The Rules of the Game 4K UHD

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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

(aka "The Rules of the Game")

France 1939

Virtually everyone agrees that this is Jean Renoir’s supreme masterpiece, made and released the same year as Only Angels Have Wings and even more of a virtuoso ensemble work. Yet this was so adroit in catching the troubled zeitgeist of France at the time that it was loathed by audiences at the time of its release, making it the biggest flop of Renoir’s career. Only many years later, after it was painstakingly restored and reconstructed, was its greatness seen and acknowledged. Mostly set in a country chateau over a single weekend, where the crisscrossing romantic intrigues of both guests and servants play out in intricate counterpoint, culminating in a costume party, Renoir joins the proceedings as a major actor and character as well as writer-director, attempting to serve as go-between between two of his most intimate friends, the wife (Nora Grégor) of the Jewish marquis (Marcel Dalio) who’s hosting the weekend and the lovesick but rejected famous pilot (Roland Toutain) who wants to run away with her. As a view of French society in 1939, this tragicomic farce is both scathingly satirical and warmly compassionate, though it was plainly only the scathing satire that most members of the contemporary audience responded to.

Excerpt from Jonathan Rosenbaum's article "30 Great Movies on DVD" located HERE

***

Considered one of the greatest films ever made, Jean Renoir’s The Rules of the Game is a scathing critique of corrupt French society cloaked in a comedy of manners in which a weekend at a marquis’s country château lays bare some ugly truths about a group of haut-bourgeois acquaintances. The film has had a tumultuous history: it was subjected to cuts after the violent response of the audience at its 1939 premiere, and the original negative was destroyed during World War II; it wasn’t reconstructed until 1959. That version, which has stunned viewers for decades, is presented here.

Posters

Theatrical Release: July 8th, 1939

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Review: Criterion - Region FREE - 4K UHD

Box Cover		CLICK to order from: Bonus Captures:
Distribution	Criterion Spine # 216 - Region FREE - 4K UHD
Runtime	1:47:54.467
Video	1.37:1 2160P 4K Ultra HD Disc Size: 66,048,071,418 bytes Feature: 64,406,673,408 bytes Video Bitrate: 73.55 Mbps Codec: HEVC Video
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate 4K Ultra HD:
Audio	LPCM Audio French 1152 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 1152 kbps / 24-bit Commentary: Dolby Digital Audio English 192 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps
Subtitles	English, None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Criterion 1.37:1 2160P 4K Ultra HD Disc Size: 66,048,071,418 bytes Feature: 64,406,673,408 bytes Video Bitrate: 73.55 Mbps Codec: HEVC Video Edition Details: 4K Ultra HD disc • Audio commentary written by film scholar Alexander Sesonske and read by filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray • Introduction to the film by Jean Renoir • Audio commentary written by film scholar Alexander Sesonske and read by filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich • Selected scene audio commentary by Renoir historian Christopher Faulkner • Jean Renoir le Patron: La Regle et l'Exception (1966), a French television program about The Rules of the Game featuring interviews with Renoir and actor Marcel Dalio directed by Jacques Rivette (31:13) • A new video essay about the film's production, release, and later reconstruction • Jean Gaborit and Jacques Durand discuss their reconstruction and re-release of the film (1965) • New interview with Renoir's son, Alain, an assistant cameraman on the film • New interview with set designer Max Douy • Written tributes to the film and Renoir by Francois Truffaut, Paul Schrader, Bertrand Tavernier, Wim Wenders, and others. 4K Ultra HD Release Date: June 6th, 2023 Transparent 4K Ultra HD Case Chapters 28

Comments:

NOTE: The below Blu-ray and 4K UHD captures were taken directly from the respective discs.

ADDITION: Criterion 4K UHD (June 2023): Criterion have released Jean Renoir’s The Rules of the Game to 4K UHD. We compared 4 DVDs to the 2011 Criterion Blu-ray HERE. An initial screen on the 2160P transfer states: "The negatives were destroyed during World War II by Allied bombings. Digital restoration work has been carried out, based on the complex reconstruction carried out in 1959 by Les Grands Films Classiques, approved by Jean Renoir.
The 4K restoration of the image and the calibration were carried out at the Hiventy laboratory from a composite duplicate, largely nitrate, deposited by the Grands Films Classiques at the CNC.
The sound was restored by the L.E. Diapason studio, from an incomplete nitrate sound duplicate and the negative from the 1959 mix." Also that:

"Jean Renoir’s The Rules of the Game was restored in 2021 by La Cinémathèque française and Les Grands Films Classiques in collaboration with The Criterion Collection / Janus Films and the Cinémathèque suisse."

BFI in the UK, released a Blu-ray of The Rules of the Game in May 2023 HERE but we don't own it to compare.

This package includes Criterion's 2011 Blu-ray (reviewed HERE) as evidenced by the M2TS file dates:

Like Criterion's own 4K UHD transfers of Branded to Kill, In the Mood For Love, Night of the Living Dead and ex. Masters of Cinema's The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, ClassicFlix's I, the Jury, and Kino's 4K UHDs of The Apartment, For a Few Dollars More, A Fistful of Dollars, In the Heat of the Night, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly as well as Koch Media's Neon Demon + one of the 4K UHD transfers of Dario Argento's Suspiria, this does not have HDR applied (no HDR10, HDR10+, nor Dolby Vision.) However this is a 2021 4K restoration with almost 3X the bitrate of their own dozen-year old 1080P. The contrast is more layered and balanced which gives the perception of a sharper image. The grain is finer, the visuals cleaner, there is more information on the left + bottom edges and the overall HD presentation is likely the best we will ever see for home theater consumption.

