Forbidden Games (1952)

Forbidden Games (Jeux interdits)
Directed by René Clement
Jean Aurenche, Pierre Bost, François Boyer, and René Clement based on the novel by François Boyer
1952/France
Silver Films
Repeat viewing/Netflix rental
#254 of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
IMDb Users say 7.8/10; I say 10/10

This is a beautiful and sensitive portrayal of the way children cope with tragedy.

Pretty little five-year-old Paulette (Brigitte Fossey) is riding in the family car as her parents are fleeing Paris with other refugees.  The car breaks down and they are forced to make their way on foot. Then the bombers come.  Paulette runs after her dog and her parents are chasing after her when they are hit and killed.  Shortly, thereafter the dog is killed as well.  Heartbroken, Paulette holds on to the dead animal as a kind of talisman and wanders though the woods.  There she encounters Michel, a young cow-herder, who takes her home to his peasant family.

Paulette does not come from a religious family and Michel tries to teach her some prayers, which he imperfectly knows himself.   Paulette notices a crucifix over the invalid’s bed and says it is pretty.. She overhears the family discussing the bombing of the refugee.  One of them says that there are not enough coffins so victims have been buried in holes “like dogs”.  Michel figures that people are buried to keep them out of the rain.  Paulette becomes determined to bury her little dog.  Michel, who cannot deny her anything, and who soon loses his own brother decides to help.

They bury the dog with ceremony and set about finding other dead creatures to keep it company.  Michel surreptitiously kills some himself.  Then the funeral of Michel’s brother reveals a rich source of markers for their makeshift cemetery.

Little pitchers have big ears.  On revisiting the film this time, I noticed how all the children’s “games” around funeral rituals make logical and even literal sense in the context of what they learn from the adults.  The tragedy is that all this learning is accidental.  The adults themselves don’t understand the impact of what they are saying and doing.

This is obviously quite a sad story and has a heartbreaking ending so I had forgotten how funny some of it is.  The antics of Michel’s father and the running feud with the neighbors are actually quite humorous and relieve the somber mood of the opening scenes.  The child actors are wonderful.

Fossey grew into a beautiful woman and later appeared in many films, including Truffaut’s The Man Who Loved Women (1977) and Cinema Paradiso (1988).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwMU7N2bagA

Slideshow of stills from the film set to the beautiful theme music by Narciso Yepes