The Rules of the Game
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Jean Renoir
Roland Toutain
Marcel Dalio
Jean Renoir
Nora Gregor
Gaston Modot
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Record-breaking aviator Roland Toutain, fresh from a trans-Atlantic jaunt, addresses a radio audience from the tarmac, lamenting the absence of his lover, to whom he dedicated his flight. Unfortunately she's Nora Gregor, wife of Marquis Marcel Dalio, who's got mistress troubles of his own. Complicated enough when in Paris, but then the Marquis invites all to a shooting party at his chateau--with the gameskeeper, local poacher and Gregor's maid adding their own below-stairs triangle.
Director
Jean Renoir
Cast
Roland Toutain
Marcel Dalio
Jean Renoir
Nora Gregor
Gaston Modot
Richard Francoeur
Jenny Helia
Lise Elina
Odette Talazac
Mila Parely
Camille Francois
Roger Forster
Claire Gérard
Andre Zwoboda
Leon Larive
Pierre Nay
Paulette Dubost
Pierre Magnier
Eddy Debray
Nicolas Amato
Henri Cartier-bresson
Julien Carette
Anne Mayen
Tony Corteggiani
Crew
Jean-paul Alphen
Jean Bachelet
Jacques Becker
Joseph De Bretagne
Henri Cartier-bresson
Coco Chanel
Frederic Chopin
Tony Corteggiani
Roger Desormieres
Roger Desormieres
Max Douy
Camille Francois
Dido Freire
Marthe Huguet
Carl Koch
Carl Koch
Joseph Kosma
Jacques Lemare
Sam Levin
Eugene Lourie
Pierre Monsigny
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Raymond Pillon
Alain Renoir
Claude Renoir
Jean Renoir
Jean Renoir
Jean Renoir
Marguerite Renoir
Camille Saint-saens
Johann Strauss
Andre Zwoboda
Videos
Movie Clip
Hosted Intro
Film Details
Technical Specs
Articles
The Rules of the Game
A small plane lands at Orly Airport in Paris. Its pilot, Andre Jurieu (Roland Toutain), has just recreated Charles Lindbergh's solo flight and an ecstatic crowd rushes towards him. Andre, however, tells a radio reporter that he is depressed because he made the flight for a woman and she is not even there. The woman, Christine (Nora Gregor), is not only an aristocrat but also married. The potential scandal hardly fazes her husband, the Marquis de la Chesnaye (Marcel Dalio), in part because he is keeping a mistress on the side and everyone but his wife knows. Husband, wife, aviator and mistress are all invited to the Marquis' country estate for a hunting weekend. As if this were not enough romantic intrigue, the Marquis forces his gamekeeper Schumacher (Gaston Modot) to hire a poacher (Julien Carette) who lives up to his profession by attempting to poach the gamekeeper's flirtatious wife. In the middle is Octave, a friend of both the pilot and Christine, who believes he is the master of these intersecting triangles but soon finds himself ensnared as well. The film's director, Jean Renoir, appropriately enough, plays the role himself. Other members of the French aristocracy, also invited for the weekend, look on, caring nothing about the immorality of infidelity as long as everyone follows the rules of the game.
Renoir later said that he intended "nothing avant-garde but a good little orthodox film." While listening to French baroque music, he reflected on the romantic farces of the 18th century, usually involving aristocrats and servants. Why not write a similar story, but set it among the modern day French aristocracy? Unfortunately, the timing was against him. When the film opened in Paris July 7, 1939, war with Germany was only two months away and French audiences were in no mood to see their ruling classes shown as frivolous, wasteful adulterers. Renoir said, "At every session I attended I could feel the unanimous disapproval of the audience. I tried to save the film by shortening it, and to start with I cut the scenes in which I myself played too large a part, as though I were ashamed, after this rebuff, of showing myself on the screen. But it was useless." The film closed in three weeks and was banned as "demoralizing." After the Nazis invaded, Renoir went to the United States to direct and his Marquis, Marcel Dalio, accepted Hollywood character parts, most famously as the croupier at Rick's Cafe Americain in Casablanca (1942). As the seemingly final epitaph for The Rules of the Game, U.S. and British planes bombed the warehouse where the negative was stored, destroying it.
