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The Rules of the Game
Theatrical-release poster
Directed by	Jean Renoir
Written by	Jean Renoir Carl Koch
Produced by	Claude Renoir Jean Jay
Starring	Nora Gregor Paulette Dubost Mila Parély Marcel Dalio Julien Carette Roland Toutain Gaston Modot Pierre Magnier Jean Renoir
Cinematography	Jean Bachelet
Edited by	Marguerite Renoir
Music by	Joseph Kosma Roger Désormière (arrangements)
Production company	Nouvelle Édition française
Distributed by	Gaumont Film Company (1939 French release) Les Grands Films Classiques (1959 re-release)
Release date	7 July 1939 (1939-07-07)
Running time	106 minutes
Country	France
Language	French
Budget	₣5,500,500

The Rules of the Game (original French title La Règle du jeu) is a 1939 film directed by Jean Renoir and starring Nora Gregor, Marcel Dalio, Roland Toutain and Renoir. The film is a comedy of manners depicting upper-class French society and its servants before World War II. Renoir was inspired to make it by baroque music and his re-reading of classical French comedies by Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais, Pierre de Marivaux and Alfred de Musset. He initially intended to adapt Musset's Les Caprices de Marianne, and some of the film's characters are inspired by that play. Renoir said that his "first idea was to produce an up-to-date version of Les Caprices de Marianne. This is a tale of a tragic misunderstanding: Marianne’s lover is mistaken for someone else and killed in an ambush."

It was made only months before World War II began, and Renoir said that there is a "sense" of the war in the film. The director intended to depict the moral callousness of the upper class and its servants on the eve of impending destruction. He imposed his humanistic ideals on his characters, including no villains. The film's best-known line (spoken by Renoir’s character, Octave) is "Everyone has his reasons", expressing the director’s empathy for all the characters despite the film's social criticism.

In 1939 Renoir’s career in France was at its zenith, and he formed his own production company before making The Rules of the Game. He cast Gregor in the lead role of Christine after meeting her by chance, and incorporated aspects of her life into the script.

Filming was delayed for weeks due to heavy rain. Renoir’s brother Pierre dropped out of the film shortly before shooting began, and the director re-cast himself as Octave. The Rules of the Game went over schedule because of his insistence on allowing the actors to improvise on set. Renoir used the sophisticated cinematic techniques of deep focus cinematography and a constantly-moving camera. The film’s original budget of 2.5 million francs grew to five million, making it the most expensive film in French cinematic history at the time. Renoir obtained additional funds from the Gaumont Film Company.

Although The Rules of the Game was highly anticipated before its release because of Renoir’s previous hits, its premiere was met with anger and disapproval by critics and the public. The director cut the film from 113 minutes to 85; the chief cut was his performance as Octave. The film was a critical and financial failure, and was banned in France in October 1939.

For years, the 85-minute version of the film was the only one available; despite this, its reputation gradually improved. In 1956 224 boxes of film from the original version were discovered, and in 1959 a re-constructed version of The Rules of the Game premiered at the Venice Film Festival with only one scene missing from Renoir’s first cut. Since then it has often been cited as one of the greatest films in the history of cinema, and is the only film on all of Sight & Sound's lists of the ten greatest films ever made. Many film critics and directors have praised the film, citing it as an inspiration for their own work.

Plot

Cœurs sensibles, cœurs fidèles,

Qui blâmez l'amour léger,

Cessez vos plaintes cruelles:

Est-ce un crime de changer?

Si l'Amour porte des ailes,

N'est-ce pas pour voltiger?

("Sensitive hearts, faithful hearts / Who shun love whither it does range / Cease to be so bitter / Is it a crime to change? / If Cupid was given wings / Was it not to flitter?")

— The quotation at the beginning of the film comes from Beaumarchais' Le Mariage de Figaro (IV, 10)

Aviator André Jurieux (Roland Toutain) lands at Le Bourget Airfield just outside Paris and is greeted by his friend Octave (Jean Renoir), who reveals that Christine (Nora Gregor), the woman André loves, has not come to the airfield to greet him. André is heartbroken. When a radio reporter comes to broadcast his first words upon landing, he explains his sorrow and denounces the woman who has spurned him. Christine, an Austrian, is listening to the broadcast from her apartment in Paris as she is attended by her maid, Lisette (Paulette Dubost). Christine has been married to Robert, Marquis de la Cheyniest (Marcel Dalio) for three years. Lisette has been married to Schumacher (Gaston Modot) the gamekeeper at the country estate, for two years, but she is more devoted to Madame Christine. Christine's past relationship with André is openly known by her husband, her maid, and their friend Octave. After Christine and Robert playfully discuss André's emotional display and pledge devotion to one another, Robert excuses himself to make a phone call. He arranges to meet Geneviève, his mistress, (Mila Parély) the next morning.

At Geneviève's apartment, Robert announces he must end their relationship, but invites her to join them for a weekend retreat to Robert and Christine's country estate, La Colinière, in Sologne. Later, Octave induces Robert to invite André to the country as well. They joke that André and Geneviève will pair off and solve everyone's problems. At the estate, Schumacher is policing the grounds, trying to get rid of rabbits. Marceau, a poacher (Julien Carette), sneaks onto the grounds to retrieve a rabbit caught in one of his snares. Before he can get away, Schumacher catches him and begins to march him off the property when Robert demands to know what is going on. Marceau explains that he can catch rabbits, and Robert offers him a job as a servant. Once inside the house, Marceau flirts with Schumacher's wife, Lisette.

At a masquerade ball, various romantic liaisons are made. In the estate's dark, secluded greenhouse, Octave declares that he, too, loves Christine and they impulsively decide to run away together. Schumacher and Marceau, who have both been expelled from the estate after a fight over Lisette, observe the greenhouse scene and mistake Christine for Lisette, because Christine is wearing Lisette's cape and hood. Octave momentarily returns to the house and, while there, Lisette talks him out of running off with Christine. Consequently, he sends André to meet Christine. When André reaches the greenhouse, Schumacher mistakes him for Octave, who he believes is going to steal his wife. He shoots and kills André, which Robert subsequently explains to his guests as an "accident".

