What is the meaning of the title of The Rules of the Game? What is the "game"? What are the "rules"? Who are the participants? How does one "win" the game? What are the penalties for breaking the rules?
I believe the title of the film embodies the literal meaning, showing the rules of the game. The game that is being played is the game of love. The only rule of the game is that everything is allowed and anything goes. There is an old saying that goes, "all is fair in love and war". This saying accurately defines the playing field because love is like a battlefield. Deception, lies, and everything in between are all allowed in the hopes you win love. Deception is preferred over honesty and acting dishonorably is preferred over chivalry. Morals are forsaken as they are seen as a hindrance in winning the game. In this game, everyone present is participating. This includes the servants such as Merceau and Lisette. There is no long term way to win this game as someone's love is constantly changing throughout the film. There is a short term way to win by gaining the most move by having affairs on top of a marriage or just having multiple affairs. La Chesnaye actually wins the game in the short term by having his marriage with Christine and maintaining his affair with Genevieve, even though in the end he eventually calls it off. Although there are no rules, honesty is frowned upon. The penalty for being honesty and chivalrous is being ostracized from the bourgeois class. This is actually shown in Andre's death as his punishment. Although it was an accident it effectively symbolized the severance of him from the bourgeois. Octave is also punished by breaking the rules and allowing Andre to try to get Christine's love. Octave effectively enacts his own punishment by leaving the party to never return.
The title of Rules of the Game (1939), directed by Jean Renoir, refers to the rules of how the wealthy must act in order to keep their status in French society. The “game” is how one keeps their social status by not blemishing their reputation. Only those who are a part of the bourgeois class can play the “game” because they are the ones who society watches, not the lower classes. Also those in the bourgeois class have the farthest to fall if they make a mistake since they are at the top of the social ladder. There are always people who want others to fall so that they can take their place in the “game”. This can be seen when Robert, Marquis de la Chesnaye, and his Austrian wife Christine, greet their guests at their estate in the French countryside. All their friends watch how Christine interacts with Andre Juriuex, a recently arrived aviator, to see if the rumors are true that they are having an affair. Christine feels their burning stares and whispering. To preserve her honor as a loyal wife under the “rules of the game,” she decides to clear the air. She explains how she and Andre have only spent time together becoming close friends as she helped him plan his flight across the Atlantic Ocean. Christine felt the need to address the rumors because she did not them to tarnish not only her reputation but also Robert’s reputation. However, the rules of the bourgeois class do not say that the wealthy cannot live their lives the way they want to behind closed doors. They are free to do as they please as long as no one learns the truth and tarnishes their reputation. Robert, for example, has had an affair with Genevieve for two years, which is unknown to all; not even Christine knew until she saw them embracing after the hunt. His affair does not break the rules because it has been kept secret and has not affected his position in society. There are rules on how those in the bourgeois class must act in public to keep from hurting their reputation, however, they are allowed to do what they please when no one is watching. If a member of the bourgeoisie breaks the rules then they not only tarnish their reputation but also lose their place in society. They try to avoid ruining their social standing because they do not want to lose power from their social standing. To them, their reputation is everything. Most hide their secrets well from the public but others who are new to the game sometimes let their feelings control their actions instead of acting the way they should. An example of this is when Andre Jurieux lands at Le Bourget, outside of Paris after flying across the Atlantic Ocean. He is seen as a hero to everyone who is present to greet him from his journey. However, Andre does not feel the excitement that everyone has for him because the women he loves, Christine, who he made the journey for, is not there to greet him. He is saddened by this and when a reporter tries to talk to him Andre explains that he is sad because the woman he loves is not there. Andre’s honest confession is a serious violation of the rules. Without Octave stepping in and stopping him from continue to talk he would have blemished his reputation and potentially lost the game. The wealthy and famous do not have room to make the mistake of honesty and must always keep up the facade. Transparency is how one loses the game, by losing their place in society and tarnishing their reputation. The only way to win the game is to keep one’s reputation untarnished until death, making this game a very difficult and dishonest game to win.
