France, World War II. Hundreds of refugees are fleeing to the rural area, but a German war plane shoots at a bridge and kills the parents of Paulette, a 5-year old girl. In the commotion, she gets lost in the forest and stumbles upon Michel (11), a farmboy who brings her to his home, where the Dolle family gives Paulette sanctuary. Paulette wants to bury her dead dog in an abandoned mill, but does not want him to be alone, so Michel tells her they will bury other animals with him, to keep the dog company. They bury dead moles, chicks, crickets, cockroaches. Michel secretly steals crosses for the animal graveyards, but gets into trouble for this from his father, who thought that his rival, from the Gouard family, is stealing them. The police brings Paulette away, against her wishes, to a Red Cross center. Upon hearing someone calling the name "Michel", Paulette is reminded of the boy and searches for him in the crowd.
Not since "Cria Cuervos" has there been a film about kids with such an obsession about death as is the case with Rene Clement's most critically acclaimed achievement, "Forbidden Games"—and yet, in spite of this, it is never morbid or grotesque, and is instead a surprisingly honest and gentle little story, one of the purest examples of innocence in cinema. The film kicks off with a strong opening sequence of refugees fleeing from the war, and a shocking epilogue: a war plane shoots at the bridge, the parents lie on the ground, but a quick barrage of bullets hits them in the back, the mother just barely gasps, and they are dead. Left behind is their 5-year old child, Paulette (Brigitte Fossey in an unforgettable performance), who is still unaware that she has just become an orphan. The sequence is the kind of that the viewers will probably only see once in their lifetime, because it is so heartbreaking—another one has a peasant woman simply throwing away Paulette's dead dog into the river. The story presents a child not ready to come to grips with this dark realization, with death, and how Michel tries to make her a "buffer zone" of illusion.
"Forbidden Games" is an allegory on the origins of religion: Paulette and Michel burrying dead animals and insects, in order to give her dead dog company, is just a mental crotch for them to cope with traumatic loss, and a prototype of what grown ups do when they bury their dead, presented in the parallel of Michel's older brother, Georges, dying and getting buried. Some moments of childful playfulness sparkle here and there: in one scene, while she is in the bedroom, complaining that it is too dark, Paulette sticks her tongue out in front of Michel. He asks why she did that, and she replies: "To see if you could see me in the dark". In another, while at the church graveyard, they spot a very tall, slim cross, and Paulette comments that it would be "good for a giraffe". Some flaws are apparent in the movie, though. The story feels very overstretched at times, not knowing how to sustain the interest until the end, which is obvious in the unnecessary subplot of Francis and Berthe, two "Romeo & Juliet"-style lovers from two opposing families, who are forgotten in the final act. The ending also feels strangely abrupt and incomplete, without a clear point. However, at least it concluded the main theme: in the final shots, the crotch is taken away and Paulette realizes that there is no escape from harsh reality.
Grade:+++
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