A Domestic Backlash—‘A Vicious and Unfair Picture of the Peasantry’—and an International Vindication

Scandals & Feuds2/5 wildness

A Domestic Backlash—‘A Vicious and Unfair Picture of the Peasantry’—and an International Vindication

Forbidden Games (Jeux Interdits) / 1950s

The controversy didn’t stop at festival gates. In France the film provoked sharp criticism from some quarters who branded it “a vicious and unfair picture of the peasantry of France,” sparking a national debate over depiction of rural communities in postwar cinema. Yet public reaction was paradoxical: despite the criticism, Forbidden Games was the country’s box-office champion of 1952, selling 4,910,835 tickets. Internationally the film enjoyed a tide of praise—Bosley Crowther in the United States called it “a brilliant and devastating drama”—and it accumulated awards including a Golden Lion at Venice, an out-of-competition Special Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 25th Academy Awards, and BAFTA’s Best Film from any Source in 1954. The polarity between domestic ire and international accolades cemented Forbidden Games’ reputation as one of those rare pictures whose cultural impact was defined as much by the scandal it provoked as by the artistry of René Clément and the uncanny performance of child actress Brigitte Fossey.