Jean Renoir’s Rules of the Game is a story about cheating, friendships, and social order. The title stems from the delicate “game” of retaining one’s social standing. It is established that the rich have an unwritten set of rules involving only expressing what will keep them from falling from grace; right of the bat Andre immediately breaks this rule by stating his disappointment and Christine not showing up to his landing rather than “basking” in the glory of his accomplishment as one should to play the game. At the start of the film all is balanced with all the characters starting in their class. Andre acts as a catalyst which forces all the characters to make moves in the proverbial game. The rules involve doing whatever is necessary to save face all the while pursuing whatever is really desired (and the desire would often bring them down in social standing). This game is one that no one can ever “win” in a sense as the struggle is not to win, the object of the game is not to lose (fall in status). One of the rules would be to draw as little attention to your dealings, which Andre absolutely and completely fails to do. He immediately draws attention to his goal, which would be to steal Christine from Robert. If Andre wanted to retain status (or actually in this case his life) he should have immediately escaped when Christine agreed to go with him; but Andre at the same time was playing a separate and very different game: the game of maintaining honor. Andre wanted to speak to Robert about what would be happening so as to not just run off and lose his honor and this misstep costs him everything. Octave also loses because of his honor when he told Andre that Christine was in the greenhouse, he could have simply lied about her whereabouts but he did not want to lie to his friend. The penalty is clear in the film, those who don’t lose just press on in life without regard for those who were trampled on the way; and the losers are shut out from the upper class world, Octave by exile and Andre by death.
In The Rules of the Game, the game is in essence society life. The clearest example that shows this connection is the chase scene during the party. During the most obvious gathering of society people, the main characters chase each other around the chateau like they were in a game. Moreover, the rules of society are to always show yourself and your life as perfect on the outside, regardless of what is actually happening. Two examples of this in the movie are when Christine gives the speech regarding her friendship with Andre when he first arrives at the chateau and when Robert basically holds a press conference on the steps of the Chateau to explain Andre’s death. In the first example, we can truly see how much it only shows what is happening on the outside, because if you look further (literally) in this scene, one sees Octave and Robert laughing in the background. As such, the utilization of the “deep focus” technique in this scenario furthers the explanation as to how the rules of the game work. Since the game is then “won” by maintaining the semblance of perfection, Andre threatens the entire foundation of the game when he wants to come clean to Robert about his relationship with Christine. The imminent public reveal of their relationships threatens to disqualify them from the game, since their perfect semblance of a life would be destroyed. As such, Andre paid the ultimate price: his life.
In The Rules of the Game, this idea of a game is the game of love and how everyone is playing in the movie is a part of this. The rules of the game are simple, the people who fall in love are the ones who usually end up getting played while those who are using others for lust or their own personal reasons advance throughout the game. All you have to do is avoid falling in love and whoever manages to do this the longest wins the game. For those participating in the game, if you have any connection to some else's relationship or someone has a connect with your relationship well then welcome to the game. Be careful though, if you decide to cheat your way through the game and break rules this could be costly. Costly as in possibly the lost of their life. Love is a serious thing that shouldn't be taken so lightly, but in this game, love is a sign of weakness and those who show it are taken advantage of. In reality, this is a harsh game that leaves the weak behind, the cheaters are left for dead while the winners aren't really winning anything but the cold hearted trophy.
The ‘game’ in the title of The Rules of the Game refers to French society, specifically romance, among other facets of life. However, no matter the subject, the rules are all the same. External appearance must be maintained at the expense of honesty and transparency. Towards the beginning of the party, Christine announces to the guests that her and Andre are only friends. She fulfills the role of a dutiful wife by defending her marriage even though we can see that it is clearly flawed. By the rules, there is nothing wrong with cheating on one’s spouse, but it would be wrong to be open about it. In fact, every guest in attendance plays their roles according to the rules throughout the film save for one – Andre Jurieux. He complains that Christine did not show up when he lands his plane after crossing the Atlantic Ocean – even though a hero is supposed to be humble and accept his accolades graciously. And later once he proclaims his love to Christine, he goes against her wishes and consults Robert to inform him of these developments. He is the one character that is never sneaky about whom he loves or attempts to disguise his feelings. As an outsider, his story meets its natural conclusion in his death. Either death or exile from society are the punishments for breaking these rules. Octave is briefly open with Christine about his feelings and after Andre’s death decides he will move away so to distance himself from these people. The ‘winners’ of this game carry on life as usual. Robert and Christine are still dishonest and chained to a fragmented marriage, however, so it seems that winning at this game may not be as great a reward as its costs would warrant.
