There is a little country so small that it could be a stage. In it stands a bench and a tree, whose twigs are the primary currency of its temporary inhabitants. That country is a schoolyard, and its population consists entirely of children.
In the early 1990s, Claire Simon filmed playtime in her daughter’s schoolyard. For those 15 minutes, children are largely free to do as they please without adults looking over their shoulders. They create and enforce their own laws. The child with the greatest powers of persuasion leads the game. And they all learn what it means to relate to each other: by experiencing and using violence, betrayal, and empathy.
Simon’s film is a mirror of society. Those who study the roles that the children take on—the aggressor, the helper, the leader, the follower—may wonder whether the roots of society lie here? Or are we watching actors imitate the world around them? For anyone who can remember being part of this game themselves, Récréations remains thrilling from start to finish. For the inhabitants of the schoolyard, this game is as real as life itself—until the bell rings.
Stills