After World War II, prints of The Rules of the Game played occasionally in France, cut by 20 minutes from its premiere length. However, in 1956, two film lab technicians, Jean Gaborit and Jacques Marechal, found 224 boxes recovered from the bombing. They contained bits and pieces of elements used to assemble the original film. With the help of Renoir, the two technicians painstakingly restored the film to slightly shorter than its original 113 minutes. Renoir said, "There is only one scene missing in this reconstruction, a scene that isn't very important. It's a scene with me and Toutain that deals with the maids' sexual interest."
The newly restored film premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 1959 and was hailed as a rediscovered masterpiece. In Sight and Sound's International Critic's Poll of 1962, The Rules of the Game was voted the third best film of all time after Citizen Kane (1941) and L¿vventura (1960). By the 1972 poll, it rose to second best and has remained there in each tally of this poll since.
Producer: Claude Renoir
Director: Jean Renoir
Screenplay: Camille Francois, Carl Koch, Jean Renoir, Andre Zwoboda
Production Design: Max Douy, Eugene Lourie
Cinematography: Jean Bachelet
Costume Design: Coco Chanel
Film Editing: Marguerite Renoir
Original Music: Roger Desormieres
Principal Cast: Nora Gregor (Christine de La Chesnaye), Jean Renoir (Octave), Marcel Dalio (Robert de La Chesnaye), Paulette Dubost (Lisette), Roland Toutain (Andre Jurieux), Pierre Magnier (Le General), Gaston Modot (Schumacher), Julien Carette (Marceau), Mila Parely (Genevieve de Marras).
BW-107m.
by Brian Cady
The Rules of the Game
The Rules of the Game - THE RULES OF THE GAME - Jean Renoir's 1939 Masterpiece in a High-Definition Digital Restoration from The Criterion Collection
The film opens on the charge of celebration as young aviator Andre Jurieux (Roland Toutain) lands in Paris after setting a speed record for crossing the Atlantic. While the crowds cheer, this hero emerges morose and dejected and commits a serious social faux pas when he confesses his disappointment that a particular woman is not waiting for him. In essence, he alludes to an affair on national radio. To avert a scandal, the cultured Robert de la Chesnaye (Marcel Dalio), husband to the aviator's mistress Christine (Nora Gregor) and a philanderer in his own right, invites all to a weekend hunting party in his country mansion.
The complicated maze of marriages and mistresses (both social register and servant class alike) that ensues combines the contours of a sophisticated bedroom comedy and a slapstick sex farce with a caustic view of class and the social code of manners and behavior - the "rules of the game" of the title - as played in a microcosm of French society. The frivolous high-society guests obliviously gossip, hunt, and fool around in a weekend in the country hosted by the bloodless, bored Chesnaye. While his wife Christine, the daughter of an Austrian conductor and a foreigner out of place in his social circle, dances around the moony attentions of the achingly sincere and socially naïve Andre, a similar triangle plays out in the servants quarters as a slapstick farce when a garrulous rabbit poacher (the hilarious Julien Carette, playing his part like an impulsive imp) is taken on as a domestic and proceeds to seduce the flirtatious young wife of the humorless Teutonic gamekeeper.
The parallel upstairs downstairs romantic triangles are the stuff of Shakespeare comedy, all social bearing and emotions hidden behind a cultivated manner, a kind of courtly dignity covering over the strife, among the guests while the less restrained servants are direct, earthy, crude and comic. That knockabout kitchen comedy leavens the seriousness of the social drama but reveals the cruelty and ferocity of emotion under the surface, while the prejudices (especially an unsetting streak of anti-Semitism, which the Jewish host quite purposely overlooks in his social assimilation), class divisions and social contracts that span all levels of the household are revealed in the distorting funhouse mirror reflection of the two classes.
Renoir himself takes a pivotal role as the jolly go-between and mediator, the eternal houseguest who becomes soured by the game when he realizes how hollow and meaningless it all is. He has a weary affection for these shallow creatures and foolish folk, who may be driven by their hearts, but when faced with the consequences of their actions they fall back on the learned instinct of social codes and proper decorum. The famous catch-phrase, "Everyone has his reasons" (the full line, spoken by Renoir's character, translates to "The terrible thing about this world is that everyone has their reasons") is transformed by Renoir from a statement of tolerance to a dismissal of behavior to ultimately an apologist's impotent excuse for the inexcusable by the tragic conclusion. and the film ends not so much with condemnation as disappointment, which is much more devastating.
