Figure 1.--Fergus who leads the Ballys comes up with the winning strategy to defeat the Carricks in "The War of the Buttons". Here is the climactic scene. Put your cursor on the image to see how the Carricks reacted. |
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A famous book made into a movie is Louis Pergaud's La guerre des boutons (The War of Buttons). It was an anti-war book written by Louis Pergaud (1882-1915) who died in World War I. It describes the war between the kids of two villages where our hero invented the war trophy of all buttons of trousers/smocks. The original movie was made by Louis Malle and directed by Yves Robert (1961). The book was an anti-War work and Robert chose it because of his opposition to the Algerian War. A remake of the movie filmed in Ireland was released in 1995 amid some controversy. The need for a remake seems questionable. It is a reasonable production, but lacks much of the chsrm of the French original.
"The War of the Buttons" was directed by John Roberts. The original French film, "La guerre des boutons" was made with the back drop of the Algerian War. We suspect that the Troubles in Ireland may have influenced the remaking of the film in Ireland.
Since World War II most violent conflicts have occurred in the Third World. An exception to this was the conflict between Catholics and Protestants. The conflict has been described as the last religious war in Europe. It also has the halmarks of the tribal conflicts of Africa. The conflict is rooted in the centuries old effort of England to control Ireland. A vicious independence struggle and civil war occurred in Ireland after World War, resulting in the creation of the Irish Free State which eventually became the Irish Republic. The majority Protestant province of Ulster or Northern Ireland remained part of the United Kingsom. The Ulster Government treated Cathlolics as second-class citizens. A civil rights movement began in the 1960s, but unlike the American Civil Rights movement, the conflict in Ireland led by the Orish Republican Army turned violent, resulting in three decades of killings and reprisals. The British attempted to prevent the violence, but soon became seen as favoring the Protestants by most Catholics. The Irish seemed to have turned the corner on this and a peace process seems to have ended the violence, although there is still considerable ill will between the two communities.
The boys in both films are laregely untrained actors. The Ballys leader is Fergus (Gregg Fitzgerald). One of Fergus' followers is Marie (Eveanna Ryan) who narrates the film. The Carricks are led by Jerome called Geronimo (John Coffey).
The films are based on a popular novel of the same name. The author is Louis Pergaud (1882-1915). Perguard was killed in action during World war I (1915). His books reflect his fervent anti-militarism. This was one of several books that appeared after World War I. The revulgence of militarism following World War I seemed to center on the idea that war was senceless and avoidable. Perhaps World War I was. The French were to find in 1940 that not all wars are senseless.
The remake sets the events in Ireland.
The basic story line of Pergaud's book
is replicated with an Irish setting annd xharacters. It depicts the a fight between the kids of two neigboring Irish villages. 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. The Irish villages are Carrickdowse and Ballydowse, they are separated by a river and confrontations occuur around the connecing bridge. The two boy armies are the Ballys (poor) and the Carricks (rich). There is a class angel in the Irish film that is not found in the book or French film. The boys do lightly cross the white line in the middle of the bridge. After school their major focus is to pursue their struggle against the neigboring village boys. Unlike the French film, the boys do not restrict themselves to fighting. Perhaps reflecting our more "enlighted" politically correct wirld, the boys compete
in the sale of hospital raffle tickets or something more difficult to understand--the tosspot. It is not a passing fancy. Thevboyswere born into the struggle that has cintinued for years. It is an obvious paradoy of adult war and while the boys pursue the struggle vigorously, no one really gets hurt. Fergus leads the Ballys. He achieves his position not because of this academic skills. He has a rough life. He lives in a trailer with his Mum ans a man who inists he is not his father.
Fergus is, however, a natural leader and the other Ballys boys are devoted to him. A girl named Marie (Eveanna Ryan) is also devoted to him and she serves as the film's narrator. The Carricks' leader is Jerome (Geronimo). He is a veery different boy than Fergus. Jerome comes from aealthy family. The struggle between the boys gradually escalates. And like the French film, the boys begin taking buttons as war trophies. The climax comes with Fergus leads the Baillys in a naked ambush of the Carricks.
In keeping with the 1920s settings selected fir the film, the producer and director 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). Of course if the film was set in the 1920s, almost all of the boys would have been wearing short pants and knee socks.
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?
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