Forbidden Games

Infobox_Film
name = Forbidden Games


caption= original movie poster
imdb_id = 0043686
director = René Clément
writer = Jean Aurenche
Pierre Bost
François Boyer
starring = Georges Poujouly
Brigitte Fossey
Amédée
producer = Robert Dorfmann
music = Narciso Yepes
cinematography = Robert Juillard
distributor =
released = flagicon|France May 9, 1952
flagicon|USA December 8, 1952
runtime = 102 min.
amg_id = 1:18162
language = French

"Forbidden Games" ( _fr. Jeux interdits), is a 1952 French language film directed by René Clément and based on François Boyer's novel, "Jeux interdits".

Plot

The film recounts the death of five-year-old Paulette's (Brigitte Fossey) parents and of her pet dog in a Nazi air attack on a column of refugees fleeing Paris, France during World War II. In the chaos, the traumatized child meets ten-year-old Michel Dollé (Georges Poujouly) whose peasant family will take her in. She quickly becomes attached to Michel as her big brother and the two attempt to cope with the death and destruction that surrounds them by secretly building a small cemetery where they bury her dog and then start to bury other animals, stealing crosses from the local graveyard.

Analysis

Film critic Leonard Maltin has said: "Jeux interdits" is almost unquestionably the most compelling and intensely poignant drama featuring young children ever filmed."Fact|date=February 2007This 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.

Cast

*Georges Poujouly - Michel Dollé
*Brigitte Fossey - Paulette
*Amédée - Francis Gouard
*Laurence Badie - Berthe Dollé
*Suzanne Courtal - Madame Dollé
*Lucien Hubert - Dollé
*Jacques Marin - Georges Dollé
*Pierre Merovée - Raymond Dollé
*Louis Saintève - The priest

Awards

*Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, 1952
*Venice Film Festival Golden Lion award for best picture, 1952
*New York Film Critics Circle Awards for Best Foregin Language Film, 1952
*BAFTA Award for Best Film, 1953

External links

*imdb title|id=0043686|title=Forbidden Games
* [http://www.criterion.com/asp/release.asp?id=318&eid=458&section=essay Criterion Collection essay by Peter Matthews]

###@@@KEY@@@###succession box
title=Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
years=1952
(Honorary Award before creation of official award)
before="Rashomon"
after="Gate of Hell"succession box
before = "The Sound Barrier"
after = "The Wages of Fear"
title = BAFTA Award for Best Film from any Source
years = 1954|succession box
title=Golden Lion winner
years=1952
before="Rashomon"
after="Romeo and Juliet" (1954)
(no award in 1953)