The Rules of the Game is, to my mind, the greatest film of Renoir career. His direction is fluid and organic, a result of his improvisational approach to staging and his own rewriting during shooting as the characters defined themselves on the set, and he weaves the storylines and criss-crossing characters with such effortlessness that it never feels contrived. The hunt, by contrast, is less sport that slaughter, a weekend lark that turns thoughtlessly vicious and cruel as the party picks off one animal after another for no reason other than convention. The scene, which Renoir edits at an increasingly rapid, pace of rifles blasting and animals shot dead (this is pre-Humane Society filmmaking, so you can be assured that animals WERE harmed in the making of this film) and concludes with a rabbit shaking in its death throes, is as affecting today as it was then. It's not to show them as bloodthirsty and cruel but unfeeling and blithely destructive, playing at games of love and death while ignoring a genuine horror brewing in Europe, but the effect was the same for audiences of the day, who rejected this portrait of French society with a vengeance. Perhaps, as Renoir mused later, it was too perceptive and they didn't like seeing themselves revealed so nakedly on the screen. Or perhaps, all the anxiety of war hanging over them, people were in no mood to acknowledge the failings of their own culture. Whatever the reason, the film was routinely booed at screenings, withdrawn and reedited, ultimately losing about half an hour of footage, and finally banned by the government. Renoir was devastated.
It was only in 1959, after two young film technicians uncovered a cache of heretofore lost reels of negatives and film footage and (with the blessing and guidance of Renoir) reconstructed the original cut (Renoir said it was only missing one unimportant scene), that the film was reassessed and recognized as a masterpiece. The bittersweet treatment of the characters doesn't skimp on the bitter, but there is also a measured compassion for them, a formal beauty to the film's construction and a graceful handling of the ensemble as the characters change partners and dance without skipping a step. That mix of poetic realism, social satire, sophisticated high-society drama and slapstick farce may capture a particular place and time, but the human story is timeless.
Criterion originally released this on DVD in 2004 in what was then a state-of-the-art edition. It's been newly remastered in a high-definition digital restoration, which brings out greater detail, depth and texture. As it is mastered from a reconstruction of a film that was drastically re-edited after its release, from whatever materials survived (the original negative was destroyed in during World War II), the greater detail reveals more of the wear and damage, but that is an honest trade-off. Criterion was able to digitally clean up most of the scratches, grit and wear, and what's left is the legacy of film and time.
The Blu-ray and the new DVD editions both feature the supplements of the earlier DVD release, a mix of original and archival presentations. Created for the 2004 release is a commentary track written by film scholar Alexander Sesonske and read by filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich, plus select scene commentary by Renoir historian Christopher Faulkner. Faulkner also contributes very effective video comparisons between the cut version and the 1959 reconstruction (and discusses how the longer 1959 film differs from Renoir's original cut) and a more detailed comparison between the endings of the two versions by film historian, offers in-depth analyses of two scenes and provides an interview on the production history. There are also contemporary interviews with set designer Max Douy, Renoir's son, Alain, and actress Mila Parély.
Among the archival supplements are an introduction to the film by Jean Renoir (which he filmed in the sixties for a television showing of the film), the episode La Regle et l'Exception from the 1966 French TV documentary series Jean Renoir le Patron (directed by Jacques Rivette and featuring interviews with Renoir and actor Marcel Dalio), the first part of David Thompson's 1995 BBC documentary Jean Renoir (an hour long) and archival interviews with Jean Gaborit and Jacques Durand (who reconstructed the film in 1959). Also includes an accompanying booklet with an essay by Alexander Sesonske, archival pieces by Renoir and Henri Cartier-Bresson (who was renoir's assistant on the film) and tributes by Francois Truffaut, Paul Schrader, Bertrand Tavernier, Wim Wenders, and others.
For more information about The Rules of the Game, visit The Criterion Collection. To order The Rules of the Game, go to TCM Shopping.
by Sean Axmaker
The Rules of the Game - THE RULES OF THE GAME - Jean Renoir's 1939 Masterpiece in a High-Definition Digital Restoration from The Criterion Collection
The Rules of the Game
Still, first-time viewers might end up scratching their heads. Rules of the Game swings from melodrama to drawing room satire to farce without settling on a Big Theme. There's none of the blatant visual effects of say Citizen Kane or Breathless, none of the epic sweep of The Godfather II or The Birth of a Nation, none of the focused intensity of Tokyo Story or The Big Sleep. Compared to what's usually presented as a Great Film, Rules of the Game might seem like it's in the wrong company.