The game represented in the title of the movie, The Rules of the Game, is one of life. This game’s parameters are wide ranging and encompass everything from a person’s societal standing to their love affairs. Because of the complexity and intricate nature of the game, the rules must be kept straight forward and simple. As a result, I believe there to be only one rule which applies to all walks of life. That one rule is to maintain an exemplary outward appearance no matter the turbulent or chaotic nature of one’s own internal issues. The first part of this rule pertains to each person’s position in a social hierarchy. The players who meet this threshold are those with a high position who, either from fame or fortune are considered to be superior. An example of this is when, in the final scene of the movie, Robert stands on the steps and announces Andre’s death to be a tragic accident. In accordance with the rules, as long as everything appears fine, Robert will be able to continue playing the game. The second part of the rule pertains to all people equally regarding matters of the heart. In terms of love affairs or love triangles, it is best to maintain one’s outward appearances and turn a blind eye to adultery. For instance, when Lisette’s husband Schumacher discovers her relationship with the poacher Marceau, rather than follow the rules, he decides to confront the situation. This results in both he and Marceau losing their chances with Lissette and getting fired from their jobs. The one rule in this game of life remains simple, regardless of inner complications some people may be forced to otherwise confront, the only way to make it to the end of the game is to adopt a façade and portray a collected and controlled front.
In the movie, The Rules of the Game, which was directed by Jean Renoir and released in 1939, attempts to make a strong comment on French society in the outsets of World War 2. The rules of the game, as the title is named after, are the rules which dictate society and create the societal standards. In 1939 French society had a large disparity in wealth, where the rich held a large portion of the nation’s money. Within the movie we are presented with a handful of characters that are members of the different levels of the social hierarchy. With Christine, Robert, Genevieve, Jackie, and a bunch of minor characters representing the rich, while Andre and Octave that are stuck in the middle. We also are given a view in on the lower class with the characters of Schumacher, Lisette, the staff, and Marceau. Despite the different lifestyles that these different sections are a part of they all are playing a similar game; however, the rules of the game are dictated by those on the top of the ladder. The game is social ranking and the rules are a set of moral guidelines that were expected to be followed in order to earn respect of your peers. From the outset of the movie, we are presented with two scenarios. The first of which is Andre going on air and professing his dismay that Christine did not see him complete his flight. The second of which is Christine telling Robert the details of her “relationship” with Andre. The first example is one that Octave denounces and Robert laughs about with Christine, because he did not act as a true hero and instead broke one of the rules of the game. By doing so, Andre looks a bit foolish comparative to those that he is attempting to impress, due to the fact that he does not know how to play the game. The second example is Christine who acts as if she played Andre, because it is not socially acceptable for her to be romancing other men. She played the game correctly, which made Robert fall even more in love with her. Jumping ahead a little bit to the largest and most indicative scenes within the film are the attempts of both Octave and Andre to steal Christine. Andre, makes his crucial mistake by attempting to do what in his mind is the proper way of playing the game by talking to Robert about his desire to take Christine. Andre believes he is making the correct decision and acting as one in the upper class would act by respectfully taking Christine. During this time Christine runs off with Octave, who for most of his life had made some smart moves playing the game that allowed him to maintain good relationships with those on the top of the ladder, but his decision to not run off immediately with Christine and instead eventually bowing out of the competition was the wrong strategic move that at the end of the movie left him as an outcast. Andre’s wrong move resulted in his death, while Robert who was sitting in the throne walked away with Christine. He also did so by playing the game and maintaining his reputation by publicly claiming that Andre was shot on accident, even though people saw through his bs, they knew that was how the game was played and acted as if his statement was true. The final example, I will give is of Marceau the peasant who is rewarded with a slight social boost to work inside the mansion. However, Marceau is clueless on how to act in his new position and attempts to form a relationship with Lisette, a married woman. This led to a strife between him and Shumacher that led to his demotion back to being a peasant on the streets. It was very difficult to ascend to new levels of the social hierarchy, which is shown through Andre, Marceau, and Octave that attempt to make this jump. At the end of the day, it is very difficult to bop to the top (High School Musical reference) because the French elite control the rules of the game.