Cast

Production

Background and writing

In 1938 the French film industry was booming and Renoir was at the height of his career. He had had three hit films in a row and La Grande Illusion had won the awards from the New York Film Critics, the National Board of Review and the Venice Film Festival. The financial success of La Bête Humaine made it easy for Renoir to secure enough financial backing to form his own production company and in 1938 he founded NEF (Nouvelle Édition française) with his brother Claude Renoir, André Zwobada, Oliver Billiou and Camille Francois. All five personally invested 10,000 francs into the company and intended to produce two films per year. The company was modeled after the US film production company United Artists, which was formed in 1919 by Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks, D.W. Griffith and Mary Pickford as a film distribution company for independent artists. Renoir rallied his friends in the film industry around the company and got financial support from René Clair, Julien Duvivier, Jean Gabin and Simone Simon. NEF headquarters on the rue la Grange-Batelière was sublet from Marcel Pagnol’s production company. On December 8, 1938 Georges Cravenne published a press release in Paris-Soir that announced that Renoir and Pagnol were about to sign an agreement to procure a large theatre where they would publicly screen “the films that they would direct from then on.” The Rules of the Game was the only film produced by the company.

In May 1938 Renoir completed the historical drama La Marseillaise and wanted to make a comedy. He was also anxious about the Munich agreement and the strong possibility of another world war, and wanted to film a “happy dream”. He wrote a synopsis for a film called Les Millions d’Arlequin, which had similar characters to The Rules of the Game. When first conceiving the film Renoir was inspired by classical French art, such as the works of Marivaux, Beaumarchais, and especially Musset's Les Caprices de Marianne. Renoir initially meant to adapt Les Caprices de Marianne and NEF first announced the film as an adaptation of the French classic. Renoir later claimed that he never intended to directly adapt Les Caprices de Marianne but only re-read it and other classics of French literature for inspiration.

After returning from lecturing in London in January 1939 Renoir left Paris to work on a script, telling a reporter that his next film would be “an exact description of the bourgeois of our time.” Renoir, Carl Koch and Zwoboda went to Marlotte to work on the script. Because Renoir wanted to allow the actors to improvise their dialogue, only one-third of the film was scripted and the rest was only a detailed outline. Renoir later said that his “ambition when I made the film was to illustrate this remark: we are dancing on a volcano.” Renoir called the film a “divertissement” for its use of baroque music and aspects of classical French comedies. Renoir’s initial inspiration of Les Caprices de Marianne lead to the four main characters in the film correlating with those of the play: a virtuous wife, a jealous husband, a despairing lover and an interceding friend. In both the play and the film the interceding friend is named Octave. Octave is also the only of the four characters inspired by the play that also shares character traits with its counterpart: in both Octave is a “sad clown” full of self-doubt and self-pity. The characters names constantly changed in different versions of the script and Renoir said that in an early draft André Jurieux was an orchestra conductor instead of an aviator.

Casting

Renoir originally wanted the entire cast from La Bête Humaine for the film, including Fernand Ledoux, Simone Simon, Jean Gabin and Julien Carette. Gabin was offered the role of André but turned it down, accepting a role in Marcel Carné’s Le Jour Se Lève instead. He was replaced by Roland Toutain. Simon was offered the role of Christine but wanted 800,000 francs, which was one-third of the film's entire budget. Simon’s salary request was vetoed by NEF administrator Camille Francois. Ledoux was offered the role of Schumacher. He was married to Simon at the time so he declined when her salary request was denied and took a role in Maurice Tourneur’s Volpone instead. He was replaced by Gaston Modot. Claude Dauphin was offered the role of the Marquis de la Cheyniest but refused it. He and Simon acted in Raymond Bernard’s Cavalcade d’amour instead. Renoir then cast Marcel Dalio as the Marquis. Years later Dalio asked Renoir why he had been cast after having typically played burlesque or traitorous roles. Renoir told Dalio that he was the opposite of the cliché of what a Marquis was and that Dalio was the only actor he knew that could portray the insecurity of the character. Renoir’s brother Pierre Renoir was cast as Octave and Carette was cast as Marceau.

Francois suggested newly famous stage actress Michele Alfa for the role of Christine and Renoir went to see her performance in a play with Zwobada and his wife Marguerite Renoir. While at the play Renoir noticed Nora Gregor in a box seat in the audience and asked about her during the intermission. He learned that Gregor was the wife of Prince Ernst Rudiger von Stahremberg, an Austrian nobleman. Renoir became friends with Gregor and her husband, getting to know them over several dinners in Paris. Stahremberg was forced to resign his leadership role in the Heimwehr (a paramilitary and fascist party) because Gregor was Jewish and he was anti-fascist. When Germany annexed Austria in March 1938 Gregor and Stahremberg fled to France. Renoir said that they were “in a state of great disarray. Everything they believed in was collapsing.” Gregor was an actress from the Viennese Burgtheater and had appeared in some films, including Carl Theodor Dreyer’s Michael in 1924. Gregor’s first husband had been the concert pianist Mitja Nikisch, son of the renowned conductor Arthur Nikisch of the Leipzig Opera and (according to film theorist Charles Drazin) a possible inspiration for some characteristics of Octave.

Despite objections from his NEF colleagues, Renoir hired Gregor for the role of Christine. She was older than the original character and he re-wrote Christine for her based on her personality and on their dinner conversations, such as making Christine the daughter of an Austrian conductor. Many of Renoir’s friends believed that the director fell in love with Gregor shortly after casting her. Zwoboda said that Gregor had “that which Renoir loved above all; an incontestable class, a style, the gestures and bearing of a great distinction.” Renoir said that he cast Gregor because of her Austrian accent, which he believed would create “a little barrier…between her and her surroundings”, and because of her appearance, which he considered “birdlike” and “sincere”.

