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The Rules of the Game

Play trailer Poster for The Rules of the Game Released Jul 8, 1939 1h 50m Comedy Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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97% Tomatometer 62 Reviews 89% Popcornmeter 10,000+ Ratings
André is having an affair with Christine, whose husband Robert is himself hiding a mistress. Christine's married maid is romantically entangled with the local poacher. At a hunting party, the passions of servants and aristocrats dangerously collide.
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The Rules of the Game

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Critics Consensus

Its genius escaped many viewers at the time, but in retrospect, The Rules of the Game stands as one of Jean Renoir's -- and cinema's -- finest works.

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Critics Reviews

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Richard Brody The New Yorker Like the opera [The Marriage of Figaro], the film blends these disparate moods and tones at a whirlwind tempo: slapstick comedy and poignant melodrama, graceful lyricism and bumptious braggadocio, witty satire and bitter tragedy. Jul 31, 2025 Full Review Pauline Kael The New Yorker Jean Renoir’s The Rules of the Game is a love roundelay that accelerates and intensifies until it becomes a rare mingling of lyric poetry and macabre farce. Feb 5, 2024 Full Review David Denby The New Yorker The word "Mozartean"... gets thrown around a little too eagerly by critics, but one movie, as almost everyone agrees, deserves this supreme benediction -- Jean Renoir's The Rules of the Game. Jun 3, 2014 Full Review Ian Kane Epoch Times The film’s commentary on class and indifference resonates today and, hopefully, can inspire viewers to strive for greater understanding and empathy. Rated: 4.5/5 Sep 27, 2024 Full Review Diana Tuova Spotlight on Film This film is, arguably, Jean Renoir’s greatest achievement. Rated: 5/5 Aug 2, 2024 Full Review Penelope Gilliatt Observer (UK) Renoir's script, a perfect complex mechanism that runs with the confidence of a Rolls-Royce engine, is one of the few sophisticated films about love that achieve irony without a stain of malignity. Mar 6, 2024 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Tom F An awkward comedy of manners from an awkward period to be making movies in France. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 05/16/25 Full Review Gus L Renoir found it remarkably easy to come up with subplots and one scene characters, so he focused on that instead of actually creating a plot or a protagonist. There is no discernible character development or movement from the beginning to the end. It was, as Larry David may say, "a show about nothing." While that may work well for a sitcom or a play, a film without a plot or protagonist is a disappointing film indeed. Three stars for the witty dialogue and well-executed slapstick. I can justify no more than that. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 11/17/24 Full Review bob c too convoluted for me Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/23/24 Full Review George B I'm going to be in the minority here. I found Rules of the Game to be mildly amusing in places, but overall boring. And lacking in consistent tone. It's been hailed as a masterpiece. I thought it a mediocrepiece. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 11/10/23 Full Review acsdoug D I understand this film's place in cinematic history. In 1939 it must have been pretty groundbreaking, what with its advanced cinematic techniques and a plot where everybody is screwing everybody else. Eighty-four years later, however, it didn't have much impact on me. If this is how the French were then it's no wonder the Germans had so little trouble rolling through France a year later. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 09/24/23 Full Review Thomas V This is a great film. Brilliant social satire that is lively, funny and all around entertaining, but with a message about class and the interaction between haves and have nots. Noone is spared from the satire though, and thats what is so interesting. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/12/23 Full Review Read all reviews
The Rules of the Game

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Cast & Crew

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Jean Renoir

Director

Marcel Dalio

Robert de la Cheyniest

Nora Gregor

Christine de la Cheyniest

Mila Parély

Geneviève de Marras

Roland Toutain

André Jurieux

Jean Renoir

Octave

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The Rules of the Game

The Rules of the Game (1939) The Rules of the Game (1939) The Rules of the Game (1939) The Rules of the Game (1939) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis André is having an affair with Christine, whose husband Robert is himself hiding a mistress. Christine's married maid is romantically entangled with the local poacher. At a hunting party, the passions of servants and aristocrats dangerously collide.
Director
Jean Renoir
Producer
Claude Renoir
Screenwriter
Carl Koch, Jean Renoir
Distributor
Criterion Collection, Cine Classics
Production Co
Nouvelles Éditions de Films (NEF)
Genre
Comedy, Drama
Original Language
French (France)
Release Date (Theaters)
Jul 8, 1939, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Jul 21, 2009
Runtime
1h 50m
Aspect Ratio
35mm, Flat (1.37:1)
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