Rating:
by Derek Smith 7/6/09

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In his introduction to Rules of the Game, Jean Renoir calls France “a society rotten to the core.”  The title of his masterpiece clearly conveys his intention to deconstruct the nature of this rottenness and examine the deeply embedded roots present in every aspect of the class system.  Renoir’s film, however, is not considered one of the all-time greats only for exposing the rules (as amazingly as it does just that), but for the remarkably humanity and humor seamlessly integrated into his presentation.  Two years before Orson Welles filmed Citizen Kane, Renoir employed his own subtle yet complex and thematically relevant use of deep focus to portray the world as a stage upon which his various romantic entanglements and class clashes play out.  Within the frame, there are often multiple dramas occurring at once, often with the veneer of secrecy yet whose true motivations would be obvious to anyone not engrossed by their own backroom dealings - that being the audience, certainly not the characters.  The deep focus along with a careful attention to the importance of spaces (both public and private, natural and artificial/domestic) allow Renoir to reveal the quietly destructive repercussions of the rules of social interaction and class entitlement that not only dictate the limitations of behavior, but have become the sole driving force behind it.

Robert‘s obsession with mechanical birds and the mansion’s ancient African sculptures function as the film’s major thematic motif – reminders of past connections to genuine, instinct-driven living that have been rendered cold and lifeless; objects that represent the conquering of more basal, survivalist mode of life in favor of a more proper and refined one.  Existence in this society is performative and honesty is bent and shaped by the duties each character has accepted based on their prescribed social status.  The central love triangle, which is quickly revealed as a more web-like structure within which many other characters have been ensnared, is the most fully developed representation of the extent to which artificially constructed modes of conduct cause the characters to act counter to their own feelings or best interests.  André’s public declaration of love for Christine is one of the few times a character explicitly breaks the rules by speaking his or her mind - a single act that is ultimately the catalyst for the tragedy which caps the end of the film.  The misunderstandings sprinkled throughout the film are born of the inherent insincerity of their conversations and relationships, yet what at first is seemingly innocuous eventually becomes lethal.  What is truly the tragedy of the film, and what I imagine Renoir himself was getting at when he spoke of French society being rotten to the core, is how stringently the characters enforce the restrictions that prevent their own happiness and, even more importantly, that these codes of behavior are so deeply engrained in their society, that rebellion leads not to freedom but outright rejection, either on an individual or a social level.  It is inescapably circular, a snake eating its tail and no matter which direction you run, you’re either victim or victimizer.  If Octave learns anything in the end, it’s that it’s sometimes safer to remain still.