Renoir finished casting the remaining roles by late January. When asked who the main character of the film was, Renoir answered “There isn’t any! My conception at the beginning — and at the end — was to make a film d’ensemble, a film representing a society, a group of persons, almost a whole class, and not a film of personal affairs.”

Filming

Filming began in Sologne for exterior scenes in the country and outside the Chateau of La Ferté-Saint-Aubin. Renoir later said that he chose Sologne because his father Pierre-August Renoir “regretted that he had never been able to paint . How well I understand the sincerity of those regrets before these beautiful landscapes of Sologne, in astonishing colors, of a grace so melancholy yet so gentle.” Renoir said that Sologne’s mist “took me back to the happy days of my childhood.”

The cast and crew arrived in Solonge between February 6 and 15. Renoir’s son Alain worked as an assistant camera operator and Dido Freire worked as the script girl. Renoir’s assistants on the film were Koch, Zwobada and Henri Cartier-Bresson. Tony Corteggianni was hired as a technical advisor for the rabbit hunting sequence. The cast and crew stayed at the Hotel Rat in Lamotte-Beuvron. Heavy rainfall prevented the start of shooting in Sologne for several weeks and Renoir re-wrote parts of the script to accommodate the rain. While Renoir finished the script the entire company played cards and bonded, describing it as a happy time in their lives just before the horrors of World War II began. Paulette Dubost said that shooting the film was great fun.

The rain delays caused Pierre Renoir to drop out of the film because of prior commitments to stage plays in Paris. Renoir then asked Michel Simon to play Octave, but Simon was busy with other projects. Renoir finally cast himself, later saying that he “was just waiting for the moment when Pierre would say ‘Why don’t you play the role yourself, Jean?’ He didn’t have to ask me twice.” He added that after having gained experience and confidence as a director his “most stubborn dream has been to be an actor.” Renoir re-wrote the role of Octave to better suit himself since he and Pierre were much different physically and personally.

In order to raise additional funding for the over-scheduled production, Zwoboda used the success of La Bête Humaine to sell advanced screening rights at larger theatres to Jean Jay, the director of the Gaumont Film Company. When shooting in Sologne finally began it went very slowly due to the constant improvisations by the actors and Gregor struggling with her role. Jay visited the set and was unhappy with the slow pace and with Renoir’s performance. But the cast and crew admired Renoir and enjoyed the carefree atmosphere on set, forgetting all about the impending political situation going on at the time. Journalists often visited the set and wrote positively about the production. The film was shot almost chronologically in Sologne (and again in Joinville), which Renoir considered important for the actor’s performances. Renoir said that he didn’t need to do much directing since the actors were so involved in their roles. When directing himself, Renoir arranged the blocking first, then acted in the scenes. Jay pushed Renoir to finish filming on location in Sologne and move the production to the built sets at the Pathé studios in Joinville, Val-de-Marne. Renoir finally agreed and left Zwobada, Cortegganni and Cartier-Bresson in Sologne to shoot B-roll footage of the rabbit hunt sequence. Hundreds of animals were killed during filming and local people were used as stand-ins for the actors.

Filming on the built sets in Joinville continued at a slow pace. Renoir would often film fifteen to twenty takes of individual shots and change dialogue on the set, making previous takes useless. Film historian Joel Finler said that the film “truly evolved during its making, as Renoir worked on writing and rewriting the script, balancing and rebalancing the characters and relationships, plots and subplots.” Cartier-Bresson said that the improvisation during filming was like a jam session; both cast and crew members were encouraged to throw out ideas and dialogue would often change the morning of the shoot.

On March 16, 1939 Germany invaded Czechoslovakia, breaking the Munich Agreement. This caused the French army to start mobilizing in anticipation of a coming war. Shortly afterwards several of the films electricians and technicians left the film in order to join the French Army. Set designer Eugène Lourié left because he was Jewish and a communist. Max Douy took over as the film’s set designer.

During filming Renoir became disappointed by Gregor’s performance. He began to cut her scenes and add new scenes for Paulette Dubost and Mila Parély. Film historian Gerald Mast said that Gregor’s performance was “as haunting and bewitching as a plastic giraffe.” During production Jay told Renoir that he hated his performance as Octave. Renoir offered to replace himself with Michel Simon, but Jay refused since two-thirds of the film had already been shot. Jay asked Renoir to cut out un-shot scenes with Octave instead, but Renoir refused. Throughout shooting Renoir kept adding new scenes for Octave. Shooting in Joinville finally wrapped up in May 1939. The film was over schedule and the rented soundstage was needed for other films. Renoir had originally wanted to release the film in June because the potential war would make it impossible to release the film after the summer.

Renoir continued shooting additional scenes with some of the actors. The opening scene at the airfield was shot in mid-June at the Bourget Airport in the middle of the night with whatever extras they could find. Renoir had almost run out of money when he filmed the car crash scene. It was shot very quickly and Alain Renoir was the camera operator. Renoir never liked the scene and initially cut it out. Overall the film was nine and a half weeks over schedule when in finally wrapped in June.

Despite beginning the shoot in love with Gregor, the infatuation remained unrequited. During the film's production Renoir broke up with his common-law wife Marguerite Renoir and began a romantic relationship with script girl Dido Freire, who he had known for twelve years and was Alain Renoir’s nanny. Eventually Dido became Renoir’s wife.

Release

Initial Editing and previews

Renoir edited the film while shooting and his first cut was three hours long. He and editor Marguerite Renoir completed a 113 minute final cut of the film in July 1939. Jay hated it and demanded more cuts. He also wanted Renoir’s entire performance as Octave cut out. Renoir refused to completely omit Octave but agreed to cut 13 minutes out of the film.

The Rules of the Game was the most expensive film ever produced in France when it was released. Jay had agreed to add 2 million more francs to the budget. The total cost of the film was over 5 million francs. The film’s original budget had been 2.5 million francs, which already made it the most expensive French film of that year.

