Synopsis
Widely regarded as one of the greatest films ever made, Jean Renoir’s masterpiece The Rules of the Game (La Règle du jeu) is a scathing critique of corrupt French society cloaked in a comedy of manners. Although the original negative was destroyed during World War II, this edition features the fully reconstructed version embraced by audiences and critics around the world as a timeless representation of Renoir’s genius.
Cast
| Christine de La Chesnaye | Nora Gregor |
| Lisette | Paulette Dubost |
| Geneviève de Marras | Mila Parély |
| Charlotte de La Plante | Odette Talazac |
| Octave | Jean Renoir |
| Marquis Robert de La Chesnaye | Marcel Dalio |
| André Jurieu | Roland Toutain |
| Schumacher | Gaston Modot |
| The general | Pierre Magnier |
| M. de Saint-Aubin | Pierre Nay |
| La Bruyère | Richard Francœur |
| Mme. la Bruyère | Claire Gérard |
| Jackie | Anne Mayen |
| Marceau | Julien Carette |
| Corneille | Eddy Debray |
| The cook | Léon Larive |
| Radio reporter | Lise Élina |
| English domestic | Henri Cartier-Bresson |
Credits
| Director | Jean Renoir |
| Screenplay | Jean Renoir and Carl Koch |
| Dialogue | Jean Renoir |
| Director of photography | Jean Bachelet |
| Cinematography | Jacques Lemare, Alain Renoir and Jean-Paul Alphen |
| Producer | Claude Renoir Sr. |
| Production Design | Max Douy and Eugene Lourie |
| Editing | Marguerite Renoir |
| Assistant director | Henri Cartier-Bresson and André Zwobada |
| Sound | Joseph de Bretagne |
| Still photography | Sam Lévin |
| Music | Mozart, Monsigny, Salabert, Saint-Saëns and Chopin |
| Music arranged by | Roger Désormières and Joseph Kosma |
| Costumes | Chanel |
| Production manager | Pillion |
| Administration | Camille François |
Disc Features
SPECIAL EDITION DOUBLE-DISC SET:
- Restored high-definition digital transfer
- Introduction to the film by Jean Renoir
- Audio commentary written by film scholar Alexander Sesonske and read by filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich
- Version comparison: side-by-side analysis of the film’s two endings, and an illustrated study of Renoir’s shooting script
- Selected-scene analysis by Renoir historian Christopher Faulkner
- Excerpts from Jean Renoir, le patron: La Règle et l’exception (1966), a French television program directed by Jacques Rivette
- Part one of Jean Renoir, a two-part 1993 BBC documentary by David Thompson
- Video essay about the film’s production, release, and later reconstruction
- Jean Gaborit and Jacques Durand discuss their reconstruction and rerelease of the film
- Interviews with Renoir’s son and assistant cameraman Alain Renoir, set designer Max Douy, and actress Mila Parély
- Written tributes to the film and Renoir by J. Hoberman, Kent Jones,Paul Schrader, Wim Wenders and others
- Improved English subtitle translation
- Plus: A booklet featuring writings by Sesonske, Renoir, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Bertrand Tavernier, and François Truffaut
From the Current
The Rules of the Game:
Everyone Has Their Reasons
by
Dec 31, 2003
By February 1939 it no longer seemed evident that the surrender of Czechoslovakia to Adolf Hitler at Munich had “saved the peace.” Soon a sense of doom would hang over Europe. In this atmosphere Jean Renoir, anticipating war and deeply troubled by the mood he felt around him, thought he might best...
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