Behind the Ivy - Spring 2018

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

7

A story about a secret. Photo Audrey Chan

to ignore poverty and racism; they themselves are not poor and have never experienced discrimination. Near the end of the film, the boys are in Math class, when all of a sudden, German soldiers walk into the classroom and demand to know where Jean Kippelstein is. One soldier walks around the room slowly, waiting for someone to admit it; when Julien looks to Bonnet for a second, the soldiers perceive its

significance. Bonnet does not cry or wail. He closes his books and follows the soldier out of the class. When the Jewish boys are walked off of the school grounds, silence remains, and we realize in this moment that Bonnet is going to be murdered. This scene of helplessness resonates today, for when we say “never again”, we imply this type of systematic killing based on colour, religion, sexual identity has stopped. Yet,

in many parts of the world, it continues. For example, the Rohingya in Myanmar are Muslims being systematically killed because of their religion right now. Films like Au revoir les enfants are important not only because of what the can teach us about our past, but also for what they can teach us about our present.

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