The film had an elaborate ad campaign that began one week before its release in anticipation of it being another hit film for Renoir. This campaign included a promotional crossword puzzle published three days before the film’s opening night, with free tickets going to the winning contestant. The first preview screening of the 113 minute version of the film took place on June 28, 1939. It received a bad reception from audience members in attendance. On June 29 the film was screened for the Minister of National Education and Fine Arts Jean Zay and for the jury of the annual Louis Delluc Prize for best French film. When the awards were announced ten days later Marcel Carne’s Le Quai des brumes won the top prize and The Rules of the Game was not even a runner up. Due to the success and popularity of Renoir’s previous films, The Rules of the Game was highly anticipated and Zay had expected to award it the prize. Renoir later claimed that he thought the film would be marketable.

Release and reception

The Rules of the Game premiered on July 7, 1939 at the Colisée theatre in Paris to a full house. It was shown on a double billing with a patriotic documentary about French history. At the screening members of the audience booed the film and one person attempted to set fire to the theatre. Paulette Dubost claimed that people at the screening got into fights. Renoir said that he “depicted pleasant, sympathetic characters, but showed them in a society in the process of disintegration, so that they were defeated at the onset…the audience recognized this. The truth is that they recognized themselves. People who commit suicide do not care to do it in front of witnesses.”

By July film attendance in France was typically low and the film ended its run at the large Colisée theatre after only three weeks due to poor attendance. It later played at the Aubert-Palace in Paris and at the Obert Palace. Renoir said “I was utterly dumbfounded when it became apparent that the film, which I wanted to be a pleasant one, rubbed most people the wrong way.” Renoir had initially wanted to screen the film at the 1939 World’s Fair in New York City, but this idea was dropped after the disastrous release in France.

Claude Gauteur surveyed film reviews published in Paris and said that twelve were “unqualifiedly unfavorable”, thirteen were “favorable with reservations” and ten were “favorable”. Many reviews criticized the film for being “unpatriotic, frivolous and incomprehensible.” One mixed review came from Nino Frank of Pour Vous, who called it “a copious work, even too much so, very complex and profoundly intelligent from one end to the other.” The Le Figaro review called it a “bizarre spectacle” which was ”one long succession of errors…a heavy-handed fantasy with wooly dialogue.” In the 1943 edition of his famous Histoire du cinéma, Robert Brasillach wrote that The Rules of the Game was amongst Renoir's most "jumbled" and "confused" films, but applauded the biting satire, which he considered Proustian. Brasillach also praised the technical variation employed by the director and ultimately concluded that the film was an unrealized masterpiece. In the US a negative review from Variety said that Renoir "attempts to crowd too many ideas into 80 minutes of film fare, resulting in confusion."

While the film itself received mostly unfavorable reviews, the majority of critics praised the acting (including Renoir), and only the far right-wing press criticized Marcel Dalio’s performance. In July 1939 a right-wing French newspaper criticized the film for portraying the Jewish Marquis married to the Austrian Christine. The Union Sacrée, a French clerical fascist group, organized demonstrations wherever the film was screened. Renoir was a known pacifist and supporter of the Communist Party, which made him unpopular in the tense weeks before World War II began. Years later Renoir insisted that “there was no question of contrivance; my enemies had nothing to do with its failure. At every session I attended I could feel the unanimous disapproval of the audience.”

In the weeks that followed the premiere Renoir cut the film down from its original 113 minutes to 100 minutes, then to 90 minutes, then finally to 85 minutes. Renoir told Margurite Renoir and Zwobada to cut the scenes that had upset the audience the most. Renoir said that he mostly cut his own scenes or dialogue, “as though I were ashamed, after this rebuff, of showing myself on the screen.” He later defended his own performance as being awkward the way that Octave should have been. The cut footage took away Octave’s complexity and completely changed the characters motives at the end of the film. In the 85 minute version Octave does not intend to run away with Christine and merely lends André his coat for warmth before sending him out to the greenhouse. The omission of this plot point resulted in the misconception of the film having an alternative ending, which was first reported by Roger Manvell after he had seen the film at its London premiere in 1946. At one point Jean Jay told Renoir to restore the film back to the 100 minutes version “to avoid commercial disaster”, but none of the shorter versions of the film improved its reception or attendance. When asked about the films poor reception with audience members, Renoir said “I thought I was gentle with them, and they thought I was laughing at them.”

In October The Rules of the Game was officially banned in France for being “depressing, morbid, immoral having an undesirable influence over the young.” Other films that were similarly banned included Marcel Carné’s Le Quai des brumes and Le Jour Se Lève. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that “we are especially anxious to avoid representations of our country, our traditions, and our race that changes its character, lie about it, and deform it through the prism of an artistic individual who is often original but not always sound.” The Marriage of Figaro, one of the inspirations for the film, had also been banned for similar reasons. After the end of World War II the 85 minute version of the film was re-released in Paris on September 26, 1945. It was once again banned.

Renoir said that of all his films, The Rules of the Game was the biggest failure at the time of its release. He also said that its failure “so depressed me that I resolved to either give up the cinema or to leave France.” During shooting Renoir was offered to film an adaptation of Tosca by Italian producers and agreed to the deal on July 14 in order to get out of France. Renoir and Carl Koch traveled to Rome on August 10 for pre-production, but had to leave on August 23 after the German-Soviet pact made his French citizenship an issue. Koch directed the film instead and Renoir immigrated to Hollywood.

Re-discovery

In 1942 during one of the Allied bombings of Boulogne-sur-Seine, the G.M. Film Lab was destroyed along with the original negative of The Rules of the Game. In 1946 a print of the 85 minute version was found in a box and a new print was made. This version was occasionally screened at cine-clubs, Cinematheques and film festivals and its reputation slowly began to grow. It finally premiered in New York City in April 1950, but was critically unsuccessful. A New York Times review called it “one for the buzzards” and said that “the master has dealt his admirers a pointless, thudding punch below the belt.” However in 1952 the 85 minute version was included in Sight & Sound's inaugural list of the ten greatest films ever made.

