Digitally restored, Rules of the Game, director Jean Renoir's 1939 tale of romantic intrigues at a weekend shooting party in a country chateau is widely recognized as one of the greatest films ever made.
When everyone converges on Marquis de la Chesnaye's idyllic country chateau for a weekend in the country, the crème de la crème play cards, hunt, party, flirt, and tell tales. And the romantic intrigues of the upper classes are mirrored by the servants downstairs. All are involved in an erotic charade of bourgeois decadence that mixes comedy, tragedy, melodrama, farce, and realism as it builds to a shattering climax. According to a Sight and Sound poll, Rules of the Game ranks as one of the 10 greatest films of all time (ranked second after Citizen Kane). Rules of the Game is in French with subtitles and is unrated.
Rules of the Game screens at Upstate Films in Rhinebeck on February 24, 25, and 26. For show times, call (845) 876-2515 or visit www.upstatefilms.org.
