The Rules of the Game
Janus Film | Release Date: April 8, 1950 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
99
METASCORE
Universal acclaim based on 21 Critic Reviews
Positive:
20
Mixed:
1
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Chicago ReaderDave Kehr
Its Paris opening in 1939 was a disaster: the film was withdrawn, recut, and eventually banned by the occupying forces for its “demoralizing” effects. It was not shown again in its complete form until 1965, when it became clear that here, perhaps, was the greatest film ever made. Read full review
100
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
This magical and elusive work, which always seems to place second behind "Citizen Kane" in polls of great films, is so simple and so labyrinthine, so guileless and so angry, so innocent and so dangerous, that you can't simply watch it, you have to absorb it. Read full review
100
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
No other film has a final effect quite like "Rules." One walks away from it drained and exhilarated, after experiencing a whole world and seemingly every possible emotion in a few swift golden hours. Read full review
100
EmpireDavid Parkinson
The director left France during the German Occupation and, many critics would argue, his work never reached the same heights again. But, even with its immediate contemporary relevance softened, this film alone is enough to seal his reputation, as its playful love games, satirical bite and technical marvels refuse to diminish. Read full review
100
LarsenOnFilmJosh Larsen
Still ahead of its time. Read full review
100
Los Angeles TimesMark Chalon Smith
On the surface, a lace of flirtations, insinuations and rejections compose the basic plotting. But Renoir uses flashes of accelerating drama to amplify his bigger points. Read full review
100
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
There's so much to say, but let this suffice: See it; it's a sweet taste of the best of what cinema can do. [16 Mar 2007, p.28]
100
SalonAndrew O'Hehir
Like the very greatest artists in all media -- here I go with the meaningless superlatives again -- Renoir was able to transcend his own perspective, his own prejudices, and glimpse something of the terror and wonder of human life, the pain of misapplied or rejected love, for rich as for poor. Read full review
100
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
Structured like a 17th century comedy of manners, the picture is a social critique of the idle rich that's part comic and part tragic, that's light and airy and yet haunted with meaning. [08 Feb 2004]
100
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
An undisputed masterpiece and a one-of-a-kind experience: a wise, poignant, wryly funny, tenderly open-hearted comedy-drama that shrewdly portrays a microcosm of French society on the brink of WWII through an ensemble of love affairs taking place at a country estate over one hectic weekend. [09 Mar 2007, p.6]
100
Slant MagazineChuck Bowen
Low comedy walks hand and hand with tragedy and beauty throughout; the film is frothy one minute, nearly apocalyptic the next, and so you’re never fully allowed to gather your bearings. Read full review
90
The A.V. ClubScott Tobias
Far from muting the satire, Renoir's hearty characterization complicates it and gives it life, which is rare among broadsides at the bourgeoisie. Read full review
100
The GuardianSteve Rose
It is not a simple film to summarise or describe as a comedy, satire or drama. Renoir was too generous to deal with such absolutes, and that's one of the reasons the film endures: nobody is good or bad, they just make good or bad decisions – hence the title. Read full review
100
The New York TimesBen Kenigsberg
The Rules of the Game is among the most perfectly balanced of films: a movie about discretion that is in every way a model of it. Read full review
100
The New YorkerRichard Brody
It’s one of the rare movies that seems truly musical in its inspiration—and which, like much great music, envelops an astonishing complexity of invention and depth of insight in emblematically straightforward expressions. Read full review
100
The New YorkerPauline Kael
Perhaps the most influential of all French films, and one of the most richly entertaining.
80
Time OutNigel Floyd
Embracing every level of French society, from the aristocratic hosts to a poacher turned servant, the film presents a hilarious yet melancholic picture of a nation riven by petty class distinctions. Read full review
100
TV Guide MagazineStaff (Not Credited)
One of cinema's most monumental achievements, Renoir's RULES OF THE GAME passionately tackles the pre-WWII French class system, and succeeds in bringing forth the complexities and frailties underlying bourgeois civility. Read full review
100
USA TodayMike Clark
Humor, poignancy and social criticism converge for an even better movie than the recent one it brings to mind: Gosford Park. [23 Jan 2004]
40
VarietyStaff (Not Credited)
As an experiment it’s interesting, but Jean Renoir, who directs, wrote the scenario and dialog, and takes a leading role, has made a common error: he attempts to crowd too many ideas into 80 minutes of film fare, resulting in confusion. Read full review
100
Washington PostDesson Thomson
Rules would have been just another good movie if not for its masterly visual design. With it, however, the black-and-white film enters the realm of immortality. Read full review
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