La règle du jeu (1939)

Director:

Jean Renoir

Writers:

Jean Renoir (scenario & dialogue)
Carl Koch (writer)

Release Date:

8 April 1950 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Plot:

Renoir's look at bourgeois life in France at the onset of World War II. An assorted cast of characters - the rich and their poor servants - meet up at a French chateau.

Plot Keywords:

Love | Party | Servant | Aristocrat | French

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Nora Gregor	...	Christine de la Cheyniest (as Nora Grégor)
Paulette Dubost	...	Lisette, sa camériste
Mila Parély	...	Geneviève de Marras
Odette Talazac	...	Madame de la Plante
Claire Gérard	...	Madame de la Bruyère
Anne Mayen	...	Jackie, nièce de Christine
Lise Elina	...	Radio-Reporter (as Lise Élina)
Marcel Dalio	...	Robert de la Cheyniest (as Dalio)
Julien Carette	...	Marceau, le braconnier (as Carette)
Roland Toutain	...	André Jurieux
Gaston Modot	...	Edouard Schumacher, le garde-chasse
Jean Renoir	...	Octave
Pierre Magnier	...	Le général
Eddy Debray	...	Corneille, le majordome
Pierre Nay	...	Monsieur de St. Aubin

Also Known As:

The Rules of the Game (USA)

Runtime:

110 min | USA:106 min (DVD version)

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric)

Certification:

Australia:G | South Korea:12 (2004) | Finland:K-16 | USA:Approved

Filming Locations:

Aubigny-sur-Nère, Cher, France

Company:

Nouvelle edition française

Trivia:

Despite now being considered one of the best films made by many historians, the picture almost became a lost art. Claiming that it was bad for the morale of the country (due to impending war), the French government banned the film about a month after its original release. When Germany took over France the following year, it was banned by the Nazi party as well, who also burnt many of the prints. Allied planes then accidentally destroyed the original negatives. It was thought to be a lost picture. In 1956, some followers of director Jean Renoir found enough pieces of the film scattered throughout France to reconstitute it with Renoir's help. Renoir claimed only one minor scene was missing from the original cut.

Goofs:

Boom mic visible: When the party first arrives at the château, a boom shadow falls on the back of the head of the old white haired guy standing there.

Quotes:

Octave: The awful thing about life is this: Everybody has their reasons.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Cinéastes de notre temps: Jean Renoir le patron, troisième épisode: La règle et l'exception" (1967)

Soundtrack:

Cors de chasse (Huntng Horns)

"Rules" Rules

One of the ways in which a film of some age can be immediately identified as great is that we do not really notice that it is old. The same elements that attract us contemporarily are as quickly noted in the landmark movies of yesteryear. So it is with `The Rules of the Game', Jean Renoir's flamboyantly provocative study of class distinction and human folly.

Long heralded as one of the great films of all time, it is of such complexity and has so much great dialogue that in fairness it should be viewed several times. There are so many complex shots and methods of capturing moments that one might discover a new item with each visit. These arrangements run the gamut of half a dozen actors criss-crossing the scope of a shot or the use of mirrors to perhaps focus our attention on something Renoir wants us to appreciate or tuck away for later rumination.

As the movie opens, Lise Elena (as the on-the-scene radio reporter) is perfect in conveying the energy and attention/attraction a record-setting Trans-Atlantic flight would have attracted at the time; the drama of the moment as pilot André Jurieux (Roland Toutain) lands amid pandemonium is caught exactly as it might occur. Renoir is giving us a hero that we almost immediately find is flawed and does not stand up to close inspection, as do none of the great political figures of that time. As the film progresses the hero Jurieux is found wanting in every regard, as it turns out.

Paulette Dubost (as the maid, Lisette) is introduced early as attendant to a key figure - Christine de la Cheyniest (played by Nora Gregor) – and is so heartbreakingly pretty even watching her eat an apple is a guilty pleasure. Christine turns out to be the hub of a wheel of fascination, deception, and unrequited love yet herself is only as exotic as her foreign background. This Mutt and Jeff pairing is nicely shown in drawing room scenes as the high-society semi-charmer is fawned over by the lovely Lisette.

The players intermingle primarily at the chateau of Christine's husband Robert (played by Dalio) and what unfolds is a tale that documents the excesses of both classes. We might say we see a series of interpersonal clashes amidst clueless-in-love slackers with the occasional agenda-wielding guest thrown in; but all this is recorded with just the right touch of realism. So we find that Christine's heart may well lie with the adoring Jurieux, that Lisette is not exactly pining for her gamekeeper husband Schumacher, Robert's lover is not sure of her need for him (or he of his feelings for her) and throughout poor Octave remains a stolid yet curiously uncommitted friend to all.

The only aspect of the film that does not come across well is the sometimes overly hammy acting of some of the players. But with the exception of Renoir himself (playing Octave) this over-the-topness comes in fits and starts, never overwhelming us at all. Renoir's Octave could have been played by Jackie Gleason to great effect.

Very noticeable to current viewers is the great similarity of the more recent `Gosford Park' to this 1939 Jean Renoir film. While Robert Altman's film focuses on class differences so piquantly, `Rules' is actually more sublime. But that hanky-panky and its inevitably hurtful consequence knows no class – despite `Rules' – could not be more fascinating than the depiction given it by Renoir in this film.

Rating: Four Stars.