The Rules of the Game is about navigating the world of love while maintaining your standing in society. The movie takes place in France before World War II and it shows the world of the wealthy elite and their servants. The “game” is love, and the only rule is that you must maintain the outward appearance of class and accepting your place in society. Reputation is everything, and you win by ignoring your real feelings and doing what society wants you to do. Most of the characters in the movie follow this set of rules, but the clear losers are the people who don’t. Andre Jurieux is the most prominent rule-breaker, and his eventual death shows what happens to those who don’t follow the rules. Andre is shown ignoring what society wants from him at the very beginning of the movie when he is being interviewed by reporters after crossing the ocean in his plane. He should have talked about how happy he was with his accomplishment but instead, talked to the reporter about his genuine disappointment because the woman he loved did not show up. Later, he tries to have Christine go away with him, even though she is from a much wealthier background than he is. He wants to be completely honest with everyone throughout the movie and he lets his true self show instead of trying to maintain a façade of having it all together. This ultimately causes his demise, and the rules of the game become clear when the only honest character in the whole movie is the one who dies. In contrast, Christine’s husband Les Chesnaye lives to please society. He constantly ignores and hides the problems in his marriage and Christine’s obvious affairs for the sake of keeping up the image of a normal, wealthy couple. When he believes she has run off, he tells everyone she isn’t around because she’s sick. This shows that he will lie to save face. At the end of the movie, he is clearly a winner of the game because he is shown walking back into his mansion with his wife, seemingly happy with his life going back to normal. The rules in the game of love are complicated, but the film clearly explains how the characters can win and lose.
I believe that the title of the film The Rules of The Game can be analyzed in different ways. Firstly, it means the rules of life for all of the participants—the rules are that they must act a certain way to uphold their outside appearance and not let others peer into the troubles of their own world. However, the rules of the game in this movie seem to most specifically be referring to the game of love as well as infidelity. The rules of this game of love are essentially that there aren’t any, and we can see this through the wild journey that many of the characters take for love, for example, Christine. Christine constantly switches from man to man, not knowing what she really wants and telling men she loves them when she really isn’t sure. She says that she doesn't believe a woman can only have a friendship with a man, and this shows that she believes that in love there isn’t only one true love. If there are any rules to this game, they are actually similar to the rules of life in that appearance must be maintained to outsiders. Otherwise, there are plenty of examples that show an audience that the “rules of the game” and entering into the game of love is a complex and difficult path, but one that all people are a part of. Therefore, the participants in the game are everyone that decides to enter into this part of their life. It doesn’t matter if they are actually in love, but if they do in fact have relationships with others, this automatically puts them into the game. Every character in the film has a place in the plot. I believe that because there aren’t really many rules, when one breaks the rule of outside appearance, their punishment is that they no longer have the same status they once had. Although the obvious answer to the question of who can win the game of love is to be in love, in this film that is not the case at all. One can win the game if they are able to successfully able to keep their lies and weakness from others in this game of love.
The Rules of the Game refers to the “game” of the everyday life that the wealthy French individuals are living. The purpose is to go through their everyday life without disturbing the lives surrounding them. That means if you know of something bad, or you are participating in something bad, you should not share this with the rest of the world. You should abide by the rules and keep to yourself, which is the exact opposite of what André did. Right in the beginning of the film, he shared his affair on the radio. Due to this tragic mistake that he made, it cost him his life. Death is one of the consequences for breaking the rules of the game. Several other ones are shame and being looked down upon by your fellow friends, which would cause your respect and place in society to be lost. Not only does it affect your social life, it affects you. As long as you keep these occurrences from happening, you will be safe throughout the game. Although you cannot literally “win” the game, there is another positive outcome. In order to “win” the game, you must keep everything in the proper place. Your place in society should be unchanged and your personal life should be private and everything will stay intact.
The title of “The Rules of the Game” directed by Jean Renoir, quite literally refers to the rules one must follow to play the game, the game of love. After viewing the film, the rules of said game seem fairly simple. There are no rules as long as one keeps the news out of the public eye. The saying “All is fair in love and war” truly has significant implications within the film. Whether it be Andre’s affair with Christine, Robert’s affair with Geneviève, or even Octave’s eventual relations with Christine, the film is filled with infidelities. So long as these betrayals are kept out of the eye of the public and not exposed to anyone below their class, there are essentially no boundaries to what one can or cannot do in this game. The only way one is able to essentially “win” this game is when the game is over, and they have found true happiness with their soul mate, or even with themselves. Once the quarrel’s and pity affairs are behind you, and you have found more stability and true happiness, that is when you know you have won the game. The penalties for breaking the slim number of rules to the game are few and far between, but when they are infracted are incredibly harsh. This is exemplified through Andre’s death. As more and more people began understanding the nature of the infidelities Andre was in, the worse it got. Eventually, once Schumacher found out, he mistakenly took Andre for another man, and claimed his life for breaking the rules of the game.
