly worn in the years in which the book was set. The film was made in 1961 as La Guerre des boutons staring Jacques Dufilho, Yvette Étiévant, Michel Galabru, Michèle Méritz, Jean Richard, Pierre Tchernia, Pierre Trabaud, Claude Confortès, Paul Crauchet, Henri Labussière, Yves Peneau, Robert Rollis, Louisette Rousseau, François Boyer, Marie-Catherine Faburel, Michel Isella, François Lartigue,
Martin Lartigue, André Treton As in the book, two bands of boys from nearby villages just can't get along, battle each other after school, remove the buttons of those they capture to humiliate their prisoners. As things escalate between them, can a common bound be found?
A remake of the movie filmed in Ireland was released in 1995 amid some controversy. One reviewer prefers the 1995 remake. He says, "If you prefer "modern" cinema, stick with the remake, but if you can appreciate a good-old original, make sure to check this one out. The two are quite similar, but there are a few differences which should interest any real "buff." One thing I noticed about the Irish remake is that it was introduced as the reminisces of a woman in her 20s (voice of Dervla Kirwan) who supposedly later married
one of the protagonists; in keeping with that they seem to have made some effort to keep mid to late 1980s and '90s cars off the streets when shooting (easy as Ireland made a major change to their license plates in about 1987 and most older vehicles still have the
older style), and avoid any obviously '90s clothing. As for clothes, the boys from the "heroes" town don't have a school uniform but do have a school tie (how common is that?) and none of the boys wear shorts. The "other-town" boys have a full school uniform-
green blazer with badge, gray long pants, and I can't remember specifics about the shirt and tie (so it's probably not very unique!)
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