The Rules of the Game (1939)
"La règle du jeu" (original title)

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.

Director:

Jean Renoir

Writers:

Jean Renoir (scenario & dialogue), Carl Koch (collaborator)

Stars:

Nora Gregor, Paulette Dubost, Mila Parély

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Nora Gregor	...	Christine de la Cheyniest (as Nora Grégor)
Paulette Dubost	...	Lisette, sa camériste
Mila Parély	...	Geneviève de Marras
Odette Talazac	...	Madame Charlotte de la Plante
Claire Gérard	...	Madame de la Bruyère
Anne Mayen	...	Jackie, nièce de Christine
Lise Elina	...	Radio-Reporter (as Lise Élina)
Marcel Dalio	...	Marquis 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

Storyline

Aviator André Jurieux has just completed a record-setting flight, but when he is greeted by an admiring crowd, all he can say to them is how miserable he is that the woman he loves did not come to meet him. He is in love with Christine, the wife of aristocrat Robert de la Cheyniest. Robert himself is involved in an affair with Geneviève de Marras, but he is trying to break it off. Meanwhile, André seeks help from his old friend Octave, who gets André an invitation to the country home where Robert and Christine are hosting a large hunting party. As the guests arrive for the party, their cordial greetings hide their real feelings, along with their secrets - and even some of the servants are involved in tangled relationships.

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Plot Keywords:

love | servant | party | invitation | flight | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

8 April 1950 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Rules of the Game

Filming Locations:

Aubigny-sur-Nère, Cher, France

Box Office

Budget:

FRF 5,500,500 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Nouvelles Éditions de Films (NEF)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min 106 min (DVD)

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Despite now being considered by historians to be one of the best films ever made, 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 from the original cut was missing.

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Goofs

When you first see Christine and Lissette, there is a man visible in Christine's dressing-table mirror.

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Quotes

Robert de la Cheyniest: Excuse me you know you're no fool, you're a poet, a dangerous poet.

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Connections

Referenced in The Exterminating Angel (1962)

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Soundtracks

"Cors de chasse (Huntng Horns)"
(uncredited)

User Reviews

Humblingly wonderful

How can words do justice to this dream of a film? It is one of a dozen or so movies in all film history where just everything seems to have gone right. The casting is perfect, it is technically so seamless to make discussion of that side of the film crass, and the script is one of the great narratives in any medium of its century. The characterisation is absolutely matchless. I cannot think of a film with characters as rich as Lisette, the maid, la Chesnaye, the unfaithful aristocrat, Marceau the poacher, and, above all, Renoir's bumbling Octave who sets the tragic events in motion. Great dramatic art, of which this is arguably the cinema's finest example, is usually characterised by irony. La Règle du Jeu has it in spades. In the sensational final 25 minutes, when enemies become friends, and friends enemies, the cinema seems to take off in flight raising this great art to undreamed of heights. It is just so perfect, it makes you want to weep.