243. Jeux Interdits (Forbidden Games) (1952)

Directed By René Clément

Synopsis

A little girl is escaping the invasion of Paris by the Nazis with her parents when they and their dog are both shot down. The girl survives and takes her dead dog with her until she finds a family willing to take her in. She makes a great friend in Michelle the younger boy in the family who helps her bury her dog. Soon they hatch a plan to make a whole graveyard of animals so they won't be alone. Michelle feed her fantasy by getting her dead (and recently deceased by his hand) animals to bury in the graveyard. Eventually the girl gets an obsession with crosses which Michelle attempts to satisfy. This leads up to a robbery of the church's graveyards and its crosses. Putting him in trouble. Eventually the gendarmes come to take the girl to an orphanage where she cries for Michelle and her lost mother.

Review

This is a beautiful film, a love story between two children, a love that is in no way carnal but does not cease being love because of that. Mixed with this, it is a film about pain and taking comfort in the macabre like only a child is capable of.

There are several great things about this, the directing is superb with the mix of war shots and quite intimate ones being particularly brilliant. What is also uncommon about it is the way in which the children are never annoying and never less than completely natural with motivations that one can understand and recognise as possible motivations for a child.

At times during the film I caught myself thinking if the film was very tightly scripted because making the kids act text that naturally is quite a feat, particularly the very young girl. A great film.

Final Grade

9/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

Film critic Leonard Maltin has said: "Jeux interdits is almost unquestionably the most compelling and intensely poignant drama featuring young children ever filmed." This is widely considered to be one of the greatest films ever made. While not initially successful in France, it was a hit elsewhere and is still one of the most popular French films in the US. Criterion released the film on DVD in 2005.

The film is also notable for its vibrant musical score, composed and performed by legendary Spanish classical guitarist Narciso Yepes.

Screen caps of the film with the very famous title theme: