War of the Buttons is a 1994 Irish film directed by John Roberts, about two rival kid gangs in Ireland, the Ballys (poor), and the Carricks (rich). The film is based on a novel by Louis Pergaud and was originally brought to the screen in 1962 in the French film La Guerre des boutons.
Plot summary
In the centre of the bridge over the river which separates the Irish villages of Carrickdowse and Ballydowse is a white line that few young people dare cross. That's because the youths of the two towns spend most of their time trying to one-up the other, whether it's over the sale of hospital raffle tickets or something more important, such as deciding who's a "tosspot" and who isn't, or, for that matter, defining what a tosspot is.
This War of the Buttons has been going on as long as any of the youths can remember, and, as far as they're concerned, it's "to the death," though rarely does either group hurt more than its pride.
The story comes from a 1912 French novel by Louis Pergaud, filmed in France in 1961.
The leader of Ballys is a not-too-promising student named Fergus (Gregg Fitzgerald), who lives with his mother and an abusive man who claims not to be his father in a trailer on the edge of Ballydowse.
What Fergus lacks in education he makes up for in leadership. The youth of Ballydowse will follow him anywhere, especially a girl named Marie (Eveanna Ryan), who acts as the film's narrator.
But the Carricks have a leader, too: Jerome, a.k.a. Geronimo (John Coffey), son of a wealthy family.
The film tracks the escalating events of the gangs' "feud", including a nude ambush mounted by the Ballys on the Carricks. The final battle is the conquer of the Carricks's "castle".
Although the film is usually classed as a drama, its tone is frequently light and often comedic, and it examines issues of war, the actions and consequences that it always carries, and how it can divide and oppose people that can be friends as easy as they can be enemies.
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