This Special Friendship

"What Was Their Guilt?"

1964 1h 36m FR

🙌

7.8

BANGER

★7.8TMDB · 86

DramaRomance

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

A tale of the tender relationship between a twelve-year-old boy and the fourteen-year-old upperclassman who is the object of his desire, all set within the rigid atmosphere of a Jesuit-run school.

“What Was Their Guilt?”

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Cast

Francis Lacombrade
Georges de Sarre
Didier Haudepin
Alexandre Motier
François Leccia
Lucien Rouvière
Dominique Maurin
Marc de Blajean
Louis Seigner
Father Lauzon
Michel Bouquet
Father Trennes
Lucien Nat
Father Superior
Gérard Chambre
André Ferron

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Jean Delannoy
Writers: Jean Aurenche
Languages: French
Countries: France

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

62 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

CRAFT

Did you know

Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Jean Delannoy, shot by Christian Matras. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Louisette Hautecœur shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Francis Lacombrade and Didier Haudepin and François Leccia carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "What Was Their Guilt?".

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0057842 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

Only 86 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Jean Delannoy directs. Christian Matras behind the camera. Louisette Hautecœur cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in France. Dialogue in French.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

162 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
2Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.
3Directed by Jean Delannoy, shot by Christian Matras. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Editor Louisette Hautecœur shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
5Francis Lacombrade and Didier Haudepin and François Leccia carry the top of the cast.
6Marketing tagline: "What Was Their Guilt?".
7IMDB entry: tt0057842 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
8Only 86 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.
9Classified under 8 themes, including "based on novel or book", "male homosexuality", "attraction", "lgbt".
10Released under 10 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Christian Matras
Editing: Louisette Hautecœur
Runtime: 96 min · 1h 36m
Status: Released
Original language: FR
IMDB: This Special Friendship (1964)

Also by

Jean Delannoy

Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2024-01-12
★ 7/10
As love stories go, this has to be one of the more touching I've seen on film. Set amidst the controlling but not oppressive environment of a Jesuit run school, we meet the young "Comte Georges" (Francis Lacombrade) who develops a friendship with the younger "Alexandre (Didier Haudepin). Now it's not in any way a sexual or predatory relationship, but the two instantly click with the younger lad clearly infatuated with his older friend who sees in "Alexandre" an opportunity to nurture a genuine love and affection. Naturally, the fathers take a fairly dim view of any friendship that suggests even the most platonic degree of intimacies between the boys, and so "Fr. Superior" (Lucien Nat) attempts to put a stop to things by threatening to send "George" away from the school. What now ensues are a series of decisions to be faced by people too young and immature to fully comprehend, let alone, rationalise - and a tragic denouement starts to look increasingly likely as young "Alexandre" really does come across more and more as a "lost sheep". What struck me about this is it's positivity. It's not about abusive priests with canes and excessive doctrine - the Father Superior comes across as a decent man genuinely concerned with the souls of his charges, whilst the two - especially the thoroughly charming Haudepin - just engage as two people whom you could image being friends forever. It has moments of poignancy, of disappointment and of fun - and although maybe it could have taken a bit longer to build the characters more, it is still a potent look at two boys in love - forbidden yet thriving.

Production companies