I believe the title of the film embodies the literal meaning, showing the rules of the game. The game that is being played is the game of love. The only rule of the game is that everything is allowed and anything goes. There is an old saying that goes, "all is fair in love and war". This saying accurately defines the playing field because love is like a battlefield. Deception, lies, and everything in between are all allowed in the hopes you win love. Deception is preferred over honesty and acting dishonorably is preferred over chivalry. Morals are forsaken as they are seen as a hindrance in winning the game. In this game, everyone present is participating. This includes the servants such as Merceau and Lisette. There is no long term way to win this game as someone's love is constantly changing throughout the film. There is a short term way to win by gaining the most move by having affairs on top of a marriage or just having multiple affairs. La Chesnaye actually wins the game in the short term by having his marriage with Christine and maintaining his affair with Genevieve, even though in the end he eventually calls it off. Although there are no rules, honesty is frowned upon. The penalty for being honesty and chivalrous is being ostracized from the bourgeois class. This is actually shown in Andre's death as his punishment. Although it was an accident it effectively symbolized the severance of him from the bourgeois. Octave is also punished by breaking the rules and allowing Andre to try to get Christine's love. Octave effectively enacts his own punishment by leaving the party to never return.
ReplyDeleteThe title of Rules of the Game (1939), directed by Jean Renoir, refers to the rules of how the wealthy must act in order to keep their status in French society. The “game” is how one keeps their social status by not blemishing their reputation. Only those who are a part of the bourgeois class can play the “game” because they are the ones who society watches, not the lower classes. Also those in the bourgeois class have the farthest to fall if they make a mistake since they are at the top of the social ladder. There are always people who want others to fall so that they can take their place in the “game”. This can be seen when Robert, Marquis de la Chesnaye, and his Austrian wife Christine, greet their guests at their estate in the French countryside. All their friends watch how Christine interacts with Andre Juriuex, a recently arrived aviator, to see if the rumors are true that they are having an affair. Christine feels their burning stares and whispering. To preserve her honor as a loyal wife under the “rules of the game,” she decides to clear the air. She explains how she and Andre have only spent time together becoming close friends as she helped him plan his flight across the Atlantic Ocean. Christine felt the need to address the rumors because she did not them to tarnish not only her reputation but also Robert’s reputation. However, the rules of the bourgeois class do not say that the wealthy cannot live their lives the way they want to behind closed doors. They are free to do as they please as long as no one learns the truth and tarnishes their reputation. Robert, for example, has had an affair with Genevieve for two years, which is unknown to all; not even Christine knew until she saw them embracing after the hunt. His affair does not break the rules because it has been kept secret and has not affected his position in society. There are rules on how those in the bourgeois class must act in public to keep from hurting their reputation, however, they are allowed to do what they please when no one is watching.
ReplyDeleteIf a member of the bourgeoisie breaks the rules then they not only tarnish their reputation but also lose their place in society. They try to avoid ruining their social standing because they do not want to lose power from their social standing. To them, their reputation is everything. Most hide their secrets well from the public but others who are new to the game sometimes let their feelings control their actions instead of acting the way they should. An example of this is when Andre Jurieux lands at Le Bourget, outside of Paris after flying across the Atlantic Ocean. He is seen as a hero to everyone who is present to greet him from his journey. However, Andre does not feel the excitement that everyone has for him because the women he loves, Christine, who he made the journey for, is not there to greet him. He is saddened by this and when a reporter tries to talk to him Andre explains that he is sad because the woman he loves is not there. Andre’s honest confession is a serious violation of the rules. Without Octave stepping in and stopping him from continue to talk he would have blemished his reputation and potentially lost the game. The wealthy and famous do not have room to make the mistake of honesty and must always keep up the facade. Transparency is how one loses the game, by losing their place in society and tarnishing their reputation. The only way to win the game is to keep one’s reputation untarnished until death, making this game a very difficult and dishonest game to win.
