FORBIDDEN GAMES (1952) B/W 102m dir: Rene Clement

w/Brigitte Fossey, Georges Poujouly, Lucien Hubert, Suzanne Courtal, Jacques Marin, Laurence Badie, Andre Wasley, Amedee, Denise Pereonne, Louis Sainteve

Superb, poignant film about a poor family who takes in a little girl whose parents are killed in an air raid. The youngest son and the little girl become great friends and learn to rely upon each other for understanding

From The Movie Guide: "One of the best films about war and its effects, FORBIDDEN GAMES also speaks beautifully to the need of children to construct their own fantasy world away from adult supervision. ...

"FORBIDDEN GAMES derives most of its power from Clement's painstakingly methodical direction and the remarkable performances of the two child leads. Poujouly and the amazing five-year-old Fossey are highly expressive actors who give this stunning film its emotional core. The visual and narrative style is a potent blend of stark documentary, pastoral realism and film noir. Seeing war through the eyes of children who cope with its atrocities by constructing their own little game of death was a brilliant move --- it seems morbid and grotesque to all the adults, but the problem is that they are the ones who really lack understanding and respect."