The War of the Buttons

In a rural village, two rival gangs of children, the Longevernes and the Velrans, wage a true “war” where the stakes are honor and dominance over their territory. Their secret weapon? Buttons torn from the clothes of the defeated, serving as trophies from their epic and mischievous battles. Through clever strategies, fragile alliances, and fierce rivalries, these children turn their everyday lives into a battlefield filled with humor, bravery, and tenderness. Yet behind the games and insults, a portrait emerges of a generation on the brink of much greater upheavals, where innocence already brushes against the shadow of real war.

An adaptation that stays as close as possible to the dialogue in Louis Pergaud’s work, which retains all its wit here.