It's an autobiographical account of his experience in a Catholic boarding school during the second world war.
Julien is sent away to boarding school with his brother to avoid the bombings in Paris. He becomes friends with a new boy, Jean Bonnet, and eventually learns that Jean and some other new kids are actually Jewish children with assumed names being hidden by the schoolmasters. Julien has little knowledge of anti-semitism and the film trundles along with the day to day life of the school. Quirky teachers, friendships formed and broken, practical jokes. Apart from the occasional air raid siren, the war has little impact on the school. Alas harmony is broken as a disgruntled ex employee decides to inform the Nazis of what is going on there. When the officers descend on the school, it is an inadvertent act from Julien that betrays Jen. The guilt is lasting and the film seems to be a sort of atonement for Julien/Louis's action. The voice over at the end admits that he has never forgotten about that morning.
This a poignant film that is alive with details you know come from real life. The eccentric habits of teachers, the 'black market exhange' in presents from home, the hints of sexual awakening. Even the films portrayal of Nazis as a mixed bag of gentlemen and thugs. It's a very worthy and honest portrayal of war through a child's eyes.
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