La Régle du jeu (The Rules of the Game)

MakeEmLaugh

Jean Renoir's La Régle du jeu (The Rules of the Game) is often cited as the greatest French film ever made, and one of the greatest films, full stop. It came fourth on the 2012 Sight & Sound list of the greatest films, as voted on by critics. It's certainly a film that was well ahead of its time. It deals with the infidelities of a collection of people spending the weekend in a country mansion, hosted by a wealthy collector of rare musical trinkets, Robert, Marquis de la Cheyniest.

Robert is married to Christine, but has been conducting an affair with Geneviève for three years. He attempts to break off this relationship before the weekend begins, but during a rabbit hunting session, Christine spots Robert and Geneviève embracing through a pair of binoculars. Christine herself is subject to the advances of André Jurieux, a pilot who, in the opening scene, is coming to the end of a 23 hour transatlantic flight in tribute to Christine. Despite his pining for Christine, André is told to see sense by his friend, Octave (played by Renoir, the director).

Like Michael Haneke's The White Ribbon, the film is set on the brink of a World War, though in this case the Second World War, and not the First, as in Haneke's film. There are a few mentions of Jewish characters, seen off-screen (and referred to as 'Yids') and even a caricatured performance featuring people with false, thick Hasidic beards, though there is no overt reference to the anti-Jewish sentiment which was sweeping through central Europe at the time. Interesting, the main love interest, Christine is an Austrian living in France.

Unlike a lot of films from the period which are considered the greatest (Citizen Kane et al), La Régle du jeu is not a study of a single character, but an ensemble piece. It is easy to see why Robert Altman would say “I learned the rules of the game from The Rules of the Game”. As in Altman's classic Nashville, events culminate in a shooting, in this case, accidental, when Schumacher, one of Robert's butler mistakes a character for someone is about to flee with his wife, Lisette (Lissette having already vowed to stay as Christine's assistant, even when Shcumacher is dismissed for pulling a gun in the mansion). Altman would even pay tribute to La Régle du jeu with Gosford Park, another film set in a country mansion (though one I haven't seen, I have to admit).

The French were certainly forward thinking in their attitude to sexuality. Almost everyone is 'fooling around' on their other half, whether it's Robert, Christine, Lisette, or even André, who kisses Jackie, Christine's niece. It's odd, when you consider that, a whole twenty years later, Otto Preminger's Anatomy of a Murder caused a stir over the use of words like 'mistress' (being, I believe, the first American film to use that term, though I could be wrong).

There is a celebrated long take, which begins at the top of the stairs, with Robert announcing the rabbit hunt, after which the camera swings to the left, and we see the guests entering and exiting their rooms, then it swings 180 degrees to the right. Though it may look primitive by today's standards, it really shows the scope of the sets, and a direct line can be drawn between it and the likes of Altman's The Player and its opening scene.

Anyway, a film all cinéastes should see!