The Rules of the Game (1939)

*SPOILER FREE

"Sensitive hearts, faithful hearts,

Who shun love whither it does range,

Cease to be so bitter:

Is it a crime to change?

If Cupid was given wings,

Was it not to flitter?" — Pierre Beaumarchais' Le Mariage de Figaro (IV, 10)

The Rules of the Game is a satirical comedy-drama following André, a record-breaking aviator after crossing the Atlantic Ocean in his plane, and the Austin-French noblewoman he secretly loves, Christine. André accepts an invitation to a hunting weekend hosted by Christine and her aristocrat husband, Robert.

Everything in the world is about the game except for the game, it's about power. This is a satire of manners, sexual hypocrisies, moral callousness, and the outlook on the lives of the upper-class French society prior to WWII.

Jean Renoir, who also plays the wise, wistful Octave brilliantly in the film, conducts a cinematic crescendo with class. The compelling story, sophisticated cinematography, deep focus mise-en-scène, grand set design, Coco Chanel costumes, baroque-driven music, and the climactic party, this is a timeless classic of world cinema.

The most expensive French film at the time was met with confusion and disapproval by critics and audiences and was banned by the wartime French government for being "depressing, morbid, immoral and having an undesirable influence over the young" until its re-release almost 20 years later that it started getting the appreciation it deserved as one of the finest films in the history of cinema.

The Rules of the Game is a masterpiece of the game, the game of cinema and storytelling that be watched, studied... and most importantly, played.

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Available to watch on Apple TV, The Criterion Collection, and on Amazon Prime Video

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