In 1956 film enthusiasts Jean Gabarit and Jacques Marechal founded the Societe des Grands Films, a film restoration company focused on “neglected films.” The Rules of the Game was one of the first endeavors of the company and they persuaded Camille Francois to sell them the rights to the film. With Francois’ help they discovered records that lead to 224 boxes which had been found at the bombed G.M. Film Lab site. These boxes included negative prints, duplicated prints and sound mixes of the film. With the help and advice of Renoir and Jacques Durand, Gabarit and Marechal restored most of the cut footage from Renoir’s original version and pieced together a new 106 minute version of the film.

In the summer of 1959 Renoir saw the reconstructed version of the film for the first time and left the theatre in tears. He stated that “there is only one scene missing in this re-construction, a scene that isn’t very important. It’s a scene with me and Tatuin that deals with ‘sexual interests.’” The restored version of The Rules of the Game premiered at the 1959 Venice Film Festival, where it was called a masterpiece. Claude Chabrol, Alain Resnais and Louis Malle were all in attendance and publically called Renoir their master while praising the new version of the film. In 1961 Howard Thompson of the New York Times said the film “completely justified its European reputation… a memorable experience.” The reconstructed version of the film was publically screened in France on April 23, 1965. It won the 1966 Bodil Award for Best Non-American Film.

Themes

"We are all ‘mystified’ – that is to say, fooled, duped, treated as of no account. I had the good fortune to have been taught to see through the trickery in my youth. In ‘’La Regle du Jeu’’, I passed on what I knew to the public. But this is something that people do not like; the truth makes them feel uncomfortable."

— Jean Renoir, from his autobiography

The Rules of the Game is remembered as being a commentary on the moral callousness of the European upper class and their servants just before the outbreak of World War II. While making the film Renoir knew that a new world war was coming and later said that there was a “sense” of it in film, writing that “it is a war film and yet there is no reference to the war.” This sense of doom began just before shooting started in January when Barcelona fell to Franco and throughout the production when Édouard Daladier recognized Franco’s Spain, Italy entered Albania and Adolf Hitler prepared his Polish invasion. Renoir articulated this unmentioned theme of the film by stating that “what is interesting about this film, perhaps, is the moment when it was made. It was shot between Munich and the war, and I shot it absolutely impressed, absolutely disturbed by the state of mind of a part of French society, a part of English society, a part of world society. And it seemed to me that a way of interpreting this state of mind, to the world hopefully, was not to talk of that situation, but tell a frivolous story. I looked for inspiration to Beaumarchais, to Marivaux, to the classical authors of comedy.”

Renoir wanted to depict people as they truly were at that point in history and said that the film was “a reconstructed documentary, a documentary on the condition of a society at a given moment.” He believed that this depiction was the reason behind the film’s disastrous premiere, speculating that “the audience’s reaction was due to my chandour.” The Marriage of Figaro, an inspiration for the film, had also been considered controversial for its attack on the class system. The film remained controversial with the French public shortly after World War II when it was once again banned. Renoir’s biographer Roland Bergan believed that the film hit a raw nerve with the public by depicting “people, who might have had an influence in shaping the world, did nothing to prevent an advance of Fascism; some of whom, indeed, actually welcomed it.”

The rabbit hunt scene is often compared to the senseless death that occurs during war and Renoir said that he wanted to show a certain class of people killing for no reason. Renoir himself had never killed an animal and called hunting “an abominable exercise in cruelty.” Bergman wrote that “in the great set piece of the hunt, the callous cruelty of the guests is laid bare as they fire at any rabbit and bird that moves after the beaters have lead the game to slaughter. There was no need for Renoir to accentuate the analogy with world events.”

The film’s most often quoted line of dialogue, spoken by Octave, is “Everyone has his reasons.” Renoir’s sentiment of objective humanism for the film’s characters is articulated by Octave’s remark and shows his empathy for the people that he was simultaneously criticizing. Richard Roud praised Renoir’s role in the film, saying that “it is as though he included himself through a kind of scrupulous honesty: he could not exempt himself from this portrait of society; he did not wish to stand outside. And Renoir/Octave serves as the standard against which reality and fiction can be measured.” In his original outline for the film, Renoir said that he intended for all the characters to be sincere and that the film would have no villains. Renoir said that André was “the victim, who, trying to fit into a world in which he does not belong, fails to respect the rules of the game”, and that André thought he could shatter the rules by a world flight, while Christine thought she could by following her heart. The “rules” of the film’s title are its only villain. Renoir explained that “the world is made up of cliques…Each of these cliques has its customs, its mores, indeed, its own language. To put it simply, each has its rules, and these rules determine the game.” Renoir believed that all human activity is “subject to social protocols that are less apparent than, but just as strict as, those practiced by Louis XIV.” Renoir’s son Alain Renoir believed that the film continues to be relevant and popular because it shows the “artificial joy” of the modern age in contrast to the rules of that (or any) age.

Style

Filming Émile Zola's La Bête Humaine inspired Renoir to “make a break, and perhaps get away from naturalism completely, to try to touch on a more classical, more poetic genre.” While shooting Renoir began listening to Baroque music by Louis Couperin, Jean-Philippe Rameau, Jean-Baptiste Lully and André Grétry. He later said “Little by little, my idea took shape and the subject got simpler. I kept living on baroque rhythms, and after a few more days, the subject became more and more precise.” He added that he began imagining Simone Simon “moving to the spirit of the music. This preoccupation with baroque music during filming lead to Renoir’s original idea of adapting Les Caprices de Marianne as a film.

