Forbidden Games (1952)

Directed by: Rene Clement
Written by: Jean Aurenche, Pierre Bost, Francois Boyer
Starring: Brigette Fossey, Georges Poujouly
Rated: NR

I often write on the nature of war and the importance of the filmmaker's job when it comes to remembrance and interpretation of the effects of mass destruction and death for the wider public. Although I can't say I've seen them all, WWII almost assuredly has had the most movies made about it and because of scale, its longevity, the great players involved and...well, the drama of the war its importance in cinema is undeniable. Many of the themes and questions it raises have all but been exhausted, and yet there are movies--like France's "Forbidden Games"--which have been daring enough to examine it from a unique point of view, and for that they become invaluable.

This movie does not look at the soldier or the battle or the war torn city. In fact, apart from an opening sequence in which a little Parisian girl is orphaned during a German air raid, there are only small reminders that a war is even taking place. But in a sense it is WWII as seen through the eyes of little Paulette (Brigette Fossey) and how she internalizes the deaths of her parents. It is probably the first and best film to explore how a child interprets the abstract nature of death. It is a bit morbid, but ironically bursting with life.

Paulette wanders into the countryside where she befriends young Michel Dolle (Georges Poujouly) who brings her into the care of his family. The strike up an immediate friendship, and through the course of the movie we watch as they cope with the effects of pain and death by creating a little cemetery in a rundown mill for all of the dead animals they find.

Director Rene Clement found two gifted child actors to fill his lead roles. Their acting is simple and unaffected and totally captures the innocence and naivety that the circumstances call for. Although the subject matter is troublesome--Paulette anthropomorphizing  chickens and moles to substitute the loss of her parents--it is a surprisingly humorous and charming film. Michel, the hero and big brother figure, cares nothing for himself, instead risking getting into trouble by stealing crosses from all over his tiny village in order to please Paulette. One hilarious scene is set during the services of a funeral where Paulette and Michel sit counting the number of crosses in the church, mischievous glints in their eyes.

One could easily make an argument that the story hasn't stood well over the decades and that its tricks have finally started to show through. I won't spoil the ending but it was certainly contrived to go for the jugular, and maybe not in the most tactful of ways. That said, I still cried in spite of myself because I believed Fossey and Poujouly and the chemistry that they brought to the screen. Each of the characters made me care about them, and because the film pushed to show the human aspect of war as opposed to a casualty list it was much easier to forgive.

In this film God and death are intertwined, and we get to look at the way that an unjaded person who knows little if anything about either can make sense of them under duress. A loss of innocence never really occurs in my opinion, though the film could easily have taken that road. No, by the end of story Paulette has given herself the last name Dolle and seems to have determined what God means to her.

The story isn't bleak, instead choosing to show how compassion and love overcome adversity. I think that message is important for a war film. Too often we see the miseries that come with the fighting, and that's important too, but on occasion it's good to see the everyday people who fight to continue a way of life. People don't often just lay down and wait for the tanks to crush their homes; they're animals and scrappers, and they will adjust to carry on, finding solace in God and in each other in any way they can.

4/4