The Rules of the Game

Directed by Jean Renoir, 'The Rules of the Game' is a masterful comedy-drama that dissects the moral decay of French upper-class society on the eve of World War II. Set during a weekend party at a country estate, the film weaves together romantic entanglements among both masters and servants, revealing the hollow rules governing their social world. Widely considered one of the greatest films ever made, it offers a prescient and darkly comic portrait of a civilization on the brink of collapse.

• Jean Renoir himself played the role of Octave.
• The film was initially banned in France as demoralizing.
• A fire destroyed the original negative during World War II.
• It flopped at release but is now a masterpiece.
• Over 200 cuts were made before its restored version.

• The awful thing about life is this: everyone has their reasons.
• I don't know what to do. Everyone lies... nobody says what they think.
• You see, in this world, there is one awful thing, and that is that everyone has his reasons.
• I'm a man who hunts, and I don't know why.
• Robert, you have just killed a man, and no one cares.