The Rules of the Game is known for its early and elaborate use of deep focus cinematography. Renoir said that he and his cinematographer Jean Bachelet “ordered some special lenses, very fast lenses, but ones that still gave us considerable depth, so that we could keep our backgrounds in focus almost all the time.” This depth of field in his shots allowed Renoir to shoot in large rooms and long corridors in the chateau sequences, with characters able to move freely between the background and the foreground. Approximately half of all of the shots in the film have camera movements. In many shots the camera moves, stops in place, changes direction and circles around the subjects. David Thomson said that ”one has the impression of a camera that is always moving to cover as much as possible. One does not notice cuts, one delights in a continuity which is often on the verge of chaos and finally leads to tragedy in the intrusion of subplot into plot, of the theatrical into the real and of disaster into balances.”

Overall Renoir used few close-ups or reverse shots and most of the shots are two shots. The hunt scene differs from the rest of the film due to its use of rapid editing, whereas most of the film includes long takes of dialogue or action. Renoir had wanted to shoot the film in color in order to take advantage of the beauty of Sologne in the winter, but was unable to secure funding from Jean Jay. One week before filming began Renoir attempted to persuade Technicolor to fund the color cinematography, but the company refused.

The sound in the film was also complex for its time and included dialogue being spoken over such ambient noises as the crowd at the airport and gunfire during the hunt. Film director Jean Prat said that the film’s soundtrack was ”of a perfection never equaled by any French film.” Characters often talk all at once or over each other’s lines. One examples of the dense soundtrack is the party scene which includes dialogue over screams, gunfire and music. With the exception of the opening credits and the very end of the film, all of the music heard in the film is incidental. Music used in the film includes Mozart's Three German Dances, Monsigny's Le déserteur, Louis Byrec, Léon Garnier and Eugène Rimbault's En revenant de la revue, Strauss's Die Fledermaus, Saint-Saëns's Danse macabre, Chopin's Minute Waltz and Scotto's À Barbizon. The music was arranged by Joseph Kosma and Roger Désormière.

The films set designers Eugène Lourié and Max Douy built one of the most expensive sets in French film history at the Joinville Studio. According to Douy the sets were based on the script and were not a reproduction of the Chateau de la Ferté-Saint-Aubin, where exterior scenes were shot. The Marquis' music boxes used in the film were borrowed from several sources, and some are now in a museum in Neuilly-sur-Seine. Renoir thought that the musical organ scene and Dalio's performance in it was the best scene he had ever filmed. He shot the scene several times before he was satisfied with it.

Legacy

Since the first restoration, it has come to be seen by many film critics and directors as one of the greatest films of all time. The decennial poll of international critics by the Sight & Sound magazine ranked it #10 in 1952, moved it up to #3 in 1962, and #2 in 1972, 1982 and 1992; in 2002 it fell back to #3, behind Citizen Kane and Vertigo and in 2012, it dropped to #4, behind Vertigo, Citizen Kane, and Tokyo Story. It is the only film to have been included on every top ten list since 1952.

Critics and directors who have placed it on their lists include Nick Roddick, Richard Peña, Michel Ciment, David Denby, Lawrence Kasdan, Steve McQueen and Paul Schrader, who said that the film "has it all... represents all that film can be.” French film critic André Bazin praised the film's mobile photographic style. Bazin stated that its depth of field and deep focus mise-en-scène resembled that later seen in Citizen Kane and The Best Years of Our Lives. Empire magazine put it at number 13 in its list of "The 100 Best Films Of World Cinema" in 2010. In Le Figaro's 2008 list of the greatest films ever made it tied for second with The Night of the Hunter, behind Citizen Kane.

Many contemporary film critics have written favorably about the film. David Thomson praised Renoir’s performance, saying that “Renoir’s admission that the director, supposedly the authoritative and manipulating figure, is as much victim as originator of circumstances.” Penelope Gilliatt said the film was “not only a masterpiece of filmmaking, not only a great work of humanism in a perfect rococo frame, but also an act of historical testimony.” Film scholar and Renoir biographer Leo Braudy said that “’’Rules’’ embodies a social world in which there are rules but no values. If you don’t know the rules, you are crushed; but if you do know the rules you are cut off from your own nature.” Dudley Andrews called the film "the most complex social criticism ever enacted on the screen." Amy Taubin said "I can think of no other film that is as unfailingly generous — to its audience, its characters, its actors, the milieu and the medium." Luc Sante called the film "a dense clockwork mechanism." Robin Wood said that the film "operates on all levels." J. Hoberman said that the film influenced Woody Allen, Robert Altman and Mike Leigh. Kenneth Browser called it the “humanity of film.” Kent Jones called it a “masterpiece.” Peter Cowie said that the film has “humanity, warmth generosity.” German film critics Adolf Heinzlmeier and Berndt Schulz called it "a masterpiece of narrative cinema." Roger Ebert said that the film was "so simple and so labyrinthine, so guileless and so angry, so innocent and so dangerous, that you can't simply watch it, you have to absorb it."

The film was especially revered by filmmakers and film critics associated with the French New Wave. André Bazin said that “as a conventional love story, the film could have been a success if the scenario had respected the rules of the movie game. But Renoir wanted to make his own style of drame gai, and the mixture of genres proved disconcerting to the public.” Alain Resnais said that seeing the film was “the single most overwhelming experience I have ever had at the cinema.” Louis Malle said that “for all of us, my generation of French filmmakers, La Regle du jeu was the absolute masterpiece.” François Truffaut articulated the films enormous influence and said that “it isn’t an accident that The Rules of the Game inspired a large number of young people who had first thought of expressing themselves as novelists to take up careers as filmmakers,” and stated ”It is the credo of movie lovers, the film of films, the film most hated when it was made and most appreciated afterwards, to the extent that it ultimately became a true commercial success.” Other filmmakers influenced by the film include Satyajit Ray, who called it “a film that doesn’t wear its innovations on its sleeve...Humanist? Classical? Avant-Garde? Contemporary? I defy anyone to give it a label. This is the kind of innovation that appeals to me.” Bernardo Bertolucci called the film a “supreme prophesy about the reality of that time.” Wim Wenders said that “rarely has there been a film so void of any prejudice whatsoever.” Peter Bogdanovich said that it is “still shocking.” Noah Baumbach has praised the film's plot. Cameron Crowe said that it is “so rich in detail, you get lost in it almost immediately.” Henri Cartier-Bresson, who worked on the film before beginning a long career as a photojournalist, called it “one of the summits of art and a premonition of everything that was to happen in the world.” Robert Altman said that "The Rules of the Game taught me the rules of the game."