Jean Renoir’s Rules of the Game is a story about cheating, friendships, and social order. The title stems from the delicate “game” of retaining one’s social standing. It is established that the rich have an unwritten set of rules involving only expressing what will keep them from falling from grace; right of the bat Andre immediately breaks this rule by stating his disappointment and Christine not showing up to his landing rather than “basking” in the glory of his accomplishment as one should to play the game. At the start of the film all is balanced with all the characters starting in their class. Andre acts as a catalyst which forces all the characters to make moves in the proverbial game. The rules involve doing whatever is necessary to save face all the while pursuing whatever is really desired (and the desire would often bring them down in social standing). This game is one that no one can ever “win” in a sense as the struggle is not to win, the object of the game is not to lose (fall in status). One of the rules would be to draw as little attention to your dealings, which Andre absolutely and completely fails to do. He immediately draws attention to his goal, which would be to steal Christine from Robert. If Andre wanted to retain status (or actually in this case his life) he should have immediately escaped when Christine agreed to go with him; but Andre at the same time was playing a separate and very different game: the game of maintaining honor. Andre wanted to speak to Robert about what would be happening so as to not just run off and lose his honor and this misstep costs him everything. Octave also loses because of his honor when he told Andre that Christine was in the greenhouse, he could have simply lied about her whereabouts but he did not want to lie to his friend. The penalty is clear in the film, those who don’t lose just press on in life without regard for those who were trampled on the way; and the losers are shut out from the upper class world, Octave by exile and Andre by death.
ReplyDeleteIn The Rules of the Game, the game is in essence society life. The clearest example that shows this connection is the chase scene during the party. During the most obvious gathering of society people, the main characters chase each other around the chateau like they were in a game. Moreover, the rules of society are to always show yourself and your life as perfect on the outside, regardless of what is actually happening. Two examples of this in the movie are when Christine gives the speech regarding her friendship with Andre when he first arrives at the chateau and when Robert basically holds a press conference on the steps of the Chateau to explain Andre’s death. In the first example, we can truly see how much it only shows what is happening on the outside, because if you look further (literally) in this scene, one sees Octave and Robert laughing in the background. As such, the utilization of the “deep focus” technique in this scenario furthers the explanation as to how the rules of the game work. Since the game is then “won” by maintaining the semblance of perfection, Andre threatens the entire foundation of the game when he wants to come clean to Robert about his relationship with Christine. The imminent public reveal of their relationships threatens to disqualify them from the game, since their perfect semblance of a life would be destroyed. As such, Andre paid the ultimate price: his life.
ReplyDeleteIn The Rules of the Game, this idea of a game is the game of love and how everyone is playing in the movie is a part of this. The rules of the game are simple, the people who fall in love are the ones who usually end up getting played while those who are using others for lust or their own personal reasons advance throughout the game. All you have to do is avoid falling in love and whoever manages to do this the longest wins the game. For those participating in the game, if you have any connection to some else's relationship or someone has a connect with your relationship well then welcome to the game. Be careful though, if you decide to cheat your way through the game and break rules this could be costly. Costly as in possibly the lost of their life. Love is a serious thing that shouldn't be taken so lightly, but in this game, love is a sign of weakness and those who show it are taken advantage of. In reality, this is a harsh game that leaves the weak behind, the cheaters are left for dead while the winners aren't really winning anything but the cold hearted trophy.
ReplyDeleteThe ‘game’ in the title of The Rules of the Game refers to French society, specifically romance, among other facets of life. However, no matter the subject, the rules are all the same. External appearance must be maintained at the expense of honesty and transparency. Towards the beginning of the party, Christine announces to the guests that her and Andre are only friends. She fulfills the role of a dutiful wife by defending her marriage even though we can see that it is clearly flawed. By the rules, there is nothing wrong with cheating on one’s spouse, but it would be wrong to be open about it. In fact, every guest in attendance plays their roles according to the rules throughout the film save for one – Andre Jurieux. He complains that Christine did not show up when he lands his plane after crossing the Atlantic Ocean – even though a hero is supposed to be humble and accept his accolades graciously. And later once he proclaims his love to Christine, he goes against her wishes and consults Robert to inform him of these developments. He is the one character that is never sneaky about whom he loves or attempts to disguise his feelings. As an outsider, his story meets its natural conclusion in his death. Either death or exile from society are the punishments for breaking these rules. Octave is briefly open with Christine about his feelings and after Andre’s death decides he will move away so to distance himself from these people. The ‘winners’ of this game carry on life as usual. Robert and Christine are still dishonest and chained to a fragmented marriage, however, so it seems that winning at this game may not be as great a reward as its costs would warrant.
