''Forbidden Games'' (french: Jeux interdits) is a 1952 French
war
War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...
drama film
In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...
directed by
René Clément and based on
François Boyer
François Boyer (1920 – 24 May 2003) was a French screenwriter. He achieved considerable success with his first attempt at screenwriting, ''Forbidden Games'' (1952). Initially, he found no studio interested in his work, so he redesigned the sc ...
's novel ''Jeux Interdits''.
While not initially successful in France, the film was a hit elsewhere. It won the
Golden Lion at the
Venice Film Festival
The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival h ...
, a
Special Award
Special or specials may refer to:
Policing
* Specials, Ulster Special Constabulary, the Northern Ireland police force
* Specials, Special Constable, an auxiliary, volunteer, or temporary; police worker or police officer
Literature
* ''Specia ...
as
Best Foreign Language Film
This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards.
Best Actor/Best Actress
*See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...
in the United States, and a
Best Film from any Source at the
British Academy Film Awards.
Plot
It is June 1940, during the
Battle of France.
After five-year-old Paulette's parents and pet dog die in a German air attack on a column of refugees fleeing
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
, the traumatized child meets 10-year-old Michel Dollé whose peasant family takes her in.
She quickly becomes attached to Michel. The two attempt to cope with the death and destruction that surrounds them by secretly building a small cemetery among the ruins of an abandoned watermill,
where they bury her dog and start to bury other animals, marking their graves with crosses stolen from a local graveyard, including one belonging to Michel's brother. Michel's father first suspects that Michel's brother's cross was stolen from the graveyard by his neighbour. Eventually, the father finds out that Michel has stolen the cross.
Meanwhile, the French
gendarmes
Wrong info! -->
A gendarmerie () is a military force with law enforcement duties among the civilian population. The term ''gendarme'' () is derived from the medieval French expression ', which translates to "men-at-arms" (literally, " ...
come to the Dollé household in order to take Paulette. Michel cannot bear the thought of her leaving and tells his father that he would tell him where the stolen crosses are, but in return he should not give Paulette to the gendarmes. When his father doesn't keep his promise, Michel destroys the crosses by throwing them into the stream. Paulette ends up going to a
Red Cross
The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure respect for all human beings, and ...
camp, but at the end of the film is seen running away into a crowd of people in the camp, crying for Michel and then for her mother.
Cast
*
Georges Poujouly
Georges Poujouly (20 January 1940 in Garches, Hauts-de-Seine – 28 October 2000 in Villejuif, Val-de-Marne) was a French actor who gained international acclaim as a child for his performance in the award-winning film ''Forbidden Games''. I ...
as Michel Dollé
*
Brigitte Fossey
Brigitte Florence Fossey (; born 15 June 1946) is a French actress.
Early years
The daughter of a schoolteacher, Fossey was five years old when she was cast by director René Clément to star in his film, '' Forbidden Games''.[Amédée
Amédée is a French masculine forename. Notable people with the forename include:
Persons
* Amédée, stage name of Philippe de Chérisey (1923-1985), French writer, radio humorist, surrealist and actor
*Amédée Artus (1815-1892), French condu ...]
as Francis Gouard
*
Laurence Badie
Laurence Badie (born 15 June 1928) is a French actress. She appeared in more than one hundred films since 1952.
Selected filmography
References
External links
*
1934 births
Living people
French film actresses
{{France-actor- ...
as Berthe Dollé
* Suzanne Courtal as Madame Dollé
* Lucien Hubert as Dollé
*
Jacques Marin as Georges Dollé
* Pierre Merovée as Raymond Dollé
* Louis Saintève as the Priest
Reception
The film was widely praised among critics, whose "howling protests" were heard at the
1952 Cannes Film Festival
The 5th Cannes Film Festival was held from 23 April to 10 May 1952. As in the previous three festivals, the entire jury of this festival was made up of French persons, with Maurice Genevoix as the Jury President. The Grand Prix of the Festival ...
where it was not an "official entry of France";
instead, it was "screened on the fringe of the Competition."
The film was entered into competition at the
13th Venice International Film Festival
The 13th annual Venice International Film Festival was held from 20 August to 12 September 1952.
Jury
* Mario Gromo (head of jury)
* Filippo Sacchi
* Enrico Falqui
* Giuseppe Ungaretti
* Pericle Fazzini
* Enzo Masetti
* Sandro De Feo
* Carlo ...
; festival organizers at first considered the film ineligible because it had been screened at Cannes;
it ended up receiving the
Golden Lion, the Festival's highest prize.
Upon its release, it was lambasted by some, who said it was a "vicious and unfair picture of the
peasant
A peasant is a pre-industrial agricultural laborer or a farmer with limited land-ownership, especially one living in the Middle Ages under feudalism and paying rent, tax, fees, or services to a landlord. In Europe, three classes of peasant ...
ry of France";
in France, 4,910,835 theater tickets were sold,
making the most successful film at the French box office in 1952. Following its December 1952 release in the United States,
Bosley Crowther
Francis Bosley Crowther Jr. (July 13, 1905 – March 7, 1981) was an American journalist, writer, and film critic for ''The New York Times'' for 27 years. His work helped shape the careers of many actors, directors and screenwriters, though his ...
called it a film with "the irony of a ''
Grand Illusion
Grand Illusion may refer to:
Music
* ''Grand Illusion'' (album), by Nocturnal Rites, 2005
*'' The Grand Illusion'', a 1977 album by Styx, and its title song
*"Grand Illusion", a song from the 2016 album '' In the Now'' by Barry Gibb
*"Grand Illu ...
