La règle du jeu (1939)

Director:

Jean Renoir

Writers:

Jean Renoir (scenario & dialogue)
Carl Koch (collaborator)

Release Date:

8 April 1950 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Plot:

Renoir's look at bourgeois life in France at the onset of World War II. An assorted cast of characters - the rich and their poor servants - meet up at a French chateau.

Plot Keywords:

Servant | Party | Love | Chateau | Secret

Awards:

1 win

US TV Schedule:

Mon. May 21

2:00 AM

TCM

Cast

Nora Gregor	...	Christine de la Cheyniest (as Nora Grégor)
Paulette Dubost	...	Lisette, sa camériste
Mila Parély	...	Geneviève de Marras
Odette Talazac	...	Madame Charlotte de la Plante
Claire Gérard	...	Madame de la Bruyère
Anne Mayen	...	Jackie, nièce de Christine
Lise Elina	...	Radio-Reporter (as Lise Élina)
Marcel Dalio	...	Marquis Robert de la Cheyniest (as Dalio)
Julien Carette	...	Marceau, le braconnier (as Carette)
Roland Toutain	...	André Jurieux
Gaston Modot	...	Edouard Schumacher, le garde-chasse
Jean Renoir	...	Octave
Pierre Magnier	...	Le général
Eddy Debray	...	Corneille, le majordome
Pierre Nay	...	Monsieur de St. Aubin
Richard Francoeur	...	Monsieur La Bruyère (as Francoeur)
Léon Larive	...	Le cuisinier
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Nicolas Amato	...	L'invité sud-américain (uncredited)
Henri Cartier-Bresson	...	Le domestique anglais (uncredited)
Celestin	...	Le garçon de cuisine (uncredited)
Tony Corteggiani	...	Berthelin (uncredited)
Roger Forster	...	L'invité efféminé (uncredited)
Camille François	...	Le speaker (uncredited)
Jenny Hélia	...	La servante (uncredited)
André Zwoboda	...	L'ingénieur (uncredited)

Directed by
Jean Renoir

Writing credits
Jean Renoir		(scenario & dialogue)
Carl Koch		(collaborator) (as Koch)

Produced by
Jean Renoir	....	producer (uncredited)

Cinematography by
Jean-Paul Alphen		(as Alphen)
Jean Bachelet		(as Bachelet)
Jacques Lemare
Alain Renoir

Film Editing by
Marthe Huguet		(as Mme Huguet)
Marguerite Renoir		(as Marguerite)

Production Design by
Max Douy		(as Douy)
Eugène Lourié		(as Lourié)

Costume Design by
Coco Chanel		(as La Maison Chanel)

Makeup Department
Ralph	....	makeup artist (uncredited)

Production Management
Camille François	....	production supervisor
Raymond Pillon	....	unit manager (as Pillon)
Claude Renoir	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Henri Cartier-Bresson	....	assistant director (as Henri Cartier)
André Zwoboda	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Joseph de Bretagne	....	sound engineer (as De Bretagne)

Camera and Electrical Department
Sam Levin	....	still photographer

Music Department
Roger Desormière	....	conductor: Mozart and Monsigny (as Roger Desormières)
Pierre-Alexandre Monsigny	....	music by (as Monsigny)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart	....	music by (as Mozart)

Other crew
Dido Freire	....	script girl (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Nouvelles Éditions de Films (NEF)