ReplyDeleteThe game represented in the title of the movie, The Rules of the Game, is one of life. This game’s parameters are wide ranging and encompass everything from a person’s societal standing to their love affairs. Because of the complexity and intricate nature of the game, the rules must be kept straight forward and simple. As a result, I believe there to be only one rule which applies to all walks of life. That one rule is to maintain an exemplary outward appearance no matter the turbulent or chaotic nature of one’s own internal issues. The first part of this rule pertains to each person’s position in a social hierarchy. The players who meet this threshold are those with a high position who, either from fame or fortune are considered to be superior. An example of this is when, in the final scene of the movie, Robert stands on the steps and announces Andre’s death to be a tragic accident. In accordance with the rules, as long as everything appears fine, Robert will be able to continue playing the game. The second part of the rule pertains to all people equally regarding matters of the heart. In terms of love affairs or love triangles, it is best to maintain one’s outward appearances and turn a blind eye to adultery. For instance, when Lisette’s husband Schumacher discovers her relationship with the poacher Marceau, rather than follow the rules, he decides to confront the situation. This results in both he and Marceau losing their chances with Lissette and getting fired from their jobs. The one rule in this game of life remains simple, regardless of inner complications some people may be forced to otherwise confront, the only way to make it to the end of the game is to adopt a façade and portray a collected and controlled front.
ReplyDeleteIn the movie, The Rules of the Game, which was directed by Jean Renoir and released in 1939, attempts to make a strong comment on French society in the outsets of World War 2. The rules of the game, as the title is named after, are the rules which dictate society and create the societal standards. In 1939 French society had a large disparity in wealth, where the rich held a large portion of the nation’s money. Within the movie we are presented with a handful of characters that are members of the different levels of the social hierarchy. With Christine, Robert, Genevieve, Jackie, and a bunch of minor characters representing the rich, while Andre and Octave that are stuck in the middle. We also are given a view in on the lower class with the characters of Schumacher, Lisette, the staff, and Marceau. Despite the different lifestyles that these different sections are a part of they all are playing a similar game; however, the rules of the game are dictated by those on the top of the ladder.
ReplyDeleteThe game is social ranking and the rules are a set of moral guidelines that were expected to be followed in order to earn respect of your peers. From the outset of the movie, we are presented with two scenarios. The first of which is Andre going on air and professing his dismay that Christine did not see him complete his flight. The second of which is Christine telling Robert the details of her “relationship” with Andre. The first example is one that Octave denounces and Robert laughs about with Christine, because he did not act as a true hero and instead broke one of the rules of the game. By doing so, Andre looks a bit foolish comparative to those that he is attempting to impress, due to the fact that he does not know how to play the game. The second example is Christine who acts as if she played Andre, because it is not socially acceptable for her to be romancing other men. She played the game correctly, which made Robert fall even more in love with her. Jumping ahead a little bit to the largest and most indicative scenes within the film are the attempts of both Octave and Andre to steal Christine. Andre, makes his crucial mistake by attempting to do what in his mind is the proper way of playing the game by talking to Robert about his desire to take Christine. Andre believes he is making the correct decision and acting as one in the upper class would act by respectfully taking Christine. During this time Christine runs off with Octave, who for most of his life had made some smart moves playing the game that allowed him to maintain good relationships with those on the top of the ladder, but his decision to not run off immediately with Christine and instead eventually bowing out of the competition was the wrong strategic move that at the end of the movie left him as an outcast. Andre’s wrong move resulted in his death, while Robert who was sitting in the throne walked away with Christine. He also did so by playing the game and maintaining his reputation by publicly claiming that Andre was shot on accident, even though people saw through his bs, they knew that was how the game was played and acted as if his statement was true.
The final example, I will give is of Marceau the peasant who is rewarded with a slight social boost to work inside the mansion. However, Marceau is clueless on how to act in his new position and attempts to form a relationship with Lisette, a married woman. This led to a strife between him and Shumacher that led to his demotion back to being a peasant on the streets.
It was very difficult to ascend to new levels of the social hierarchy, which is shown through Andre, Marceau, and Octave that attempt to make this jump. At the end of the day, it is very difficult to bop to the top (High School Musical reference) because the French elite control the rules of the game.
