War of the Buttons (1962)

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.

The young and largely untrained actors included André Treton ("Lebrac"), Michel Isella ("l'Aztec") and Martin Lartigue ("Petit Gibus"). The character Petit Gibus's line of dialogue - uttered in frustration - "si j'aurais su, j'aurais pas v'nu" ("if I woulda known, I wouldn'ta come"), with its incorrect grammar (the correct form should be: "si j‍ '​avais su, je ne serais pas venu") has become a familiar tagline in France (the line was not in the original novel).

The film won France's Prix Jean Vigo.

The film was remade in Ireland in 1994 as War of the Buttons, in an Irish setting, and again in France in 2011, with the original title.

Synopsis

Comme tous les ans, à chaque rentrée des classes, les enfants de Longeverne se querellent avec ceux de Velrans. Cette année sera différente puisque Lebrac (André Treton) et ses camarades viennent d'avoir l'idée d'arracher les boutons et les bretelles de leurs ennemis afin de les faire rosser par leurs parents et, eux-mêmes, combattent entièrement nus et gardent les boutons arrachés à leurs ennemis comme trésor de guerre. Un jour, le père de l'Aztec (Jacques Dufilho) retrouve son tracteur démoli et le père de Lebrac (Jean Richard) prend, lui aussi une décision : les deux meneurs seront envoyés en pension...

Actors