Fifth session of the film programme Manoel de Oliveira Espectador, which explores Oliveira's experience as a filmgoer, revisiting films and filmmakers which were essential in his journey as a cinephile.

LA RÈGLE DU JEU | THE RULES OF THE GAME

Jean Renoir | FRA | 1939 | 110’

The Rules of the Game is one of the most important moments in the history of cinema. This Jean Renoir film, which he himself dubbed "dramatic fantasy" in the opening credits, takes places during a weekend at La Colinière, a country château where both the bourgeoisie and the help are gathered. Renoir sets in motion a series of mismatches and crossed passions that destabilize his characters, with tragicomic results. After its poor reception, The Rules of the Game has been subsequently reappreciated and now holds a cannonical place in the history of cinema. Among the film's many defenders, Manoel de Oliveira highlights it as one of the most vivid examples of Renoir's trademark "irreverence", "which is hard to explain, because here it refers to a feeling, and out-of-the-normalcy with not particular intention or predetermined ideia behind it. Like the actions of a child when it becomes consciously inconvenient. Or, in other words, it is like acting by impulse, just like animals act by instinct." (Manoel de Oliveira, Ditos e Escritos, Fundação de Serralves, p. 235). Therefore, Jean Renoir is a filmmaker of impulsiveness and instinct, but also a filmmaker of carefully constructed characters, which define the peculiarity of his cinema. In his filmography, The Rules of the Game is one of the best instances where all these formulations are combined.