But now the best possible introduction to this elusive landmark has appeared in the Criterion Collection's double-DVD for Rules of the Game. At the center, of course, is the film itself, looking astonishingly sharp, not because the earlier film or video versions seemed lacking but because nobody realized the movie itself had ever looked like this. This is even more remarkable considering that the negative was destroyed during a WW2 bombing raid and almost makes a reviewer regret ever calling another DVD transfer a "revelation." Details like facial expressions or decor spring out, all the more important in a film crammed with action and deep-focus shots. Even the sound, never the clearest even considering that this was a 30s independent production, has needed clarity.
The story in Rules of the Game is deceptively casual and meandering at times - at least the first time you see it. The film opens with the arrival of a Lindbergh-like aviator who has just completed a solo Atlantic flight. He receives a rapturous greeting when he arrives at the French airfield but instead of basking in the glory he instead announces over the radio his disappointment that the woman he loves wasn't there to meet him. The woman, as it turns out, is married and from here Rules spins outward to the woman's husband, his mistress, the aviator's best friend, the chambermaid the friend is trying to seduce, the chambermaid's gamekeeper husband. You begin to get the idea (or at least its outline), especially when the whole cast is thrown into close quarters during a retreat at a country home.
Despite the passing resemblance to a soap opera, Rules is after more than just romantic permutations. Nearly every character in the film is driven by what they can and can't do, even if they aren't entirely aware of this. They aren't rebels necessarily and the attempts at introspection seem almost more like they're justifying something they want to do anyway. In fact, Rules is almost novelistic in its character shifts and conflicting motives, similar perhaps to Jane Austen who can also appear superficially soapy without closer attention. The aviator's passion turns out to be perhaps something less noble, the gamekeeper is almost a stock comic character until the viewer discovers his depth of emotional attachment, the husband almost more a control aficionado than a Gallic lover. As one character remarks early in the film, everybody has their reasons (a comment that's been pulled out and attributed to Renoir much like Fritz Lang's comment about Cinemascope in Contempt). The catch, and what makes Rules so fascinating, is that those reasons aren't always very clear or consistent. The characters appear to move and live as people, not act out the decisions of a man behind the curtain.
Criterion has packed the set with bonus material to help approach the film. There's an audio commentary by Alexander Sesonske read by Peter Bogdanovich that teases out much insightful material though it's hard not to wish the reading was a bit more lively. Historian Christopher Faulkner analyzes in detail two scenes which only makes you wish he could have done the same for the entire film. There are a couple of short pieces about the film's production, two documentaries on Renoir, interviews with key figures, written tributes from various critics and filmmakers. In short, a full array of material that will help immerse you in Rules of the Game.
For more information about The Rules of the Game, visit Criterion Collection. To order The Rules of the Game, go to TCM Shopping.
by Lang Thompson
The Rules of the Game
Quotes
Trivia
Director Jean Renoir recut the film numerous times, due to poor initial reception and damage to the negatives during World War II.
When the film opened in 1939, initial reception of it was so bad that one viewer lit a newspaper and tried to burn the theater that it was playing in. There were even threats to other theaters.
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 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.
Miscellaneous Notes
Released in United States 2012
Released in United States January 2000
Released in United States July 1990
Released in United States on Video October 1986
Re-released in United States November 1, 2006
Re-released in United States on Video May 27, 1992
Shown at The Public Theater (Renoir Retrospective) in New York City July 15 & 17, 1990.
Shown in New York City (Cinema Village) as part of Janus Films 40th Anniversary Film Festival December 13, 1996 - January 2, 1997.
Initial video release in USA in 1986 by Nelson Entertainment and 1992 video release is through Home Vision Cinema.
New 35mm restored print released in New York City (Film Forum) November 1, 2006.
Began shooting February 1939.
Completed shooting March 1939.
Re-released in Paris (cut version) September 26, 1945.
Released in United States 2012 (Guest Artistic Director - Bernardo Bertolucci)
Released in United States January 2000 (Shown in New York City (Anthology Film Archives) as part of program "Kino International Retrospective" January 6-27, 2000.)
Re-released in United States on Video May 27, 1992
Released in United States July 1990 (Shown at The Public Theater (Renoir Retrospective) in New York City July 15 & 17, 1990.)
Released in United States on Video October 1986
Re-released in Paris April 23, 1965.
Re-released in United States November 1, 2006 (Film Forum; New York City)