The Rules of the Game
Considered one of the greatest films ever made, Jean Renoir’s The Rules of the Game is a scathing critique of corrupt French society cloaked in a comedy of manners in which a weekend at a marquis’s 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 audience at its 1939 premiere, and the original negative was destroyed during World War II; it wasn’t reconstructed until 1959. That version, which has stunned viewers for decades, is presented here.
4K UHD + Blu-ray Special Edition Features
- New 4K restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
- One 4K UHD disc of the film and one Blu-ray with the film and special features
- Introduction to the film by director Jean Renoir
- Audio commentary written by film scholar Alexander Sesonske and read by filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich
- Comparison of the film’s two endings
- Selected-scene analysis by Renoir historian Chris Faulkner
- Excerpts from a 1966 French television program by filmmaker Jacques Rivette
- Part one of Jean Renoir, a two-part 1993 documentary by film critic David Thompson
- Video essay about the film’s production, release, and 1959 reconstruction
- Interview with film critic Olivier Curchod
- Interview from a 1965 episode of the French television series Les écrans de la ville with Jean Gaborit and Jacques Durand
- Interviews with set designer Max Douy; Renoir’s son, Alain; and actor Mila Parély
- PLUS: An essay by Sesonske; writings by Jean Renoir, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Bertrand Tavernier, and François Truffaut; and tributes to the film by J. Hoberman, Kent Jones, Paul Schrader, Wim Wenders, Robert Altman, and others
New cover by Raphael Geroni
Collector's Sets
4K UHD + Blu-ray Special Edition Features
- New 4K restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
- One 4K UHD disc of the film and one Blu-ray with the film and special features
- Introduction to the film by director Jean Renoir
- Audio commentary written by film scholar Alexander Sesonske and read by filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich
- Comparison of the film’s two endings
- Selected-scene analysis by Renoir historian Chris Faulkner
- Excerpts from a 1966 French television program by filmmaker Jacques Rivette
- Part one of Jean Renoir, a two-part 1993 documentary by film critic David Thompson
- Video essay about the film’s production, release, and 1959 reconstruction
- Interview with film critic Olivier Curchod
- Interview from a 1965 episode of the French television series Les écrans de la ville with Jean Gaborit and Jacques Durand
- Interviews with set designer Max Douy; Renoir’s son, Alain; and actor Mila Parély
- PLUS: An essay by Sesonske; writings by Jean Renoir, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Bertrand Tavernier, and François Truffaut; and tributes to the film by J. Hoberman, Kent Jones, Paul Schrader, Wim Wenders, Robert Altman, and others
New cover by Raphael Geroni
Cast
- Marcel Dalio
- Marquis Robert de la Cheyniest
- Nora Grégor
- Christine de la Cheyniest
- Roland Toutain
- André Jurieux
- Jean Renoir
- Octave
- Mila Parély
- Geneviève de Marras
- Odette Talazac
- Mme de la Plante
- Pierre Magnier
- Le Général
- Pierre Nay
- St. Aubin
- Richard Francœur
- La Bruyère
- Claire Gérard
- Mme de la Bruyère
- Anne Mayen
- Jackie
- Paulette Dubost
- Lisette
- Gaston Modot
- Schumacher
- Julien Carette
- Marceau
- Eddy Debray
- Corneille
- Léon Larive
- Cook
- Lise Élina
- Radio reporter
- Henri Cartier-Bresson
- English butler
Credits
- Director
- Jean Renoir
- Production manager
- Claude Renoir Sr.
- Screenplay
- Jean Renoir
- with the collaboration of
- Carl Koch
- Dialogue
- Jean Renoir
- Assistant director
- André Zwobada
- Assistant director
- Henri Cartier-Bresson
- Director of photography
- Jean Bachelet
- Cinematography
- Jacques Lemare
- Cinematography
- Jean-Paul Alphen
- Cinematography
- Alain Renoir
- Production design
- Eugène Lourié
- Production design
- Max Douy
- Editor
- Marguerite Renoir
- Assistant editor
- Marthe Huguet
- Sound engineer
- Joseph De Bretagne
- Still photographer
- Sam Levin
- Music
- Mozart
- Music
- Monsigny
- Music
- Salabert
- Music
- Saint-Saëns
- Music
- Chopin
- Music arranged by
- Roger Désormière
- Music arranged by
- Joseph Kosma
- Production manager
- Pillon
- Administration
- Camille François
- Costumes
- Chanel