The Rules of the Game

Generally acknowledged to be one of the greatest films ever made, writer/director/star Jean Renoir's 1939 masterpiece was initially a cause for riots in France, later banned by the Nazis, and had some 30 minutes axed, before being restored nearly two decades later. What was all the hullabaloo about? In a nutshell, this classic painted a less than flattering portrait of the French, on almost all levels of society--but particularly the upper class. The story centers around a party given at the country estate of the Marquis de Chesnaye (Marcel Dalio) and his wife Christine (Nora Gregor). Also at the party is the affable bear Octave (Renoir), who has brought the world-class aviator Andre Jurieu (Roland Toutain) along. Renoir has a field day with this ignorant and immoral quartet who constantly underscore the importance of rules (especially in a brutal hunting party), but only adhere to one central rule: lie, when necessary. In counterpart to the antics of the hoity-toity upstairs, a completely different farce is being played downstairs between a maid, her husband the gamekeeper, and a poacher. Although this may sound like frivolous entertainment--and, indeed, much of it is a howl--Renoir brings his film around to tragedy in the final reel. Kind of like a brilliant version of Upstairs, Downstairs with a much keener bite, The Rules of the Game makes its long-anticipated bow on DVD in a characteristically wonderful Criterion double-disc set that boasts a new high-definition digital transfer and remastered sound, audio commentary written by film historian Alexander Sesonske and read (sometimes a little too quickly) by director Peter Bogdanovich, an archival introduction by Renoir (in which he calls the film--rather tongue-in-cheek--his “biggest failure” due to the controversies), and a 13-minute version comparison by Renoir historian Christopher Faulkner, all on the first disc. The second disc features a 23-minute excerpt from a 1966 TV doc on Renoir by filmmaker Jacques Rivette, the 60-minute opener of film scholar David Thompson's two-part 1993 BBC doc Jean Renoir, and a slew of new interviews. Highly recommended. Editor's Choice. (R. Pitman)[DVD/Blu-ray Review—Nov. 22, 2011—Criterion, 106 min., in French w/English subtitles, not rated, DVD: 2 discs, $29.95; Blu-ray: $39.95—Making its latest appearance on DVD, first on Blu-ray, 1939's The Rules of the Game features a great transfer and mono sound. Extras include audio commentary written by film scholar Alexander Sesonske and read by filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich, an intro by director Jean Renoir (7 min.), the first part of the two-part 1993 BBC documentary Jean Renoir (60 min.), three segments on the film's production history—including a video essay by Renoir historian Chris Faulkner, an interview with film critic Olivier Curchod, and interviews from a 1965 episode of the French television show Les écrans de la ville with Jean Gaborit and Jacques Durand (47 min. total), interviews with set designer Max Douy, costar Mila Parély, and Jean's son Alain Renoir (44 min. total), excerpts from the 1966 French TV program Jean Renoir, le patron: La régle et l'exception by filmmaker Jacques Rivette (31 min.), a comparison of the film's two endings (20 min.), a select-scene analysis by Faulkner (8 min.), and a booklet. Bottom line: a welcome re-release on DVD and delightful debut on Blu-ray for this cinema classic.]