Wednesday, February 17, 2016
She Loves Me, She Loves Me Not . . .
At the begining of the film, Genevieve, Robert's mistress, is entertaining guests at a dinner party. As they discuss Andre's profession of love for Christine after his heroic crossing of the Atlantic, she offers this observation on love by Chamfort:"Love is the exchange of two fantasies and the contact of two skins." What does this bon mot mean? Is this a theme in the rest of the film? What is the meaning of love and intimate relationships in The Rules of the Game?
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Love and intimate relationships in The Rules of the Game are based less on actually intimate connection and more on the idea of being with the person. When Christine offers the observation on love by Chamfort:"Love is the exchange of two fantasies and the contact of two skins" she is saying that love is based on physical attraction and the fantasy of being with the other person. The relationships in the film often seem to be based more on a long term fantasy of one person and a fleeting fantasy of another rather than a mutual connection between the two people. In the relationship between Christine and Robert, Robert seems to be more invested in his relationship than Christine is. Christine is very unsure of who she wants to be with, which causes her to proclaim her love to multiple people. For example when Andre tells her that he loves her she is caught up in the moment and tells him that she loves her back however; soon after Octave proclaims his love and Christine is again caught up in a fantasy and also tells him that he loves him back. In a lot of ways this fits into the message of Chamfort's bon mot. Another example is the relationship between Andre and Jackie. Andre is blindly in love with Christine so he does not consider loving Jackie because he wants to be with Christine. Jackie believes that she is in love with Andre but she does not have a connection with him. In most cases in the film when someone in the film believes that they are in love, they are basing it on a fantasy of what being with the person would be like. Love and intimate relationships are less about actual love and more about what they believe the relationship will be like.
ReplyDeleteWhen the characters of The Rules of the Game change love interests in what seems like a fraction of a second, or when the map of “who loves who?” becomes so twisted and complex that it’s difficult to keep track, it is impossible not to have the impression that the relationships within the film are ridiculously shallow and fake. Chamfort’s bon mot, recited by Genevieve at the start of the movie, describes humans’ gravitation toward one-sided, desperate love—which the rest of the film satirically mocks. The quote gives love an almost distant and petty connotation: rather than the sharing of one fantasy, it calls love the exchange of two separate fantasies. Similarly, the characters in The Rules of the Game spend little time actually understanding their partner, instead glorifying their ‘love interest’ until they’ve convinced themselves that that person will fulfill their personal relationship ‘fantasy’. Actual relationships can form when two fantasies happen to crisscross for a moment (such as those between Lisette and Shumacher, or Robert and Christine), but, after that initial “exchange of two fantasies”, these connections are short-lived since they are founded on two people’s unrelated motivations and interests. Then, of course, each individual will go off on their own to find yet another temporary solution to their fantasy. Characters such as Andre and Marceau demonstrate that earlier stage in the cycle: they know about little more than the physical appearance of their love interests (Christine and Lisette), yet focus all their energy on fulfilling their personal fantasies by pursuing the women. Therefore, because characters ‘love’ each other for entirely separate and unrelated reasons, they can never find mutual passions and respects for each other besides the basic desire for a romantic or intimate connection. In result, both Chamfort’s quote and The Rules of the Game send the warning that love may have drifted to become a shallow partnership in which neither individual is ultimately able to fulfill the other, rather than a communicative and solid bond between two likeminded people.
ReplyDeleteThe saying, “Love is the exchange of two fantasies and the contact of two skins,” explains that love does not need to be strictly characterized in the traditional sense, and can take on many forms. It shows that love simply requires the participation of two people trying to better their own situations through a bit of self-delusion, and physical contact, and thus love is defined in remarkably broad terms. This supports the actions of the characters who display so many different types of love, all in short intervals. Christine is the best example of this, as she professes her love to so many men over the course of the film. She claims to love her husband, but this is a rather sentimental and obligatory type of love. She also tells Andre that she loves him, however this is the type of fiery and spontaneous love that is short lived, and within minutes she recants. Her next confession to Octave reveals yet another type, a long-smoldering love originating from shared experiences and childhood affections. Although these types are incredibly different, they all fall under the umbrella of love and lust, showing that love need not be defined in narrow ideals. Robert also exhibits this trait, as he holds a sacrificial love for Christine, and a bittersweet love of Geneviève, that causes him pleasure yet great guilt resulting from is adultery. Turning to the triangle forming around Lisette, the definition of love is further expanded. She has a flirtatious and fickle love of Marceau, who returns similar affections. Schumacher possesses the most dangerous form of love: volatile and obsessive love, which easily turns to violence. By showing all the different effects love can have on characters, the creators of the film make it clear that love is not a finite emotion, and instead is a great spectrum of feelings. This is stereotypically French, and offers excellent insight into the various ways of interpreting and evaluating love at the time. By remarking on the inclusion of fantasy in all love, Christine makes it clear that love always encompasses some form of idealization but does not say what type. This could be Christine rationalizing running off with both Andre and Octave, who have no money; the illusory notion of Schumacher that he can take his pretty and coquettish wife and live happily ever after; or many other examples displayed in the film. Similarly, the touching can be actual sex, as is had by many of the characters, or the playful childlike contact between Christine and Octave. The definition of love is really left up to interpretation by the quote above, which encourages the watcher to consider all acts of passion in the film to be love, instead of disregarding the professions of the characters due to the often-insincere nature of their words and actions.
ReplyDeleteMany of the relationships in The Rules of the Game are based on lust and “the heat of the moment”, unlike real relationships, which require time, loyalty, and the connection of two souls. In this movie the meaning of love and intimate relationships is shallow. The bon mot “Love is the exchange of two fantasies and the contact of two skins” is a big theme in this movie because a lot of the relationships and feelings that come up only happen when two people are in physical contact with each other and exchanging their fantasies. For example, Christine tells many different men that she loves them, but as soon as she sees another man who tells her what she wants, she instantly falls in love with them and forgets about the man before. The “love” that occurs in this movie, are actually crushes and lust for the person one is around. If one has real love for someone, one can’t move on to someone else without thinking about it as easily as everyone does in this movie. Another example is when André and Christine, whom is married to Robert, declare their love to each other and plan to run away together. Then, at the same party in a greenhouse, Octave declares his love for Christine, and Christine is suddenly in love with him, too. Octave and Christine then decide to run away together without even thinking about it. Octave goes inside to gets Christine’s coat, but Lisette tries to convince him not to run away with Christine. Octave listens to her and sends André out to meet Christine instead, but he is shot before he gets the chance to do this. This proves that The Rules of the Game’s meaning of love is not real love, but merely what someone feels in the spur of the moment.
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