Film Review: The Rules of the Game (La Règle du jeu, 1939)
1939 was an annus mirabilis for Hollywood, famed for an unusually high number of films that became beloved classics, withstanding the test of time. It was also supposed to be an annus mirabilis for French cinema, which was at the time giving Hollywood a run for its money. A new prestigious film festival was about to open in Cannes, and Jean Renoir, one of the most celebrated film-makers at the time, was about to make another record at the box office with another film masterpiece.
His film The Rules of the Game instead became a major disaster before, in a twist of fate so loved by film historians, slowly building a reputation as one of the greatest films ever made.
The film begins when aviator André Jurieux (played by Roland Toutain) lands at Le Bourget airport after breaking a new record with a transatlantic flight. Instead of being happy over his achievement, Jurieux is devastated to learn that Christine (played by Nora Gregor), the woman who had inspired him to his feat, didn’t come to greet him. He makes his feelings known to everyone during a radio broadcast. Christine is married to the wealthy Marquis Robert de la Chesnaye (played by Marcel Dalio), who is apparently aware of Christine's flirtations while himself having an extramarital liaison with Geneviève de Marras (played by Mila Parély). André’s best friend Octave (played by Renoir) arranges for him to be invited for a weekend gathering at Robert’s large country estate.
There, Robert’s stout gamekeeper Edouard Schumacher (played by Gaston Modot) catches Marceau (played by Julien Carette), a poacher. Robert is, however, so impressed with Marceau’s rabbit-snaring skills that he gives him a job at his estate. Marceau afterwards begins to flirt with Lisette (played by Paulette Dubost), Christine's maid, who also happens to be Schumacher’s wife.
With a budget of 2.5 million francs (which more than doubled during the production), The Rules of the Game became the most expensive film in the history of French cinema by that time. Any hope Renoir had of getting that money back was crushed after a disastrous premiere, when the audience reacted with open hostility, followed by an apparent lack of enthusiasm from the critics. Renoir tried to save his studio from bankruptcy by drastically cutting the running time to 80 minutes, but it was in vain. A few months after the premiere, the Second World War started, and the French government considered The Rules of the Game, just like many great films of the period, to be too “demoralising” and had it banned. Renoir soon afterwards left for Hollywood, where he would continue his career for the rest of the war. His film was nearly lost, with the negative being destroyed in an Allied bombing raid during the Nazi occupation of France.
Only after the war did copies become available, creating great enthusiasm among a small but influential group of cinephiles. This led the British magazine Sight & Sound to name it one of the best 10 films in its famous ten-year poll, a position which, unlike any other film, it has kept to this day. In the meantime, Renoir was working on a reconstruction, resulting in a 106-minute version released in 1956, which is considered definitive.
Enthusiasm for The Rules of the Game among cinephiles can be best explained by its modern and polished visuals, which make it look like a film way ahead of its time. A lot of credit for that should go to the slick black-and-white cinematography by Jean Bachelet and the use of deep focus, an innovative technique that would be put to even better use two years later by Orson Welles in Citizen Kane. Renoir, who co-wrote the script with Carl Koch, also extensively used a moving camera, especially in the scenes that take place within Robert’s chateau and follow a large number of protagonists during their chaotic and humorous interactions. He also shows great skill with rapid editing, especially during the hunt scene.
Renoir’s talents were complemented by a large and diverse cast, which included some actors who had worked with him in his previous films. Marcel Dalio, who plays the Marquis, is one of the best known of them, probably on account of playing the croupier in Casablanca a few years later. Julien Carette, a popular vaudeville entertainer who appeared in The Grand Illusion, is great in the role of comic relief. The same can be said of Paulette Dubost, a young comedienne whose role of the coquettish maid grew during the shooting because Renoir was so impressed with her performance. Renoir, despite being critical towards himself in later interviews, actually delivers a more than solid performance in the role of Octave.
Not all casting decisions were perfect. The role of Christine, a woman who inadvertently becomes a femme fatale and object of contention among three men, is played by Nora Gregor, an Austrian-Jewish actress who had escaped the Anschluss and whom Renoir met by accident and, according to some sources, fell in love with. Gregor, whose real-life background was written into her character, tries hard in her role, but simply doesn’t look glamorous and irresistible enough to convince the audience that she could cause such mayhem. Anne Mayen, who appears in the small role of Christine’s niece, serves mostly as eye candy.
Ironically, the reason why The Rules of the Game flopped at the box office was exactly the same reason why it was lauded afterwards. Renoir originally envisioned it as a farcical romantic comedy with some mild social commentary in the tradition of classic French plays like Beaumarchais’s The Marriage of Figaro (which is actually quoted at the beginning) and Alfred de Musset’s The Moods of Marianne (which served as inspiration for the early version of the script). Although the actual production was, by all accounts, a very happy occasion for all involved, Renoir’s mood began to be affected by escalating political tensions in Europe and the apparently unstoppable rise of Fascism – the defeat of the Spanish Republic and Hitler’s takeover of Czechoslovakia. The increased likelihood of a new world war was reflected in the script, which was getting more serious and darker tones. That included the scene of the hunt, depicted as a brutal massacre of helpless animals, scenes of semi-comical violence that escalate to less comical forms as the film goes on, and lead to a tragic finale, wrapped in bitter irony in the last scene.
Renoir, known for his leftist beliefs, tried to capture the general mood of his country, being especially critical towards its upper classes, whose selfishness and shallowness he considered to be responsible for the rise of fascism in Europe and the increasing threat to his own country. Representatives of the French elite are shown as shallow, hypocritical, corrupt, and obsessed with “the game” or, to be more precise, maintaining the illusion of their superiority. Renoir, on the other hand, is also critical towards the lower classes, represented by Robert’s staff, which, when dining together, indulges in remarks that show their anti-Semitism. It is those characters and their inability to play “the game” that makes the final tragedy possible.
Renoir’s criticism is reflected in André, a character who is supposed to be a national hero, being portrayed as a pathetic, near-suicidal wreck. The French public, needless to say, wasn’t very happy with the way their society was portrayed, and that reflected in its initial rejection of the film. Ironically, after the German occupation and other traumatic experiences of the war, The Rules of the Game became prophetic and a convenient cinematic explanation of the social mores that made national humiliation possible. As such, the reputation of Renoir’s film quickly grew, and by the 1950s it became a major inspiration for the new generation of film-makers of the French New Wave.
Although some viewers might find it not as grand as such a reputation might suggest, many who view it today might find that at least some of that reputation, if not the most important part, was quite justified.
RATING: 8/10 (+++)
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