''Les amitiés particulières'' (English: ''Special Friendships'') is a 1964 film adaptation of the

Roger Peyrefitte Roger is a given name, usually masculine, and a surname. The given name is derived from the Old French personal names ' and '. These names are of Germanic origin, derived from the elements ', ''χrōþi'' ("fame", "renown", "honour") and ', ' ( ...

novel of the same name, directed by Jean Delannoy. It was released in 1967 with English subtitles as ''This Special Friendship''. It stars Francis Lacombrade and

Didier Haudepin Didier Haudepin (born 15 August 1951) is a French actor, film producer, director and screenwriter. He has appeared in 44 films and television shows, and plays since 1960. His film ''Those Were the Days'' was screened in the Un Certain Regard sec ...

as boys at an upper-class Catholic boarding school, whose chaste but intimate friendship is discouraged as sinful by the priests (played by

Louis Seigner Louis Seigner (23 June 1903 – 20 January 1991) was a French actor. He was born in Saint-Chef, Isère, France, the son of Louise (Monin) and Joseph Seigner, and died in Paris. He was the father of actress Françoise Seigner, with Marie Cazeaux, ...

Michel Bouquet Michel Bouquet (6 November 1925 – 13 April 2022) was a French stage and film actor. He appeared in more than 100 films from 1947 to 2020. He won the Best Actor European Film Award for ''Toto the Hero'' in 1991 and two Best Actor Césars for ...

, and

Lucien Nat Lucien Nat (born Lucien Maurice Natte; 11 January 1895 – 25 July 1972) was a French film, stage and television actor.McCann p.95 He was married to the actress Marie Déa. Selected filmography * ''Fun in the Barracks'' (1932) - Maréchal des ...

), leading to the younger boy's suicide.

Plot

The movie is mostly true to the novel, changing only relatively minor plot points such as Alexandre's suicide from poisoning to death by throwing himself from a train. Also, Alexandre in the movie is brown-haired, not blond, which also removes some of the inside jokes between Alexandre and Georges present in the book.

Cast

* as Georges de Sarre *

as Alexandre Motier * François Leccia as Lucien Rouvère * Gérard Chambre as André Ferron * Dominique Maurin as Marc de Blajan *

as Le père Lauzon/Father Lauzon *

as Le père de Trennes/Father Trennes *

as Le père supérieur/Father Superior

Production

Abbaye de Royaumont - Vue d'une baie du cloître

The film was produced by Christine Gouze-Rénal, whose sister

Danielle Danielle is a modern French female variant of the male name Daniel, meaning "God is my judge" in the Hebrew language. Variants *Dana – Czech, German, Romanian Polish *Danette – English *Daniela – Bulgarian, Czech, Danish, English, Germ ...

was the wife of future French president François Mitterrand. The filming location for the movie was the 13th-century

Royaumont Abbey Royaumont Abbey is a former Cistercian abbey, located near Asnières-sur-Oise in Val-d'Oise, approximately 30 km north of Paris, France. History It was built between 1228 and 1235 with the support of Louis IX. Several members of the Frenc ...

, some 50 km north of Paris. Although the characters of Georges and Alexandre are 14 and 12 years old, respectively, Lacombrade and Haudepin were 21 and 12 years old at the time of filming. During filming, Peyrefitte, who was 57 years old at the time, met 12-year-old aristocrat Alain-Philippe Malagnac d'Argens de Villèle, who had been cast in a minor role as a choir boy. The two developed a personal and professional relationship which continued for years afterward.

Reception

James Travers of Filmsdefrance.com gave the film four out of five stars, writing: "The arresting performances from Francis Lacombrade (remarkably his one and only film credit) and child actor Didier Haudepin bring to the film a kind of raw edge, poetry and spiritual intensity that is rare, even in French love films...Whilst ''Les Amitiés particulières'' stands as a powerful, deeply moving love story, it is actually far more than that. It is a pretty direct assault on the double standards and hypocrisies of contemporary society, which is forever governed by prejudice, petty rules and double standards." The film was an inspiration for the manga ''

The Heart of Thomas is a 1974 Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Moto Hagio. Originally serialized in '' Shūkan Shōjo Comic'', a weekly manga magazine publishing ''shōjo'' manga (manga aimed at young and adolescent women), the series follows ...

'' by Moto Hagio. Hagio was persuaded to see the film in the summer of 1970, and in November 1971, published the first 40 pages of the manga in '' Shojo Comic''.

Soundtrack

* ''

Pange lingua ''Pange lingua'' may refer to either of two Mediaeval Latin hymns of the Roman Catholic Church: one by St. Thomas Aquinas and one by Venantius Fortunatus (530-609), which extols the triumph of the Cross. He wrote it for a procession that brought a ...

'' (choir) *

J.S. Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the ''Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard wor ...

: '' Invention No.13 in A minor, BWV 784'' (piano) * '' Alouette, gentille Alouette'' (train scene)

References

External links

*
Stills from the movie
*

at INA *
''Schoolboy Sins''
��1967 ''Time'' magazine review of the movie {{DEFAULTSORT:Amities particulieres, Les 1964 films 1960s French-language films French LGBT-related films Teen LGBT-related films Films directed by Jean Delannoy Films based on French novels Rail transport films Films about suicide 1964 LGBT-related films Films with screenplays by Jean Aurenche Films with screenplays by Pierre Bost Films set in boarding schools 1960s French films