France, 1952
Director: René Clément
Producer: Robert Dorfmann
Cast: Brigitte Fossey, Georges Poujouly, Lucien Hubert
Screenplay: Jean Aurenche, Pierre Bost, François Boyer
Adaptation: Jean Aurenche, Pierre Bost, René Clément
Based on the novel by François Boyer
Cinematography: Robert Juillard
Music Adaptation and Performance: Narciso Yepes
Genre: Drama
Black & White
Aspect Ratio: 1.37:1
Language: French with English subtitles
Running Time: 87 minutes
Synopsis:
When her parents are killed by an air strike while trying to flee Paris during the German invasion, 5-year-old Paulette (Brigitte Fossey) wanders into the French countryside, where she encounters 11-year-old peasant boy Michel (Georges Poujouly). And as they build a special, secret friendship, the adults play their own games of buffoonish peasant feuds. A masterpiece of French post-war cinema by director René Clément (Purple Noon), with a haunting hit score played by guitar virtuoso Narciso Yepes, the ultimately beautiful, comic, and disturbing Forbidden Games won the Golden Lion, the top prize at the Venice Film Festival. Fossey shines “in a performance that rips the heart out” (New York Times).
Awards and Nominations:
Best Foreign Language Film (Academy Awards, 1952)
Golden Lion (Venice Film Festival, 1952)
Independent Grand Prix (Cannes Film Festival, 1952)
Best Foreign Language Film (New York Film Critics Circle Awards, 1952)
Top Foreign Films (National Board of Review Awards, 1952)
Best Film from Any Source (BAFTA Awards, 1954)
Best Writing, Motion Picture Story nomination (Academy Awards, 1954)
