The Rules of the Game
Featuring a post-screening discussion with David Miller, founder of the French Theatre Project and trustee of the French Library of Boston and Sid Jepsen, The Huntington Literary Associate.
Jean Renoir's scathing critique of corrupt French society, cloaked in a comedy of manners. At la Colinière, the deceptively idyllic country estate of a wealthy Parisian aristocrat, a selection of society’s finest gather for a rural sojourn and shooting party. Over the course of the weekend, they reveal themselves to be absurdly cruel and vapid.
It took decades for Jean Renoir’s The Rules of the Game to be recognized as a masterpiece. The film received negative reviews and provoked near riots in Paris upon its release. As a result, Renoir cut 23 minutes from the original version. Even then, it was banned by the French government. The original negative was destroyed during World War II, and only in 1959 was the film fully reconstructed from surviving prints and embraced by audiences and critics alike. Now, thanks to an unprecedented digital restoration, audiences can see the film in a form as close to Renoir's original intentions as possible. Playing with the lightest of touches, yet stinging like the greatest of tragedies, The Rules of the Game has come to be regarded as one of the finest movies ever made.
The Triumph of Love will play at The Huntington Theatre from March 7 through April 6, 2025. More information and tickets can be found here.
