The Rules of the Game
Directed by: Jean Renoir
Written by: Jean Renoir
Starring: Marcel Dalio, Nora Gregor, Roland Toutain, Jean Renoir

This week I finally caught up with a movie that many consider to be one of the greatest films in the history of cinema; Jean Renoir’s The Rules of the Game. While I’m not sure it would top my own personal list of all-time favourites, it’s certainly a fantastic piece of cinema that’s full of humour, drama, and some wonderful characters.

The film begins with a radio broadcaster interviewing aviator André Jurieux, who’d just landed after accomplishing a record setting flight around the world. His friend Octave (played by Jean Renoir) informs André that the woman for which he dedicated his flight didn’t show up to greet him. We eventually learn that Christine, the woman over which André is obsessing, is actually the wife of an aristocrat named Robert de la Cheyniest. Robert hasn’t been exactly faithful himself, having been involved in a three year relationship with a woman named Geneviève. On the verge of hosting a large hunting party, Robert attempts to break off his affair with Geneviève claiming he’s ready to settle down with Christine. Meanwhile, André’s friend Octave, who has known Christine for many years, manages to secure the famous aviator an invitation to the hunting party in hopes to convince Christine that she and his good friend were meant to be together. On top of all of this, the hired help are dealing with their own love triangle which plays out simultaneously throughout the film.

It took some time for me to warm up to this film as I’d gone in to it expecting something immediately comedic right from the get go. It does take the film some time to set up all of the various characters and plot points. However, once Renoir brings everyone together for the hunting party, he really has fun with the volatility of the situation. The film turns into a comedy of manners, reminiscent of much of Woody Allen’s filmography and even a bit of Curb Your Enthusiasm. Renoir indulges in the emotional instability and reckless infatuations of these self-centred characters, who seem completely oblivious to whatever marital commitments they (or others) are engaged in. While the servants resort to threats of violence as a result of their own love triangles, the French bourgeoisie delicately navigate their precious social rules in an attempt to remain civilized in dealing with their issues. This of course starts to fall apart in the final act of the film as everyone loses their cool and the entire engagement turns into a chaotic, uncivilized farce. The film is a sharply comic yet critical (and controversial) satire of the French upper class.

For those with sensitivities towards animals, there’s an extended hunting sequence in the film that features some real-life on-screen rabbit and pheasant kills. It’s a finely staged and expertly directed sequence that seems to take shots at the affluent lifestyle of the characters. With the formation of groups like the American Humane Association (as a result of the death of a horse during the 1939 film Jesse James), this is definitely a sequence that wouldn’t fly in Hollywood (or France) nowadays. No, the controversy surrounding the film had nothing to do with the death of the animals, but rather the representation of the rich. The Criterion release of The Rules of the Game contains the restored 106 minute cut of the film. Initially, Renoir premiered a 94 minute version in Paris and was met with an overall negative response from the audience and critics. Disappointed and feeling pressure from the studio, he cut the film down to 81 minutes. It wasn’t until the original negative was destroyed during a WWII bombing that the film was restored to the length it’s at now (with one scene which remained unrecovered). In 1959, the new cut was screened at the Venice Film Festival to rave reviews and has gone on to be considered one of the greatest films of all time. It’s a distinction that’s throw around all too often and in this case, seems slightly hyperbolic. That said, The Rules of the Game is certainly an influential and stylistically unique piece of filmmaking.

The blu ray of The Rules of the Game is quite good, although the film definitely shows its age. There’s minimal print dirt and scratches throughout, but for the most part the image is fairly clean. There are moments where the image seems soft, but I’m fairly certain this is inherent to the photography and nothing to do with the transfer. In short, The Rules of the Game looks great considering its age and its history. The special features give us a look at the differences between the various cuts of the film, including a comparison of the two endings. Peter Bogdonavich gives an unusual commentary in which he reads the writings of film scholar Alexander Sesonske, making me wish for something a little less formal. The rest of the features focus on Renoir himself and the production of the film. These include the first part of a two-part 1993 BBC documentary on Renoir by film critic David Thompson, and excerpts from a 1966 French television program called Jean Renoir, le patron: La Règle et l’exception. Overall it’s a solid package that gives a fair amount of history on the troubled life of this classic film. — Jay C.

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