The Rules of the Game, 1939.
Directed by Jean Renoir.
Starring Nora Gregor, Paulette Dubost, Mila Parély, Marcel Dalio, Julien Carette, Roland Toutain, Gaston Modot, Pierre Magnier, and Jean Renoir.
SYNOPSIS:
Let’s play “What’s old is new again” and dive into the 1939 classic The Rules of the Game by renowned French director Jean Renoir. Criterion has issued it in a new 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray edition, and it’s a great time to realize that this story of wealthy French people behaving poorly during a weekend getaway to a lavish estate has plenty of comparison points to the modern era. As always, Criterion has also packed this one with extras.
Any time I wonder if social media has made people more boorish, or if they’ve always been that way, I think about a movie like Jean Renoir’s The Rules of the Game and realize the latter. This is a story that wouldn’t be hard to transplant from France on the cusp of World War II to a United States that seems to be on the edge of a civil war.
Jean Renoir’s classic opens with a celebration of an historic trans-Atlantic flight by the pilot Andre Jurieu (Roland Toutain), who is having an affair with the wife of a wealthy marquis and expects her to be there to greet him when she lands.
When that doesn’t happen, his friend Octave (played by the director) consoles him and notes that he’s managed to get the two of them invited to a weekend hunting party at the marquis’ estate. The marquis is in turn having his own affair, and the presence of the four romantically linked partners creates questions about what will be revealed and how.
Meanwhile, the staff at the chateau have their own dalliances happening, and their entanglements begin to become intertwined with those of the marquis and his guests. I don’t think I’m spoiling anything when I say that this bubbling cauldron of emotions eventually boils over with tragic results, but no consequences for those of wealth and privilege.
Lest you think this is a dour movie, however, rest assured that there’s plenty of situational humor to be found here too. Renoir’s goal was to use a comedy of manners to critique France’s insulated aristocratic society of the 1930s, and he was, in fact, so successful that the film was heavily edited upon its release. It wasn’t reconstructed and presented in its current form until 1959.
Criterion’s new edition of the movie features a 4K restoration that looks magnificent on the 4K Ultra HD disc and just a few degrees shy of that adjective on the Blu-ray platter that’s included too. I last checked out this film on DVD, so I’m not sure about the differences between this one and the Blu-ray issued in 2011, but here’s what you’ll find in the bonus features department:
• The audio commentary is a bit of an oddity: It features director Peter Bogdanovich reading an essay by film scholar Alexander Sesonske. I’m not sure I’ve come across a commentary track like that before, but, like so many of Criterion’s commentaries, it’s a thorough examination of the film.
The commentary is on both discs. The Blu-ray houses the rest of the extras:
• A 6.5-minute introduction by Renoir.
• Playing by Different Rules (13 minutes): Film writer Chris Faulkner discusses the differences between the original version of the movie and the restored one, which runs 25 minutes longer. (I’m not sure if the original is available anywhere.)
• Scene Analyses (9 minutes): Faulkner returns to examine two scenes from the film.
• Jean Renoir, le patron (31.25 minutes): Created for French TV in the late 1960s, this documentary features the director talking about the making of the film. Actor Marcel Dalio also makes an appearance to discuss it with him.
• Jean Renoir (60 minutes): This is the first half of a documentary about Renoir’s life, taking us from his birth to the beginning of World War II, when The Rules of the Game was released.
• Production History (46 minutes): Three featurettes comprise this extra. Each is a video essay. The first is Faulkner’s discussion of the film’s production. Then critic Olivier Curchod talks about the movie’s less-than-desirable reception when it premiered. Finally, Jean Gaborit and Jacques Durand look back on the work they did in 1959 to restore the original version of the film.
• Interviews (43.5 minutes):This is a trio of interviews with production designer Max Douy, actress Mila Parély, and Alain Renoir, the director’s son who was also the second assistant cameraman for the film.
Finally, we have Criterion’s usual excellent booklet, which runs 40 pages and features a batch of essays, Renoir’s original synopsis for the film, and more.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★
Brad Cook
Originally published June 19, 2023. Updated April 22, 2024.
