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Film provides glimpse into war

Paulette and Michel create their own surrealistic imitation of adult life in the epic post-war Jeux Interdits.The impact of the Second World War was so severe on Europeans that 60 years later, its effects still haunts them. A film, which was first shot in 1952, provides an insightful glimpse into the turmoil during and immediately after the war.
“Jeux Interdits”, loosely translated as Forbidden Games, will be screened at the Franco Namibian Cultural Centre on 30 May at 18h30.
The film, which was nominated for an Oscar, is one of the first films to show the horrors of war through the eyes of children. ‘Jeux Interdits’ focuses on Paulette, a five-year-old refugee from Paris taken in by a peasant family after her parents are killed during a bombardment of a civilian convoy. The traumatised child meets 10-year-old Michel Dollé whose peasant family becomes her caretakers. She quickly becomes attached to Michel. The two attempt to cope with the death and destruction that surrounds them by secretly building a small cemetery where they bury her dog and then start to bury other animals, stealing crosses from the local graveyard including the one belonging to Michel’s brother.
This is a brilliantly perceptive movie of shattering impact. The film has won eight awards including Best Foreign language film at the Kinema Junpo Awards in 1954 and was also nominated for an Oscar in 1955.
Rene Clement’s celebrated tale of childhood love is one of the wonders of French cinema. Its a masterpiece of human spirit not to be missed. Entrance to the screening is free.

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