'', the authenticity of a ''
Harvest'' and the finesse of French films at their best"; according to Crowther, the film is a "brilliant and devastating drama of the tragic frailties of men, clear and uncorrupted by sentimentality or dogmatism in its candid view of life."
At the
25th Academy Awards
The 25th Academy Awards were held on March 19, 1953 at the RKO Pantages Theatre in Hollywood, and the NBC International Theatre in New York City, to honor the films of 1952. It was the first Oscars ceremony to be televised, the first ceremony ...
, ''Forbidden Games'' won an out-of-competition
Special Award
Special or specials may refer to:
Policing
* Specials, Ulster Special Constabulary, the Northern Ireland police force
* Specials, Special Constable, an auxiliary, volunteer, or temporary; police worker or police officer
Literature
* ''Specia ...
as
Best Foreign Language Film
This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards.
Best Actor/Best Actress
*See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...
.
In December 1952, at the
24th National Board of Review Awards it was chosen as one of that year's five top foreign films. At the
1952 New York Film Critics Circle Awards, it won for Best Foreign Language Film.
In 1954, it was BAFTA's
Best Film from any Source; in 1955, at the
27th Academy Awards
The 27th Academy Awards were held on March 30, 1955 to honor the best films of 1954, hosted by Bob Hope at the RKO Pantages Theatre in Hollywood.
''On the Waterfront'' led the ceremony with twelve nominations and eight wins, including Best ...
,
François Boyer
François Boyer (1920 – 24 May 2003) was a French screenwriter. He achieved considerable success with his first attempt at screenwriting, ''Forbidden Games'' (1952). Initially, he found no studio interested in his work, so he redesigned the sc ...
was nominated for an
Academy Award for Best Story
The Academy Award for Best Story was an Academy Award given from the beginning of the Academy Awards until 1956. This award can be a source of confusion for modern audiences, given its co-existence with the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenpl ...
;
Philip Yordan
Philip Yordan (April 1, 1914 – March 24, 2003) was an American screenwriter of the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s who produced several films. He acted as a front for blacklisted writers although his use of surrogate screenwriters predates the McCar ...
won, for his work on ''
Broken Lance
''Broken Lance'' is a 1954 American Western film directed by Edward Dmytryk and produced by Sol C. Siegel. The film stars Spencer Tracy, Robert Wagner, Jean Peters, Richard Widmark, and Katy Jurado.
Shot in Technicolor and CinemaScope, the fil ...
''.
Decades after its release,
David Ehrenstein
David Ehrenstein (born February 18, 1947) is an American critic who focuses primarily on gay issues in cinema.
Life and career
Ehrenstein was born in New York City. His father was a Jew with Polish ancestors, and his mother was half-black and ha ...
called it "deeply touching" and wrote: "
Fossey's is quite simply one of the most uncanny pieces of acting ever attempted by a youngster. Clément’s sensitivity doubtless accounts for much of what we see here, but the rest is clearly Fossey’s own."
Roger Ebert added the film to his ''
Great Movies
''The Great Movies'' is the name of several publications, both online and in print, from the film critic Roger Ebert. The object was, as Ebert put it, to "make a tour of the landmarks of the first century of cinema."
''The Great Movies'' was p ...
'' collection in 2005, writing: "Movies like Clement's "Forbidden Games" cannot work unless they are allowed to be completely simple, without guile, transparent. Despite the scenes I have described, it is never a tear-jerker. It doesn't try to create emotions, but to observe them."
Soundtrack
The main theme of the soundtrack is a
guitar
The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...
arrangement of the
melody "
Romance
Romance (from Vulgar Latin , "in the Roman language", i.e., "Latin") may refer to:
Common meanings
* Romance (love), emotional attraction towards another person and the courtship behaviors undertaken to express the feelings
* Romance languages, ...
".
Home media
''Forbidden Games'' was
released on Laserdisc in 1988 by
Criterion Collection (under license of Turner and
MGM/UA Home Video MGM/UA may refer to:
*Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, American film and television production and distribution company
**United Artists
United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital p ...
), who later also
released it on DVD in 2004 by license of
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...
and
Turner Entertainment Co.
References
External links
*
*
*
''Forbidden Games: Death and the Maiden''an essay by Peter Matthews at the
Criterion Collection
{{DEFAULTSORT:Forbidden Games
1950s French-language films
1950s war drama films
1952 drama films
1952 films
Best Film BAFTA Award winners
Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award winners
Films about orphans
Films about the Battle of France
Films about funerals
Films awarded an Academy Honorary Award
Films based on French novels
Films directed by René Clément
Films set in 1940
Films set in cemeteries
Films set in France
Films shot in France
Films with screenplays by Jean Aurenche
Films with screenplays by Pierre Bost
French black-and-white films
French war drama films
French World War II films
Golden Lion winners
1950s French films