Screening

About The Rules of the Game/La règle du jeu

Considered one of the greatest films ever made, The Rules of the Game (La règle du jeu) by Jean Renoir is a scathing critique of corrupt French society cloaked in a comedy of manners in which a weekend at a marquis’ country château lays bare some ugly truths about a group of haut bourgeois acquaintances. The film has had a tumultuous history: it was subjected to cuts after the violent response of the premiere audience in 1939, and the original negative was destroyed during World War II and wasn’t reconstructed until 1959. That version, which has stunned viewers for decades, is presented here in a gorgeous new 4K restoration. [106 min; comedy, drama; English, French, and German with English subtitles]

"Part scathing critique of the bourgeoisie, part sex romp, part tragedy, The Rules of the Game dances on the edge of a volcano like its characters, skirting easy classification." —David Harris, Spectrum Culture

"The Rules of the Game is among the most perfectly balanced of films: a movie about discretion that is in every way a model of it." — Ben Kenigsberg, The New York Times

"Jean Renoir’s newly restored 1939 classic proves that lawless wealth—then as now—makes a marvelous farce of us all." — Eileen G'Sell, Hyperallergic

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