Forbidden Games

Original title: Jeux interdits

IMDb RATING

8.0/10

14K

YOUR RATING

Brigitte Fossey and Georges Poujouly in Forbidden Games (1952)

Play trailer2:14

2 Videos

25 Photos

Drama War

A young French girl orphaned in a German air attack is befriended by the son of a poor farmer, and together they try to come to terms with the realities of death.A young French girl orphaned in a German air attack is befriended by the son of a poor farmer, and together they try to come to terms with the realities of death.A young French girl orphaned in a German air attack is befriended by the son of a poor farmer, and together they try to come to terms with the realities of death.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

8.0/10

14K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Nominated for 1 Oscar
- 8 wins & 2 nominations total

Videos2

Trailer 2:14

Forbidden Games

Trailer 2:13

Forbidden Games - Theatrical Trailer

Trailer 2:13

Forbidden Games - Theatrical Trailer

Photos25

+ 19

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Trivia
In a television interview ("Vivement Dimanche Prochain", France 2, 17 April 2005) Brigitte Fossey, who played the little Paulette, revealed that the film had originally been shot as a short, and then it was later decided to extend it into a feature film. Unfortunately she had lost her milk teeth and Georges Poujouly (who plays the boy Michel) had had his hair cut to play in We Are All Murderers (1952). So, in many scenes of the movie Paulette has false teeth and Michel is wearing a wig.

Goofs
The poor parents are killed by a Focke-Wulf 190. This kind of plane didn't exist at the moment of the "battle of France" in May and June 1940.

Crazy credits
There are two alternate opening credits:The main credit starts with a story book and a female hand opens the book to reveal the credits. The alternate still has the same book but this time we are introduced to the two main characters who are sitting by a lake. In this version, Michel's hand is turning the page and in between the scenes he tells Paulette that he's going to tell a story.

Connections
Featured in Le ciné-club de Radio-Canada: Film présenté: Jeux interdits (1959)

User reviews81

Review

Featured review

Morbid Innocence

In 1940, the five years old Paulette (Brigitte Fossey) loses her parents and her dog under a Nazi attack in the country while escaping from Paris. The eleven years old peasant Michel Dolle (Georges Poujouly) sees the girl wandering with her dead dog in her hands and brings her to his home. She is welcomed and lodged by his simple family and she becomes a close friend of Michel. They bury her dog and decide to build a cemetery for animals and insects, stealing crosses in the cemetery, bringing problems to Michel's family with their neighbors.

This masterpiece is one of the most heartbreaking and realistic anti-war movies I have ever seen. The morbid effects of the war, death and religion twisting the minds of two innocent children is amazingly exposed under the direction of the brilliant René Clément and a magnificent screenplay. Working with the talented six years old Brigitte Fossey in the lead role with the twelve years old Georges Poujouly, Clément is able to achieve awesome performances of these children in very dramatic situations. This touching story is never corny and the open conclusion is extremely sad and pessimist. My vote is ten.

Title (Brazil): "Brinquedo Proibido" ("Forbidden Toy")