“Intended as ‘a sort of reconstructed documentary on the condition of a society at a given moment' (Jean Renoir), Rules of the Game captures the essence of Europe's rapidly deteriorating aristocratic cadre before World War II. Set at a weekend gathering at the chateau of Marquis Robert de la Chesnaye (Marcel Dalio), this satirical critique displays a social order premised on wealth, title, and a rigorous code of manners which subverts communication and renders banal human emotions, most notably love. Upstairs the guests distract themselves with mechanical toys, parlor theatrics, and the latest developments in the triangle developing between the Marquis, his wife, and a celebrated aviator. Downstairs the servants are equally entertained by a similar romantic configuration transpiring between the game warden, his wife, and the poacher. When the two scenarios overlap, a tragedy results, shattering their illusion that life is a parlor game.
“A keen observer of social interaction and societal flux, Renoir imbues his films with a compassion which senses both the humor and the tragedy of a situation. Quick in their sotto voce gossip yet incapable of genuine communication, the characters in Rules of the Game expose the shallowness and callous indifference of a milieu in which people most closely approximate extravagant but useless drawing room fixtures. In this world, human expression, heroes, and the best of intentions are obscured and ultimately victimized, for it is the rules which are paramount.” --L.A. Thielen