Distributors

• Distribution Parisienne de Films (DPF) (1939) (France) (theatrical) (as La Distribution Parisienne de Films)
• Les Grands Films Classiques (GFC) (1961) (France) (theatrical) (restored)
• Éditions Montparnasse (1998) (France) (VHS)
• Éditions Montparnasse (2003) (France) (DVD) (remastered)
• Éditions Montparnasse (2005) (France) (DVD) (HD new master)
• Films Classiques, Les (2005) (France) (DVD) (division: Edition Montparnasse)
• ABC-Kinot (1977) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Aito Mäkinen (1963) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Cine Classics (1950) (USA) (theatrical) (English subtitles)
• Janus Films (2003) (USA) (theatrical)
• Kino International (1977) (USA) (theatrical)
• Umbrella Entertainment (2010) (Australia) (theatrical)
• Better Television Distribution (2006) (USA) (TV)
• Carousel Films (2010) (Greece) (DVD)
• Contemporary Films (1980) (UK) (all media)
• Criterion Collection, The (1993) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Criterion Collection, The (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Flashstar Home Vídeo (????) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Future Film (2012) (Finland) (DVD)
• Homescreen (2009) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Image Entertainment (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• Large Door Video (????) (Australia) (VHS)
• Mainostelevisio (MTV3) (1971) (1983) (Finland) (TV)
• Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) (1972) (USA) (TV)
• Umbrella Entertainment (2005) (Australia) (DVD)
• Versátil Home Vídeo (2004) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Yleisradio (YLE) (1985) (Finland) (TV)

Other Companies

• Chanel  dress
• G.M. Film  prints
• Paris Studios Cinéma  sound post-production
• Studio Pathé  sound post-production
• Western Electric  sound equipment

Also Known As:

"La Règle du Jeu" - UK
"The Rules of the Game" - USA
"A Regra do Jogo" - Brazil, Portugal
"Spelets regler" - Finland (Swedish title) (imdb display title), Sweden
"Die Spielregel" - Germany
"Gameui gyuchik" - South Korea (imdb display title)
"Játékszabály" - Hungary
"La regla del juego" - Spain (original subtitled version)
"La regola del gioco" - Italy
"O kanonas tou paihnidiou" - Greece (transliterated ISO-LATIN-1 title)
"Pelin säännöt" - Finland
"Spillets regler" - Denmark
"Spillets regler" - Norway (imdb display title)
"Zasada gry" - Poland

Runtime:

110 min | USA:106 min (DVD version)

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric)

Certification:

Australia:G | South Korea:12 (2004) | Netherlands:9 (2009) (DVD) | France:U (Visa #266) | Finland:S (1953) | Finland:K-16 (original rating) | USA:Approved

Filming Locations:

Aubigny-sur-Nère, Cher, France

Company:

Nouvelles Éditions de Films (NEF)

Trivia:

When the film opened in 1939, initial reception of it was so bad that one viewer lit a newspaper and tried to burn the theater that it was playing in. There were even threats to other theaters.

Goofs:

Boom mic visible: When the party first arrives at the château, a boom shadow falls on the back of the head of the old white haired guy standing there.

Quotes:

Robert de la Cheyniest:Excuse me you know you're no fool, you're a poet, a dangerous poet.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Days of Heaven (1978)

Soundtrack:

Valse No. 7 op. 64, 2 'Petit chien'

Everyone has their reasons.

Jean Renoir said that this was not intended to be a social commentary, and whether he truly intended it to be (he referred to it as, "An exact description of the bourgeoisie of our time.") or not, it is hard to dismiss that it hit close to home. So offended were the masses that the picture was banned. It is said that behind every joke there is truth, and whether this was intended to be a joke or not, Renoir still found truth. One could argue the director's intentions all day, but one matter that cannot be disputed is that this film is extraordinary! As a handful of French men and women converge on a château for a hunting expedition, their love affairs clash with their obligations to society's game. For instance, one cannot leave one's lover to be with another until he has confessed his adultery to her. Attempts to leave with another man's wife are particularly difficult, as well, unless the other man has a mistress of his own. These are but a few rules of the game. The old are for the old, the young are for the young. Members of one social order are forbidden to see members from another, and so on. Combine these rules with a tangled web of countless love affairs between a handful of people, and you can see the madness that erupts during the course of this movie. The parts are all played well, but it is the writing and directing of Renoir that makes the film the masterpiece that it is. Keeping all of these sordid affairs in order is an achievement in its own right, but Renoir moves his pieces all over the board like a skilled chess player, achieving his goal while never forgetting the rules of the game!