Altman's Gosford Park is similar to many of The Rules of the Game's plot elements, including the relationship between wealthy people with their servants and the hunting sequence. Italian film critic Francis Vanoye has asserted that the film has influenced numerous other films that have plots with an ensemble casts that spends a short amount of time together in a party or gathering (often while hunting animals) during which their true feelings about each other are revealed. Along with Gosford Park, these films include Jean Grémillon's Summer Light, Ingmar Bergman's Smiles of a Summer Night, Carlos Saura's The Hunt, Peter Fleischmann's Hunting Scenes From Bavaria, Nikita Mikhalkov's An Unfinished Piece for a Player Piano, Theo Angelopoulos'sThe Hunters and Denys Arcand's The Decline of the American Empire. It has also been compared to Paul Bartel's Scenes from the Class Struggle in Beverly Hills.

See also

• Cinema of France
• List of French language films
• List of films considered the best

References

Notes

1. ^ Renoir 1974, p. 170.
2. "The Rules of the Games" The Fifi Organization (August 30, 2009)
3. Gerbert, Michael. The Encyclopedia of Movie Awards. New York: St. Martin’s Paperbacks, 1996. ISBN 0-312-95723-8. pp. 85-89.
4. Bergan 1997, p. 196.
5. Bertin 1986, pp. 157–158.
6. Drazin 2011, p. 180.
7. Sesonske 1980, p. 379.
8. ^ Sesonske 1980, p. 382.
9. Bergan 1997, p. 187.
10. ^ Bergan 1997, p. 197.
11. ^ Bertin 1986, p. 156.
12. ^ Sesonske 1980, p. 380.
13. Sesonske 1980, p. 387.
14. ^ Bertin 1986, p. 159.
15. Cardullo 2005, p. 4.
16. Sesonske 1980, p. 386.
17. Sesonske 1980, p. 392.
18. Sesonske 1980, p. 421.
19. Bergan 1997, p. 199.
20. ^ Sesonske 1980, p. 413.
21. Bergan 1997, pp. 199–200.
22. Bertin 1986, pp. 159–161.
23. Drazin 2011, pp. 172–177.
24. ^ Bergan 1997, p. 200.
25. ^ Sesonske 1980, p. 381.
26. Sesonske 1980, pp. 417–418.
27. Braudy 1972, p. 249.
28. Renoir 1974, p. 169.
29. ^ DVD, Production history
30. ^ Bertin 1986, p. 161.
31. ^ DVD, Oliver Curchod
32. ^ DVD, Jean Renoir, David Thomson Omnibus
33. Bergan 1997, p. 200=201.
34. Bertin 1986, p. 160.
35. ^ Bergan 1997, p. 201.
36. The Rules of the Game DVD, Disc 2. Special Features: Mila Parély. The Criterion Collection. 2004. Spine Number 216.
37. ^ DVD, Alan Renoir
38. Cardullo 2005, p. 44.
39. ^ DVD, Jean Renoir, Le Patron
40. ^ Bertin 1986, p. 163.
41. ^ DVD notes, p.20
42. ^ Sesonske 1980, p. 383.
43. ^ Wakeman 1987, p. 935.
44. ^ Bertin 1986, p. 162.
45. Sesonske 1980, pp. 382–383.
46. ^ DVD, Max Douy
47. Braudy 1972, p. 209.
48. ^ Sesonske 1980, p. 384.
49. ^ Wakeman 1987, p. 936.
50. ^ Bergan 1997, p. 202.
51. Bergan 1997, p. 210.
52. Sesonske 1980, p. 417.
53. ^ Drazin 2011, p. 181.
54. Cardullo 2005, p. 6.
55. Sesonske 1980, p. 385.
56. ^ Bergan 1997, p. 205.
57. ^ Sesonske 1980, p. 438.
58. ^ Bertin 1986, p. 164.
59. Drazin 2011, p. 184.
60. Bardèche, Maurice and Brasillach, Robert. Histoire du cinéma. Pairs: Editions Robert Denoel. 1943. p. 347. ASIN B0000DOGSC.
61. "Review:'The Rules of the Game'". Variety. Retrieved June 11, 2014.
62. Sesonske 1980, p. 415.
63. ^ Braudy 1972, p. 210.
64. The Rules of the Game DVD, Disc 2. Special Features: Gaborit and Durand. The Criterion Collection. 2004. Spine Number 216.
65. The Rules of the Game DVD, Disc 1. Special Features: Differences between endings: Playing By Different Rules. The Criterion Collection. 2004. Spine Number 216.
66. Manvell, Roger. Film. London: Pelican Books. 1944, 1950 revision, p.208. ASIN B0007IWZYE.
67. Drazin 2011, p. 186.
68. Bergan 1997, p. 205-206.
69. ^ Bergan 1997, p. 206.
70. Bertin 1986, p. 230.
71. The Rules of the Game DVD, Disc 1. Special Features: Jean Renoir Introduction. The Criterion Collection. 2004. Spine Number 216.
72. Sesonske 1980, p. 441.
73. Bertin 1986, p. 165.
74. Bertin 1986, p. 168.
75. Sesonske 1980, pp. 438–439.
76. ^ Sesonske 1980, p. 439.
77. ^ Sesonske 1980, p. 440.
78. ^ "Sight & Sound Top Ten Poll: 1952". British Film Institute. Retrieved June 8, 2014.
79. Bergan 1997, p. 314.
80. Thompson, Howard (January 19, 1961). "Rules of the Game". The New York Times. Retrieved June 11, 2014. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
81. "Ikke-amerikanske film". Filmmedarbejderforeningen. Retrieved May 24, 2014.
82. Renoir 1974, p. 173.
83. Renoir 1974, p. 171.
84. Bergan 1997, p. 198.
85. Sesonske 1980, pp. 378.
86. Cardullo 2005, p. 106.
87. Renoir 1974, p. 172.
88. Drazin 2011, p. 182-183.
89. Bergan 1997, p. 203-204.
90. ^ Bergan 1997, p. 203.
91. ^ DVD notes, p. 11
92. ^ DVD notes, p.10
93. Bertin 1986, p. 157.
94. ^ Sesonske 1980, p. 437.
95. Kobal, John. John Kobal Presents the Top 100 Films. New York, New York: New American Library. 1988. ISBN 978-0-452-26146-4. pp.10-11
96. "Sight & Sound Top Ten Poll: 1962". British Film Institute. Retrieved June 8, 2014.
97. "Sight & Sound Top Ten Poll: 1972". British Film Institute. Retrieved June 8, 2014.
98. "Sight & Sound Top Ten Poll: 1982". British Film Institute. Retrieved June 8, 2014.
99. "Sight & Sound Top Ten Poll: 1992". British Film Institute. Retrieved June 8, 2014.
100. "Sight & Sound Top Ten Poll: 2002". British Film Institute. Retrieved June 8, 2014.
101. "Sight & Sound Top Ten Poll: 2012". British Film Institute. Retrieved June 8, 2014.
102. "Règle du jeu, La". British Film Institute. Retrieved June 11, 2014.
103. DVD notes, p.28
104. Bazin, Andre. Jean Renoir. New York City: Simon and Schuster. 1973. ISBN 978-0306804656. p.73.
105. "The 100 Best Films Of World Cinema". Empire Magazine. June 6, 2010.
106. Neuhoff, Éric (November 17, 2008). "Les cent plus beaux films du monde". Le Figaro. Retrieved May 24, 2014. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
107. Wakeman 1987, p. 934.
108. Braudy 1972, p. 132.
109. DVD notes, pp.5-6
110. ^ DVD notes, p.29
111. DVD notes, p.30
112. ^ DVD notes, p.33
113. DVD notes, p.32
114. ^ DVD notes, p.31
115. ^ DVD notes, p.34
116. Heinzlmeier, Adolf and Schulz, Berndt. Filme im Fernsehen, Erweiterte Neuausgabe. Hamburg: Rasch und Röhring. 1990. ISBN 3-89136-392-3. p. 766.
117. Ebert, Roger (February 29, 2004). "The Rules of the Game". rogerebert.com. Retrieved June 11, 2014.
118. Lanzoni, Remi Founier. French Cinema: From Beginnings to the Present. New York: The Continuum International Publishing Group, Inc. 2002. ISBN 0-8264-1399-4.
119. Drazin 2011, p. 328.
120. Bergan 1997, p. 315.
121. Vanneman, Alan (April 2002). "Robert Altman's Gosford Park. Not Renoir, but Not Bad". Bright Lights Film Journal. Retrieved May 24, 2014. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
122. Vanoye, Francis. La règle du jeu, film de Jean Renoir. Paris: Lindau. 1989. ISBN 978-8871806235. p. 47.
123. "Grand Illusion (1937)". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved May 31, 2014.

