Did I miss something?

Having been a big fan of Au Revoir Les Enfants, I went to see this last night at our local theater. There was a group of German friends next to us that were laughing from start to finish. I know there were some amusing moments like the district attorney pandering to the press, but they were straight up guffawing like it was an episode of Monty Python. To me, it seemed more on the serious side with Jeanne Moreau being so beautifully stoic and determined in her resolve to be with Julien. Is there something I culturally missed?