Forbidden Games (1952)
"Jeux interdits" (original title)

A young French girl orphaned in a Nazi air attack is befriended by the son of a poor farmer, and together they try to come to terms with the realities of death.

Director:

René Clément

Writers:

Jean Aurenche (dialogue), Jean Aurenche (screenplay),

Stars:

Georges Poujouly, Brigitte Fossey, Amédée

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 8 wins.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Georges Poujouly	...	Michel Dolle
Brigitte Fossey	...	Paulette
Amédée	...	Francis Gouard
Laurence Badie	...	Berthe Dolle
Madeleine Barbulée	...	Red Cross Nun (end of film)
Suzanne Courtal	...	Madame Dolle
Lucien Hubert	...	Dolle, the Father
Jacques Marin	...	Georges Dolle
Violette Monnier
Denise Péronne	...	Jeanne Gouard (as Denise Perronne)
Fernande Roy
Louis Saintève	...	Priest
André Wasley	...	Gouard, the Father
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Marcel Mérovée	...	Raymond Dollé (as Pierre Mérovée)

Storyline

A girl of perhaps five or six is orphaned in an air raid while fleeing a French city with her parents early in World War II. She is befriended by a pre-adolescent peasant boy after she wandered away from the other refugees, and is taken in for a few weeks by his family. The children become fast friends, and the film follows their attempt to assimilate the deaths they both face, and the religious rituals surrounding those deaths, through the construction of a cemetery for all sorts of animals. Child-like and adult activity are frequently at cross-purposes, however.

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Plot Keywords:

dog | cemetery | death | 1940s | fleeing | 

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Taglines:

War...and how it affects the lives of our children

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Genres:

Drama | War

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

8 December 1952 (USA)

Also Known As:

Forbidden Games

Filming Locations:

Studios de la Victorine - 16 avenue Edoard Grinda, Nice, Alpes-Maritimes, France

Company Credits

Production Co:

Silver Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

86 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In a television interview ("Vivement Dimanche Prochain", France 2, 17 April 2005) Brigitte Fossey, who played the little Paulette, revealed that the film had originally been shot as a short, and then it was later decided to extend it into a feature film. Unfortunately she had lost her milk teeth and Georges Poujouly (who plays the boy Michel) had had his hair cut to play in Nous sommes tous des assassins. So, in many scenes of the movie Paulette has false teeth and Michel is wearing a wig.

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Goofs

Paulette's mother can be seen moving after she has supposedly been killed in the bombing. The movements are especially noticeable in the closeups.

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Connections

Featured in The Son of Gascogne (1995)

User Reviews

Better late than never...

I don't know why I never managed to see "Les Jeux interdits" until tonight, an August evening in 2003, more than a half-century after the film's release. I'd heard about it ever since I started studying French in college in 1958.

The amount of comedy in the film surprised and pleased me. I'd always had the impression the film was morbid and creepy. I didn't find it so; poignant, occasionally disturbing, even heart-wrenching, but not morbid at all. The acting by the two children playing Michel and Paulette is the most amazing pair of performances I've ever seen. I learned from postings here that the film was made under far less than optimal conditions, but the flaws that do show up in the film, chief among them the abrupt and unsatisfactory ending, are so negligible in contrast to the overwhelming emotional and acting values throughout, that I rated this film a ten, the first time I've reached for the highest number.

I cannot imagine anything finer than this film, whose images will probably haunt me for the rest of my life.