Jeux interdits [Forbidden Games] (1952)

(YouTube streaming, July 2020) Kids and war movies make an excellent combination if you’re reaching for posterity, and if this sounds flippant to you, it’s probably because I’m overdosing on the notion at the moment after seeing Come and See, Grave of the Fireflies and such in close proximity. French film Jeux Interdits takes the trope in a slightly different direction (being much heavier on kids than on the war), and operates on a slower, duller, arguably funnier gear. The story has to do with a war orphan being adopted and befriending their boy, then both of them turning to strange hobbies (from pet burial to religious artifact thievery) to pass the time. War almost becomes incidental along the way, as we associate closely with the limited view of the child protagonist (one of them played by Brigitte Fossey, who would have a career in French cinema as an adult). Much of the film’s power comes with opposing things that we know as observers, versus what the children don’t realize. Alas, the ending reasserts reality in a profoundly sad way—especially after the mild humour of much of the film. Perhaps a bit too hard-hitting for some, Jeux interdits is not light entertainment—steel yourself.