DVD

• The Rules of the Game (Liner notes). The Criterion Collection. 2004. Spine Number 216.
• The Rules of the Game DVD, Disc 1. Special Features: Production History. The Criterion Collection. 2004. Spine Number 216
• The Rules of the Game DVD, Disc 2. Special Features: Alain Renoir. The Criterion Collection. 2004. Spine Number 216
• The Rules of the Game DVD, Disc 2. Special Features: Jean Renoir, David Thomson Omnibus. The Criterion Collection. 2004. Spine Number 216
• The Rules of the Game DVD, Disc 2. Special Features: Max Douy. The Criterion Collection. 2004. Spine Number 216
• The Rules of the Game DVD, Disc 2. Special Features: Oliver Curchod. The Criterion Collection. 2004. Spine Number 216

Bibliography

• Bergan, Ronald (1997). Jean Renoir, Projections of Paradise. Woodstock, New York: The Overlook Press. ISBN 0-87951-537-6. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Bertin, Celia (1986). Jean Renoir: A Life in Pictures. Baltimore, Maryland: The John Hopkins University Press. ISBN 0-8018-4184-4. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Braudy, Leo (1972). Jean Renoir: The World of his Films. New York, New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc. ISBN 978-0860510055. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Cardullo, Bert (2005). Jean Renoir: Interviews. Jackson, Mississippi: University Press of Mississippi. ISBN 978-1-578-06730-5. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Drazin, Charles (2011). French Cinema. New York, New York: Farber and Farber, Inc. ISBN 978-0-571-21173-9. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Renoir, Jean (1974). My Life and My Films. New York, New York: The Capo Press. ISBN 0-306-80457-3. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Sesonske, Alexander (1980). Jean Renoir: The French Films, 1924-1939. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. ISBN 0-674-47355-8. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Wakeman, John (1987). World Film Directors, Volume 1. New York, New York: The H. W. Wilson Company. ISBN 978-0-8242-0757-1. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)

External links

• The Rules of the Game at IMDb
• The Rules of the Game at the TCM Movie Database
• Template:Amg movie
• The Rules of the Game at Rotten Tomatoes
• The Rules of the Game at Box Office Mojo
• Janus Films – Trailer.
• Complete film online at LikeTelevision
• Roger Ebert's Great Movies reflection on The Rules of the Game

Template:Sight and Sound Poll

• 1939 films
• 1930s comedy-drama films
• Adultery in films
• Art films
• Aviation films
• Black-and-white films
• Black comedy films
• Films directed by Jean Renoir
• Films set in country houses
• Films set in Paris
• Films shot in France
• French comedy-drama films
• French romantic comedy films
• French films
• French-language films
• Romantic comedy films
• Sex comedy films
• Satirical films