Day 42: "Forbidden Games"

Director: Rene Clement 1952
A sad, emotionally jarring film that begins on a rural road outside Paris as a caravan of refugees flees the approaching German army. The Luftwaffe attacks and several people are killed, including the parents of five-year-old Paulette (Brigitte Fossey). The little girl, clutching her dead puppy, wanders onto a farm, where she is befriended by 11-year-old Michel (Georges Poujouly). His family takes her in. The children bury Paulette's dog, then create a strange world for themselves, one involving a cemetery for small animals, the graves marked with crosses stolen from the local graveyard. A movie about the loss of innocence--and how the spectres of war, death, and religion play profoundly on children and adults alike. Fossey and Poujouly give stunning performances.