The Rules of the Game is about navigating the world of love while maintaining your standing in society. The movie takes place in France before World War II and it shows the world of the wealthy elite and their servants. The “game” is love, and the only rule is that you must maintain the outward appearance of class and accepting your place in society. Reputation is everything, and you win by ignoring your real feelings and doing what society wants you to do. Most of the characters in the movie follow this set of rules, but the clear losers are the people who don’t. Andre Jurieux is the most prominent rule-breaker, and his eventual death shows what happens to those who don’t follow the rules. Andre is shown ignoring what society wants from him at the very beginning of the movie when he is being interviewed by reporters after crossing the ocean in his plane. He should have talked about how happy he was with his accomplishment but instead, talked to the reporter about his genuine disappointment because the woman he loved did not show up. Later, he tries to have Christine go away with him, even though she is from a much wealthier background than he is. He wants to be completely honest with everyone throughout the movie and he lets his true self show instead of trying to maintain a façade of having it all together. This ultimately causes his demise, and the rules of the game become clear when the only honest character in the whole movie is the one who dies. In contrast, Christine’s husband Les Chesnaye lives to please society. He constantly ignores and hides the problems in his marriage and Christine’s obvious affairs for the sake of keeping up the image of a normal, wealthy couple. When he believes she has run off, he tells everyone she isn’t around because she’s sick. This shows that he will lie to save face. At the end of the movie, he is clearly a winner of the game because he is shown walking back into his mansion with his wife, seemingly happy with his life going back to normal. The rules in the game of love are complicated, but the film clearly explains how the characters can win and lose.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the title of the film The Rules of The Game can be analyzed in different ways. Firstly, it means the rules of life for all of the participants—the rules are that they must act a certain way to uphold their outside appearance and not let others peer into the troubles of their own world. However, the rules of the game in this movie seem to most specifically be referring to the game of love as well as infidelity. The rules of this game of love are essentially that there aren’t any, and we can see this through the wild journey that many of the characters take for love, for example, Christine. Christine constantly switches from man to man, not knowing what she really wants and telling men she loves them when she really isn’t sure. She says that she doesn't believe a woman can only have a friendship with a man, and this shows that she believes that in love there isn’t only one true love. If there are any rules to this game, they are actually similar to the rules of life in that appearance must be maintained to outsiders. Otherwise, there are plenty of examples that show an audience that the “rules of the game” and entering into the game of love is a complex and difficult path, but one that all people are a part of. Therefore, the participants in the game are everyone that decides to enter into this part of their life. It doesn’t matter if they are actually in love, but if they do in fact have relationships with others, this automatically puts them into the game. Every character in the film has a place in the plot. I believe that because there aren’t really many rules, when one breaks the rule of outside appearance, their punishment is that they no longer have the same status they once had. Although the obvious answer to the question of who can win the game of love is to be in love, in this film that is not the case at all. One can win the game if they are able to successfully able to keep their lies and weakness from others in this game of love.
ReplyDeleteThe Rules of the Game refers to the “game” of the everyday life that the wealthy French individuals are living. The purpose is to go through their everyday life without disturbing the lives surrounding them. That means if you know of something bad, or you are participating in something bad, you should not share this with the rest of the world. You should abide by the rules and keep to yourself, which is the exact opposite of what André did. Right in the beginning of the film, he shared his affair on the radio. Due to this tragic mistake that he made, it cost him his life. Death is one of the consequences for breaking the rules of the game. Several other ones are shame and being looked down upon by your fellow friends, which would cause your respect and place in society to be lost. Not only does it affect your social life, it affects you. As long as you keep these occurrences from happening, you will be safe throughout the game. Although you cannot literally “win” the game, there is another positive outcome. In order to “win” the game, you must keep everything in the proper place. Your place in society should be unchanged and your personal life should be private and everything will stay intact.
ReplyDeleteThe title of “The Rules of the Game” directed by Jean Renoir, quite literally refers to the rules one must follow to play the game, the game of love. After viewing the film, the rules of said game seem fairly simple. There are no rules as long as one keeps the news out of the public eye. The saying “All is fair in love and war” truly has significant implications within the film. Whether it be Andre’s affair with Christine, Robert’s affair with Geneviève, or even Octave’s eventual relations with Christine, the film is filled with infidelities. So long as these betrayals are kept out of the eye of the public and not exposed to anyone below their class, there are essentially no boundaries to what one can or cannot do in this game. The only way one is able to essentially “win” this game is when the game is over, and they have found true happiness with their soul mate, or even with themselves. Once the quarrel’s and pity affairs are behind you, and you have found more stability and true happiness, that is when you know you have won the game. The penalties for breaking the slim number of rules to the game are few and far between, but when they are infracted are incredibly harsh. This is exemplified through Andre’s death. As more and more people began understanding the nature of the infidelities Andre was in, the worse it got. Eventually, once Schumacher found out, he mistakenly took Andre for another man, and claimed his life for breaking the rules of the game.
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