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Rules of the Game Reviews

1939

70
from 4380 members

Now often cited as one of the greatest films ever made, Jean Renoir's La Règle du jeu/Rules of the Game was not warmly received on its original release in 1939: audiences at its opening engagements in Paris were openly hostile, responding to the film with shouts of derision, and distributors cut the movie from 113 minutes to a .. Read more

Starring	Marcel Dalio, Nora Gregor, Roland Toutain, Jean Renoir
Director	Jean Renoir
Genres	Drama, World Cinema

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Most helpful member's review of Rules of the Game
View all members' reviews (43)
- - 29
  - 0
  La Regle du Jeu
  
  I think this is one of the truly great films - definitely in my top 20. It starts like documentary - bang up to date (1939)- with newsreel of an airman landing ... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 305461
- [Highly rated reviewer]
  - Billyboy
  - Strathclyde
  - 23 Jun 2004 at 10:18
Most recent members' reviews of Rules of the Game
View all members' reviews (43)
- - 0
  - 0
  Very disappointing
  
  I also can't understand why this film could be rated as the best ever. Thought it was too 'fast moving' and by the time you had read the subtitles, ... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 1119589
- - a customer
  - 16 May 2012 at 11:20
- - 1
  - 0
  I can’t praise it enough. See it.
  
  A beautifully crafted film. Alternating between sophisticated French comedy, drama and bittersweet social commentary, this is a supremely satisfying film. I can... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 1091117
- [Highly rated reviewer]
  - RamoneofIlford
  - 25 reviews
  - Ilford
  - 11 Feb 2012 at 08:44
- - 0
  - 1
  Disappointing film
  
  I agree with another viewer who said this movie is rambling.
  
  I struggle to see how this movie could ever be considered the 'best ever made'. ... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 1076105
- - a customer
  - 26 Dec 2011 at 21:06
- - 1
  - 0
  jean renoir knows how to play the game
  
  splendid achievement by jean renoir, this is fine cinema, by all measures. a deeply sympathetic study of human affairs, it uses humour rather than heavy ... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 1069253
- - lukasz84
  - 62 reviews
  - 01 Dec 2011 at 16:08
- - 2
  - 0
  An historical experience!
  
  Definitely a film from another age. Dialogue rambling, plot unsubtle (I got the impression that the whole thing was meant to shock - which it did then, but not ... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 1049974
- - a customer
  - 10 Oct 2011 at 19:39
- - 0
  - 1
  Good stuff
  
  OOoo! Every inch of this is yummy.. a masterpiece, surely one of the greatest films ever made. This deserves to be watched over and over, and over, again
  
  Report this review
- 1035991
- - Tembisa
  - 3 reviews
  - Edinburgh
  - 01 Sep 2011 at 22:45
- - 0
  - 2
  Who said the French were good at "the mistress thing"?
  
  I had always thought the French were good at infidelity and the whole mistress thing. Not according to this. It felt like a Brian Rix farce but with fewer jokes... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 1013917
- - BarnesleyBill
  - 13 reviews
  - East Yorkshire
  - 06 Jul 2011 at 19:01
- - 1
  - 4
  rules of the game
  
  dated. v difficult to read sub-titles. overly complicated plot. shallow characters. mediocre acting. one of the great movies of all time....hardly.
  
  Report this review
- 955052
- - a customer
  - London
  - 19 Jan 2011 at 00:39
- - 2
  - 4
  Unassailably, imperishably great
  
  THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS | Show review anywayHide
  
  However, this film is only for the initiated, film literate viewer who's capable of stretching their assessment beyond the kind of smug, a priori judgments ... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 945335
- - BrindleyBeBarassedboutBombsquare
  - 43 reviews
  - Cardiff
  - 07 Dec 2010 at 21:31
- - 3
  - 2
  What a disappointment
  
  I watched this film online but it took some persistence to see it through to the end because it repeatedly broke down and had to be restarted. The subtitles ... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 938408
- - chris36
  - 7 reviews
  - Kent
  - 09 Nov 2010 at 19:38
View all members' reviews (43)

- - 29
  - 0
  La Regle du Jeu
  
  I think this is one of the truly great films - definitely in my top 20. It starts like documentary - bang up to date (1939)- with newsreel of an airman landing ... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 305461
- [Highly rated reviewer]
  - Billyboy
  - Strathclyde
  - 23 Jun 2004 at 10:18
- - 9
  - 1
  An unforgiving look at a continent on the brink of war
  
  Renoir's skill lies in dark, bitter satire - a despairing current which underlines the surface whimsy of many of his films. Like the Ealing comedies ... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 14405
- - Lionel Laurent
  - London
  - 12 Aug 2004 at 02:13
- - 9
  - 2
  Very good
  
  Very good drama/farce/tragedy from Renoir. I checked it out because of all the rabid critical affection heaped on it, and it is a well crafted, thought ... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 306906
- - bobbyperu
  - Merseyside
  - 26 Jul 2004 at 13:44
- - 12
  - 11
  for social historians only
  
  Just could not enjoy this film, yes it maybe a satire (with some slapstick comedy) of its time but the shallow vapid and immature people on display go beyond ... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 53335
- - Saty
  - Reading
  - 15 Nov 2004 at 12:11
- - 4
  - 1
  I sometimes wonder why I bother
  
  I'd love to be able to engage with this type of film and the reviewer at the top has probably got the review about right....but.....at the end of the film I... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 122139
- - a customer
  - Paradise Lost
  - 09 Jul 2005 at 15:36
- - 3
  - 0
  Yes, the greatest film ever made
  
  The game is hunting, with rabbits and pheasants randomly massacred; the game is also 'love', where everything is permitted, so long as you never show ... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 290575
- - Savage
  - 632 reviews
  - London, England
  - 30 Sep 2006 at 11:51
- - 3
  - 0
  Cold and Dated
  
  Remembering it was made in the same year as 'Gone With The Wind', puts this film in perspective. This is in black and white with heavily made up men (... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 897141
- - allykat
  - 66 reviews
  - Weymouth
  - 08 Jun 2010 at 16:49
- - 3
  - 1
  Superb
  
  Not to be missed - a real insight into class and prejudice and the malaise at the heart of pre-war France and French society.
  
  Hedonism as an ... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 310614
- - councillorb
  - Hants
  - 02 Oct 2004 at 19:52
- - 3
  - 2
  What a disappointment
  
  I watched this film online but it took some persistence to see it through to the end because it repeatedly broke down and had to be restarted. The subtitles ... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 938408
- - chris36
  - 7 reviews
  - Kent
  - 09 Nov 2010 at 19:38
- - 2
  - 0
  An historical experience!
  
  Definitely a film from another age. Dialogue rambling, plot unsubtle (I got the impression that the whole thing was meant to shock - which it did then, but not ... read more »
  
  Report this review
- 1049974
- - a customer
  - 10 Oct 2011 at 19:39

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Buy from Amazon.co.uk

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- Rules of the Game
  
  Now often cited as one of the greatest films ever made, Jean Renoir's La Règle du jeu/Rules of the Game was not warmly received on its original release in 1939: audiences at its opening engagements in Paris were openly hostile, responding to the film with shouts of derision, and distributors cut ...