The Rules of the Game (1939)

03/20 - LOOP Presents: Word of Mouth

The Rules of the Game (1939)
A bourgeois life in France at the onset of World War II, as the rich and their poor servants meet up at a French chateau.

Director: Jean Renoir
Writers: Jean Renoir (scenario & dialogue), Carl Koch (collaborator)
Stars: Marcel Dalio, Nora Gregor, Paulette Dubost

16mm/110min/B&W/French Language/English Subtitles

Renoir's career in France was at its pinnacle in 1939 and The Rules of the Game was eagerly anticipated. However, its premiere was met with anger and disapproval by film critics and the public. Renoir reduced the film's running time from 113 minutes to 85, but even then the film was a critical and financial disaster. In October 1939, it was banned by the wartime French government for "having an undesirable influence over the young".

For many years, the 85-minute version was the only one available, but despite this its reputation slowly grew. In 1956, boxes of original material were rediscovered and a reconstructed version of the film premiered that year at the Venice Film Festival, with only a minor scene from Renoir's first cut missing. Since then, the film has often been cited as one of the greatest films in the history of cinema. Numerous film critics and directors have praised it and cited it as an inspiration for their own work.