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Cover (Photo: Criterion)

THE RULES OF THE GAME
Directed by: Jean Renoir.
Produced by: Claude Renoir, Sr.
Written by: Jean Renoir & Carl Koch.
Director of Photography: Jean Bachelet.
Edited by: Marguerite Renoir.
Music by: Roger Désormières & Joseph Kosma.
Released by: Criterion.
Country of Origin: France (1939). 106 min. Not Rated.
With: Marcel Dalio, Nora Grégor, Roland Toutain, Jean Renoir, Mila Parély & Odette Talazac.


DVD Features:
Disc One: Introduction by Jean Renoir. Commentary written by film scholar Alexander Sesonske and read by director Peter Bogdanovich. Side-by-side comparison of the two endings of the film and Renoir's shooting script. Scene analysis by Renoir historian Christopher Faulkner.

Disc Two: Excerpts from Jean Renoir, le patron: La Règle et l'exception, a French television program directed by Jacques Rivette. Part one of Jean Renoir, a two-part 1993 BBC documentary by David Thompson. Production history video essay. Jean Gaborit and Jacques Durand discussion on reconstruction and rerelease of the film. New Interviews with Renoir's son, Alain, and Rules set designer Max Douy. 1995 interview with actress Mila Parély. Written tributes by J. Hoberman, Kent Jones, Paul Schrader Wim Wenders and others. A 24-page booklet. English subtitles.

On the surface, Jean Renoir's cinematic milestone appears to be just what its opening title card declares: "A Whimsical Drama." But upon repeated viewing and closer inspection, this farcical tale of marital infidelities - within the upper class clique, as well as among their equally capricious servants - is a derisive social critique of an idle and corrupt French bourgeois society on the verge of World War II.

The film's introduction to the various characters is a somewhat slow beginning, as none are particularly established as the central interest. Thus, each is only a passing encounter. However, once the action commences at the château de La Colinière, the countryside estate housing a weekend party for an aristocratic group of friends, the pace quickens and refuses to slow down until the fateful end. The hunting scene, in which the guests shoot down scampering rabbits and birds, remains the most captivating yet disturbing - hence the most powerful - sequence in the entire film. A jealous husband's pursuit for his wife's slippery lover becomes entangled with another adulterous chase around the mansion, resulting in a slapstick jaunt that will eventually end with a murder. This is indicative of the film's seemingly lighthearted approach to its more serious subject matter, constantly shifting from comedy to tragedy.

Having shown his filmmaking expertise behind the camera with his use of deep focus and extended takes, Renoir is also a delight to watch in front of the camera, acting as the loyal go-between Octave. While some of the other performances are a bit over-the-top as was the style at the time (especially Nora Grégor as Christine), the exaggerated performances do not deter from the timeless quality of the film.

DVD Extras: This DVD, covering all aspects of the film from inception and production to technical and historical merit, belongs on every film buff's shelf. The two-disc set provides a breathtakingly comprehensive array of features worthy of Renoir's celebrated film. A BBC documentary elegantly showcases the details of Renoir's early life and how the filmmaker was influenced by the myriad of artists around him (including his father, the legendary Impressionist painter Auguste Renoir). However, the most fascinating features are provided by Renoir historian Christopher Faulkner. Renoir's control of movement and depth of field is a marvel deftly explored in Faulkner's scene analysis, and Faulkner also closely examines the two endings of the film, the 1939 original and the 1959 reconstruction. His analysis of editing changes and absent scenes in the 1939 version reveals a much more cynical and unsympathetic portrayal of its bourgeois players, somewhat exonerate the film's harsh reviews upon its opening. Despite its negative reception and commercial failure 65 years ago, The Rules of the Game is now considered by film critics to be one of the greatest films ever made, and Criterion won't let you soon forget it. This is no more apparent than in "Tributes," a collection of writings by an assembly of directors and scholars singing Renoir's praises, as well as in the accompanying DVD booklet, containing more written tributes by François Truffaut, Henri Cartier-Bresson, and Bertrand Tavernier. Kim Reyes, contributing editor
March 7, 2004

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