Another darkly funny scene has Michel confessing to the priest that he has stolen the crosses, only to rush from the confession booth to nab the crucifix right off the altar. The stealing of crosses inevitably stirs up trouble, and initially leads to a renewed feud between the peasant farm family and their next-door neighbors.Įach neighbor accuses the other of having stolen the crosses, leading to a humorous scene in which two men go tumbling into an open grave. They begin stealing crosses from other graves, including that of Michel’s brother, in order to decorate the graves at their hiding spot. All of it must be explained to her by Michel, who has every ritual prayer memorized. Unfamiliar with Christianity, she does not know any ritual prayers, or the Stations of the Cross, or the purpose of a crucifix. Paulette is curious about the crosses that she seems to see everywhere she looks. The ‘forbidden game’ of the title is not the grotesque habit of collecting dead animals or anything sexual (which is likely what the title implies to a modern American audience), but the theft of crucifixes. But the film is not horrific in that regard. Beginning with Paulette’s dog, they gradually construct an animal cemetery amongst the ruins of an abandoned water mill. To distract themselves from the horror, the two children begin a strange ritual. Though she is helpless, confused, and horrified by what has occurred, she soon adjusts to life with the Dollé family and finds Michel to be a delightful companion who is willing to accommodate her so that he will have a playmate nearer his own age. She is discovered alone and traumatized by the young Michel (Georges Poujouly), whose peasant family takes her in. She scoops up her dying puppy whose leg twitches occasionally as its life peters out. She touches her mother’s lifeless check then touches her own. Lying next to her dead mother, she visibly falters in her attempt to process what has happened. Fleeing into the countryside with her parents, five year old Paulette (Brigitte Fossey) soon finds herself orphaned after a German fighter plane attacks a group of Parisian refugees, killing her parents and her puppy right before her eyes. The film takes place in 1940, just as the Nazis are taking over Paris. It is an engaging experience and one that differs from the topically similar modern films that tend to thickly layer their stories with drama and sappiness. Like the superb Studio Ghibli film Grave of the Fireflies (1988), Clément’s film portrays children, gravely affected by the tragedy that surrounds them, finding ways to create real joy and happiness in their lives. It merely observes humanity in the face of tragedy and grief and manages to remain buoyant despite the weight of its subject matter. Refraining from lecturing, the tightly packed film covers a range of heavy emotional topics without cheaply appealing to the emotional response of the audience for its success. Academy Award winner for Best Foreign Language Film, René Clément’s Forbidden Games is remarkable for its simplicity and honesty as well as the superb child acting by its two leads.

The forbidden game movie