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      Forbidden Games

      Released Dec 8, 1952 1h 27m Drama List
      100% Tomatometer 19 Reviews 92% Audience Score 2,500+ Ratings Orphaned after a Nazi air raid, Paulette (Brigitte Fossey), a young Parisian girl, runs into Michel (Georges Poujouly), an older peasant boy, and the two quickly become close. Together, they try to make sense of the chaotic and crumbling world around them, attempting to cope with death as they create a burial ground for Paulette's deceased pet dog. Eventually, however, Paulette's stay with Michel's family is threatened by the harsh realities of wartime. Read More Read Less

      Critics Reviews

      View All (19) Critics Reviews
      Walter Goodman New York Times The messages come easily; the movie is never hectoring or doleful. The director's touch is light, his eye for the ways of farm folk and of children is sharp, and his heart is soft. Jan 9, 2018 Full Review Kenneth Turan Los Angeles Times With its mixture of tones, its multiple plot focuses and its singular use of the virtuosity of Spanish guitarist Narciso Yepes on the soundtrack, it is very much its own film. Aug 28, 2015 Full Review David Ehrlich Time Out The movie is clearly not interested in sugarcoating or sentimentalizing WWII, even though Clment has every opportunity to do so. Rated: 4/5 Apr 23, 2015 Full Review Vernon Young The Hudson Review Summary is inadequate to convey anything but the general conception, surely the most extraordinary blend of tragedy and ferocious comedy ever achieved in the history of film-making. Jan 18, 2024 Full Review Matt Brunson Film Frenzy Perhaps not until Ponette in 1996 had another movie looked so closely at how death might be absorbed through the eyes of a small child. Rated: 3.5/4 Sep 8, 2023 Full Review André Bazin Esprit [If] we like to view childhood as if it were a mirror reflecting an image of us that is purged of all sin [and] restored to innocence, then Forbidden Games refuses to play along -- not out of cruelty or pessimism, but out of a desire to tell the truth. Jun 12, 2023 Full Review Read all reviews

      Audience Reviews

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      Blobbo X This one tug Blobbo heart-blob. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 05/30/23 Full Review william d Two kids with an obsession with funerals may be charming to some, particularly since it's a response to wartime, but I found it tiresome. After about an hour or so of collecting crosses I found myself wishing they would change the subject. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member Beautifully shot and very well-acted film. The start of this film is very well-directed by Clement and wonderfully acted by Fossey from beginning to end. The film is primarily about the escapades of Michel and Paulette in the latter's new family. The film also has a lot of light-heartedness in the midst of loss and despair during World War 2 France. it explores a child's perception of religion and death and how the dead are remembered during a period of war. I would highly recommend this film to anyone who loves French cinema. My only issue with the film was the ending that, while heartbreaking, has left me conflicted regarding whether a more impactful ending could have been shot. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 02/11/23 Full Review Audience Member About as charming a film as you could wish to see. Two sweet kids in wartime France have a whimsical time in the countryside, leading to warring and confused neighbours. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/28/23 Full Review William L One of the more well-known anti-war films from the perspective of children that don't understand their environment, Clément's Forbidden Games strips away much of the romantic veneer that many contemporary depictions of World War II added to avoid damaging morale or to whip up a patriotic fervor. In it, a young girl (Fossey) loses her parents and young puppy in an air raid while fleeing the Nazi approach (with some rather poorly-timed squibs), setting a somber tone right off the bat; the girl, unfamiliar with the permanence of death, then sets about creating a makeshift cemetery for small animals with the aid of a boy in her slapdash foster family (Poujouly), incidentally setting off a domestic conflict between neighbors over the thefts of crosses for their physical coping mechanism. Notably, the film ends on a rather gloomy note as well, refusing to allow the audience's forced confrontation of the secondary victims of war to be lightened by hopeful sentiment. Often praised for its child performances that were uncharacteristically good for the time, the film did not meet with acclaim in France (where audiences' wounds from the war seem have been too fresh), but did find success elsewhere in theatres tired of seeing clips of Americans storming beaches as their primary depicition of WWII on the big screen. In the modern day, the premise would be considered (successful) Oscar bait, but coming from a French source less than a decade after the conflit's conclusion there is a far greater claim to sincerity with this film than more recently produced depression-inducers. Not necessarily to my taste personally or particularly deep, but competent for what it is. (3/5) Rated 3 out of 5 stars 07/03/21 Full Review Audience Member Between 2.5 and 3 stars. The story looks only a vehicle to describe sentimental although too much realistic feelings. At the end, it talks about terrible crime which is treachery to children. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 01/25/23 Full Review Read all reviews Post a rating

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      Forbidden Games

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      Movie Info

      Synopsis Orphaned after a Nazi air raid, Paulette (Brigitte Fossey), a young Parisian girl, runs into Michel (Georges Poujouly), an older peasant boy, and the two quickly become close. Together, they try to make sense of the chaotic and crumbling world around them, attempting to cope with death as they create a burial ground for Paulette's deceased pet dog. Eventually, however, Paulette's stay with Michel's family is threatened by the harsh realities of wartime.
      Director
      René Clément
      Producer
      Robert Dorfmann
      Screenwriter
      Jean Aurenche, Pierre Bost, Francois Boyer, René Clément
      Distributor
      Criterion Collection, Times Film Corporation
      Production Co
      Silver Films
      Genre
      Drama
      Original Language
      French (France)
      Release Date (Theaters)
      Dec 8, 1952, Wide
      Release Date (DVD)
      Dec 6, 2005
      Box Office (Gross USA)
      $14.0K
      Runtime
      1h 27m
      Sound Mix
      Mono