lulu’s war to the movies, Spirou’s friends in bookstores… As war suddenly returned to Europe last year, fiction took hold of this theme and told it from the perspective of a child.
In theaters this Wednesday, lulu’s war is the adaptation of a popular comic by Régis Hautière and Hardoc. The story of four orphans trying to survive as France, during the summer of 1914, becomes a battlefield.
Available Friday, Spirou’s friends by David Evrard, Jean-David Morvan and BenBK is inspired by a true story: that of Belgian children who became resistance fighters during World War II.
The theme is recurring: released on January 4, skirmishers follows the fate of a father (Omar Sy) to save his son from the “great war”. A complete success, with more than 700,000 entries. Bestseller sold over a million copies, Children of the Resistance since 2015 it follows the fate of three children resistant to the Nazis.
educational works
These works are often hailed by the press and the public as they are always strong educational tools to help young people discover these historical periods. These works also always convey important values.
“reading comics lulu’s warthey overthrew me”, explains Yann Samuell, director of the film adaptation. “It is full of values such as not being afraid of the stranger, rebuilding oneself…”
Confronting the innocence of children with the horrors of war is also “a beautiful metaphor,” continues the director: “They discover the world as it destroys itself. They will rise as the world sinks.”
show violence
Aimed above all at a family audience, these works deal with war realistically, hiding nothing of its horrors. In a key scene of the film. lulu’s warAbsent from the comics, the orphans find themselves under fire in a trench.
“It was essential. I would have felt like I was cheating if I had made a movie called lulu’s war without showing the war”, insists Yann Samuell.
And to add: “It was really necessary to go there. I wanted to immerse the viewer in the feeling that one can have in the forehead.” One of the children thus falls into a shell crater and comes face to face with a floating corpse. A terrifying sequence.
Make war less abstract
Planned in five volumes, Spirou’s friends nor does it hide anything from the violence of war, despite its characteristic tintin. Especially since some of the young resistance fighters at the center of the story met tragic ends in real life.
“We know that there were two deaths in this way,” screenwriter JD Morvan revealed to the Cultura Branchés site last year.
A less abstract way of making war, Yann Samuell points out: “Adults are able to adapt while children come face to face, not understanding why these things happen.” With these works, they will understand.
And the director concludes: “The resilience of children is very strong. These stories show that adults are very busy preserving what they have while children are much busier building something new.
Source: BFM TV
