FILM-FORWARD.COMReviews of Recent Independent, Foreign, & Documentary Films in Theaters and DVD/Home Video
Directed by: René Clément. Produced by: Robert Dorfmann. Written by: Jean Aurenche, Pierre Bost, François Boyer & René Clément, based on the novel The Secret Game by Boyer. Director of Photography: Robert Juillard. Edited by: Roger Dwyre. Music by: Narciso Yepes. Released by: Criterion. Language: French with English subtitles. Country of Origin: France. 85 min. Not Rated. With: Brigitte Fossey, Georges Poujouly, Lucien Hubert & Suzanne Courtal. DVD Features: Interviews with director Clément, 1963; with actress Brigitte Fossey & Clément, 1967; and with Fossey, 2001. Alternate opening & ending. Original trailer. High-definition digital transfer. New essay by film scholar Peter Matthews. English & French audio. English & French subtitles.
As if in a fairy tale, the film begins in the sprawling, idyllic
French countryside. Without warning, German planes
soon scatter the sky as bombs rain down on the escaping Parisians
below. Among the masses is the five-year-old Paulette (Brigitte Fossey), running for cover with her parents. But when the air raid claims the
lives of both her parents and her beloved puppy, Paulette is left all
alone with the lifeless creature in her arms. While wandering alone in a forest, the lost Paulette meets Michel (Georges Poujouly), a local peasant boy slightly older than she. Michel takes an immediate liking to Paulette, and invites her into his home.
Though Michel's peasant family is taken aback by the arrival of the
sparkling blond, clearly bourgeois Paulette, they take her in
nonetheless, while Michel acts as her protector, attending to whatever reassures Paulette. He helps Paulette dig a grave for her dog, and in an effort to
keep the pet company, they stumble upon the idea of killing other animals and putting them safely underground – an escalating macabre diversion, which still has the power today to shock.
What makes Forbidden Games so timeless is its focus on the silent, invisible effects of war that claim the innocence of childhood as well as on the stupidity and callousness of adults who hinder the
bond Michel and Paulette have nurtured in the midst of such a
cruel reality.
In the hallmark of his career,
director René Clément brought out genuine performances of tears and love from
his two young actors that are still heart-rendering. Fossey's performance ranks among the best of juvenile performances (along with Ana Torrent in The Spirit of the Beehive, to name another.) But
aside from the acting, this high-definition, digital transfer
does justice to the artistic collaboration between cinematographer Robert Juillard and the director. Shot in black and
white, the painstaking coordination of
light and depth of shadow render the faces of Paulette and
Michel, as well as the pastoral surroundings, all the
more poetic.
DVD Extras: Among the quality
extras, Clément ruminates extensively on his craft as a filmmaker, and despite
his stern words – he calls the night before shooting the "eve of
battle" – the interview captures the warmest of smiles of the rather
handsome director. The
years have not taken away Fossey’s angelic presence in her 2001 interview. Lovely and illuminating, she remembers her
experiences as a first-time child actor thoroughly, and recalls
remarkable stories of the director scaring her to wits in order to
bring out the right emotions. Interestingly, the alternate opening and
ending were clearly made for those who found the original
ending too depressing, providing a whimsical storybook
ending for Paulette and Michel. Marie Iida
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