Upon its release , it was lambasted by some , who said it was a " vicious and unfair picture of the peasantry of France " ; in France , 4,910,835 theater tickets were sold . Following its December 1952 release in the United States , Bosley Crowther called it a film with " the irony of a '' Grand Illusion '' , the authenticity of a '' Harvest '' and the finesse of French films at their best " ; according to Crowther , the film is a " brilliant and devastating drama of the tragic frailties of men , clear and uncorrupted by sentimentality or dogmatism in its candid view of life . " At the 25th Academy Awards , '' Forbidden Games '' won an out-of-competition Special Award as Best Foreign Language Film . In December 1952 , at the 24th National Board of Review Awards it was chosen as one of that year 's five top foreign films . At the 1952 New York Film Critics Circle Awards , it won for Best Foreign Language Film
25th Academy Awards
25th Academy Awards
Forbidden Games