130. La Regle Du Jeu (The Rules Of The Game) (1939)

Directed By Jean Renoir

Synopsis

Setting is the same as Gosford Park, some characters are different and the murder happens right at the end. Oh and it is a much better film. Recapping: There's masters and servants, masters have big get together at country house, someone gets killed.

Review

Whatever possessed the sadly departed Robert Altman to make a film strongly based on La Regle Du Jeu only with British (i.e. boring, uptight, represed and WASPish) characters instead of French is a secret that he took to the grave with him.

Regle Du Jeu is a superior film, and I am not saying this just because. At first glance it is a very entertaining, very well shot and beautiful film., At a deeper level it is a political statement which is at the same time funny and tragic. This is a film that I think pretty much anyone can enjoy, it is extremely fast paced and witty, the sets are amazing, and <sexism> for the ladies the clothing is all Chanel </sexism>. Then it is a terrible indictment of the bourgeoisie in the late 30's. They are portrayed as care-free and fun-loving, but also childish and not aware of the consequences of their actions, as well as casually brutal as represented by the Watership Down that is the hunting scene.

It might seem to us quite astonishing that the film was banned in France when it came out because of its portrayal of the higher classes, like my wife says, "Vive La Revolution!". But at an age where the status quo was there to be upheld this is a film which tears it down, gently but determinately. All the characters are in fact sympathetic but also silly. The film starts out as a farce, and it is a farce for almost the whole time until the last 10 minutes. Another great feature of this film is just how French it is, the dialogues as well as the attitudes to life could have come out of no other country, it is almost a caricature of laissez faire and promiscuity mixed with a certain pretentiousness in the higher classes. Jean Renoir reveals himself as a brilliant actor, as much as a brilliant director, his character of Octave is one of the best in a film populated with fascinating characters.

The film is brilliant and a lot of fun, you owe yourself to watch it, so get it from Amazon UK or US.

Final Grade

10/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

The film was initially condemned for its satire on the French upper classes and was greeted with derision by a Parisian crowd on its première. The upper class is depicted in this film as capricious and self-indulgent, with little regard for the consequences of their actions. The French government duly banned it, but after the War it has come to be seen by many film critics and directors as one of the greatest films of all time.

The Rules of the Game is noted for its use of deep focus so that events going on in the background are as important as those in the foreground.

In a 1954 interview with Jacques Rivette and François Truffaut, reprinted in Jean Renoir: Interviews, Renoir said "Working on the script inspired me to make a break and perhaps get away from naturalism completely, to try to touch on a more classical, more poetic genre." He admitted that he wrote and rewrote it several times, often abandoning his original intentions altogether upon interaction with the actors having witnessed reactions that he hadn't foreseen. As a director he sought to "get closer to the way in which characters can adapt to their theories in real life while being subjected to life’s many obstacles that keep us from being theoretical and from remaining theoretical".

The film has been a favorite with other filmmakers. One example is Robert Altman's Gosford Park which copied many of its plot elements (a story of aristocrats in the country, aristocrats and their servants, murder) and pays homage with a direct reference to the infamous hunting scene.


Trailer: