The Rules of the Game

1939's THE RULES OF THE GAME was my introduction to French director/writer/actor/producer Jean Renoir.  The film has been revered for decades, cited as one of the greatest ever made.  It, like several other films of its era, seemed lost for some time.  Bombings during WWII leveled the film lab in which the original negative was stored.  When a print was discovered a few years later it made the rounds at festivals in France.  This was the eighty-five minute cut, shorn from the original one-hundred and thirteen by Renoir after a less than favorable response from critics and audiences. When the movie premiered in New York in 1950, it met with poor reviews.  The original version was pieced together a few years after that and began to enjoy its current reputation.

With all the later praise, one has to consider why filmgoers were less than receptive once upon a time.  The French government even banned the movie as they felt it was dangerous in some way, influencing the youth to be callous about matters of the heart, or worse, about their own motherland.  These charges may seem reactionary, alarmist.  How sophisticated were French audiences in the days leading up to WWII?  Did they not recognize Renoir's satirical bents, or if they did, why were they offended?  THE RULES OF THE GAME is a vivid photo play of carefree coupling, a sometimes door slamming type farce (yet not really a comedy) that earns comparison with American pictures of this type, and it predates many of them.  But there are also plenty of points made about class structure, of aristocracy and their servants. Upstairs.  Downstairs.  Mainly, it's that many human failings are shared by both.

The plot mainly unfolds at the country estate, La Coliniere, of Robert Marquis de la Chesnaye (Marcel Dalio).  He's a Parisian aristrocrat who's married to Christine (Nora Gregor), a noblewoman who's recently relocated from Austria.   Robert is having an affair with Genevieve (Mila Parely).  Christine apparently has had assignations in the past with Andre (Roland Toutan), who's just set a record by flying his plane across the Atlantic.  Andre is quite distraught that Christine was not there to congratulate him, unlike his friend Octave (Jean Renoir), also a longtime confidant/platonic friend of Christine.  Lisette (Paulette Dubost) is married to Schumacher (Gaston Modot), the gamekeeper at La Coliniere, but hardly sees him as she is quite devoted to serving Christine.

I think that's everyone. Oh wait, there's also a poacher named Marceau (Julien Carette) who lands a job as a servant at the chateau.  He begins flirting with Lisette.  Meanwhile, contrivances are made to invite Andre to the estate so he can meet Genevieve.  This would nicely un-complicate a few affairs.  But our players race through hallways and parlors in jealous pursuits, sometimes with fists and firearms. Oh, those silly bourgeoisie!

Renoir, who has endlessly imaginative ideas for deep focus camerawork and complex staging, masterfully guides his cast and crew through a none too heavy, yet lacerating examination of class rituals that will nonetheless ultimately end in tragedy.  This is appropriate and perhaps somewhat predictive of the trials to come for Europe.  THE RULES OF THE GAME has been dissected in film school courses and I'm sure there are elements that perhaps have not been yet connected.  The lengthy hunting sequence in the middle of the picture alone could merit a thesis.  The film is perhaps deeply cynical of human fidelity and human nature itself.    I may have to watch it several more times to amend that opinion.  I suspect it will only be confirmed.  Check that final line.