The Rules of the Game

The Rules of the Game (original French title: La Règle du jeu) is a 1939 film about upper-class French society just before the start of World War II. It is often cited as one of the greatest films in the history of cinema. Directed by Jean Renoir. Written by Jean Renoir and Carl Koch. Robert de la Cheyniest Excuse me. You know you're no fool; you're a poet, a dangerous poet. [to Schumacher] I have no choice but to dismiss you. It breaks my heart, but I can't expose my guests to your firearms. It may be wrong of them, but they value their lives. Lisette Friendship with a man? That's asking for moonlight at midday. Marceau A laughing woman is disarmed, you can do what you like. You tried to better me by making me a servant. I'll never forget it. Christine de la Cheyniest Telling lies is such a heavy weight to bear. Geneviève de Marras Love, as it exists in society, is merely the mingling of two whims and the contact of two skins. Octave The awful thing about life is this: Everybody has their reasons. You have to understand, it's the plight of all heroes today. In the air, they're terrific. But when they come back to earth, they're weak, poor, and helpless. André Jurieux That's also part of the times, today everyone lies. Dialogue Robert de la Cheyniest: Corneille! Put an end to this farce! Corneille: Which one, your lordship? Octave: I want to disappear down a hole. Robert de la Cheyniest: Why's that? Octave: So I no longer have to figure out what's right and what's wrong. Geneviève de Marras: Please give me an answer. Robert de la Cheyniest: No, I don't love you anymore. I'm fond of you, but... Geneviève de Marras: But I bore you. Robert de la Cheyniest: The words you come up with, my dear. Geneviève de Marras: The right ones. I give up. You can fight hatred, but not boredom. Well, the whole thing's getting to me, too. Seeing you play shepherd to your Viennese shepherdess, makes me want to yawn. Christine de la Cheyniest: And your lovers... what do they say to you? Lisette, sa camériste: Not much. Christine de la Cheyniest: Do they kiss you? Lisette, sa camériste: If I let them. Christine de la Cheyniest: Do they hold your hand? Lisette, sa camériste: It depends. Christine de la Cheyniest: And then what? Lisette, sa camériste: Then what? Same old story: The more you give, the more they want. About The Rules of the Game Throughout the entire last part of The Rules of the Game the camera acts like an invisible guest wandering about the salon and the corridors with a certain curiosity, but without any more advantage than its invisibility. The camera is not noticeably any more mobile than a man would be (if one grants that people run about quite a bit in this château). And the camera even gets trapped in a corner, where it is forced to watch the action from a fixed position, unable to move without revealing its presence and inhibiting the protagonists. This sort of personification of the camera accounts for the extraordinary quality of this long sequence. It is not striking because of the script or the acting, but as a result of Renoir’s half amused, half anxious way of observing the action.<p>No one has grasped the true nature of the screen better than Renoir; no one has successfully rid it of the equivocal analogies with painting and the theater. Plastically the screen is most often made to conform to the limits of a canvas, and dramatically it is modeled after the stage. With these two traditional references in mind, directors tend to conceive their images as boxed within a rectangle as do the painter and the stage director. Renoir on the other hand, understands that the screen is not a simple rectangle but rather the homothetic surface of the viewfinder of his camera. It is the very opposite of a frame. The screen is a mask whose function is no less to hide reality than to reveal it. André Bazin, "The French Renoir" in Jean Renoir (1973) I wanted to depict a society dancing on a volcano. Jean Renoir, as cited in Jean Renoir: The not so simple man, The Independent (January 20, 2006) Cast Nora Gregor - Christine de la Cheyniest Paulette Dubost - Lisette Marcel Dalio - Robert de la Cheyniest Roland Toutain - André Jurieux Jean Renoir - Octave Mila Parély - Geneviève de Marras Anne Mayen - Jackie Julien Carette - Marceau Gaston Modot - Edouard Schumacher Pierre Magnier - The General External links 0031885 The Rules of the Game 1017971-rules_of_the_game The Rules of the Game Roger Ebert's Great Movies reflection on The Rules of the Game Category:1939 French films Category:Comedy-drama films Category:Satire films Category:Foreign language films Category:Films about adultery Category:Films set in the 1930s Category:Films set in country houses