NOTE: 48 more more full resolution (3840 X 2160) 4K UHD captures, in lossless PNG format, for Patrons are available HERE

We have reviewed the following 4K UHD packages to date: The Manchurian Candidate (software uniformly simulated HDR), After Hours, Rain Man (software uniformly simulated HDR), The Changeling (software uniformly simulated HDR), The Night of the Hunter (software uniformly simulated HDR), 12 Angry Men (software uniformly simulated HDR), Branded to Kill (no HDR), Picnic at Hanging Rock (software uniformly simulated HDR), Two Orphan Vampires, The Shiver of the Vampires, Drowning By Number (software uniformly simulated HDR), Serpico (software uniformly simulated HDR), Cool Hand Luke (software uniformly simulated HDR), The Seventh Seal (software uniformly simulated HDR), The Maltese Falcon (software uniformly simulated HDR), Mildred Pierce (software uniformly simulated HDR), Tár (software uniformly simulated HDR), Marathon Man (software uniformly simulated HDR), Dazed and Confused (software uniformly simulated HDR), Three Colors: Blue (software uniformly simulated HDR), Invaders From Mars (software uniformly simulated HDR), Death Wish (software uniformly simulated HDR), The Taking of Pelham One Two Three, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (no HDR), High Plains Drifter (software uniformly simulated HDR), Mystery Men (software uniformly simulated HDR), Silent Running (software uniformly simulated HDR), Dressed to Kill (software uniformly simulated HDR), The Power of the Dog (software uniformly simulated HDR), Escape From Alcatraz (software uniformly simulated HDR), I, the Jury (no HDR), Casablanca (software uniformly simulated HDR), In the Mood For Love (NO HDR applied to disc), The Werewolf vs. the Vampire Woman (software uniformly simulated HDR), Blow Out (software uniformly simulated HDR), Night of the Living Dead (NO HDR applied to disc), Lost Highway (software uniformly simulated HDR), Videodrome (software uniformly simulated HDR), The Last Picture Show (software uniformly simulated HDR), It Happened One Night (software uniformly simulated HDR), The Mummy (1932)(software uniformly simulated HDR), Creature From the Black Lagoon (software uniformly simulated HDR), Bride of Frankenstein (software uniformly simulated HDR), The Amityville Horror (software uniformly simulated HDR), The War of the Worlds (1953) (software uniformly simulated HDR), The Incredible Melting Man (software uniformly simulated HDR), Event Horizon (software uniformly simulated HDR), Branded to Kill (software uniformly simulated HDR), The Killing (software uniformly simulated HDR), Killer's Kiss (software uniformly simulated HDR.)

On their 4K UHD, Criterion use a linear PCM mono track (24-bit) in the original French language - the same as their 2011 Blu-ray. "The Rules of the Game" has some rifle fire but everything is as modest as you might expect for the production era. The music is by Jules Baldran, Louis Byrec, Roger Desormière (musical arranger: Mozart and Monsigny,) Léopold Gangloff, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart etc. Criterion include optional English subtitles - and is, like all 4K UHD, region FREE, playable worldwide. The Blu-ray disc is Region 'A'-locked.

The 4K UHD disc offers the optional 1989 audio commentary written by film scholar Alexander Sesonske, author of Jean Renoir: The French Films, 1924-1939, and read by filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich.

The included 2011 Criterion Blu-ray contains the supplements of the 2004 DVD - including the 6.5 minute Introduction to the film by director Jean Renoir and the above commentary. Jean Renoir's original version of The Rules of the Game ran ninety-four minutes. When the film opened to wildly negative reactions, though, he reduced it to eighty-one minutes. Subsequently, during WWII, the original cut of the film was destroyed when the GM Film Labs were bombed. It wasn't until 1959 that the film was reconstructed with Renoir's approval, from the surviving elements, to create the longer, 106-minute version that most know today. Criterion provide a version comparison from Renoir historian Chris Faulkner who, for about 13-minutes, looks at the different endings of the longest and shortest versions of the film. Presented also is the ending of Renoir's 1939 short version in its entirety - running 8.5 minutes. Faulkner also provides a selected-scene analysis by lasting about 5.5 minutes. Included is excerpts from Jean Renoir, le patron: La Règle et l’exception (1966), a French television program by filmmaker Jacques Rivette which aired February 8th, 1967. In it Renoir discusses The Rules of the Game with Rivette and Producer Andre Labarthe. It runs over 1/2 an hour. Film critic David Thompson's two-part two-part 1993 BBC documentary, entitled Jean Renoir, aired in 1955. Presented as an extra is part-one "From Belle Époque to World War II" which covers Renoir's upbringing and his career through Rules of the Game. Chris Faulkner narrates a video essay on the film's inception, production, and original release, as well as its 1959 reconstruction. In a second piece - lasting 27-minutes critic Olivier Curchod expands that discussion. In a third, a 1965 interview from an episode of the French television series Les écrans de la ville - Jean Gaborit and Jacques Durand - who were responsible for the reconstruction - discuss their roles in the film's history. There are also interviews with set designer Max Douy, Renoir’s son, Alain - who worked as an assistant cameraman and actress Mila Parély (Genevieve de Marras).

The 4K UHD has a new cover by Raphael Geroni and there is the same liner notes booklet featuring an essay by Sesonske; writings by Jean Renoir, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Bertrand Tavernier, and François Truffaut; and tributes to the film by J. Hoberman, Kent Jones, Paul Schrader, Wim Wenders, Robert Altman, and others.

Criterion's 4K UHD release of Jean Renoir’s The Rules of the Game is essential for digital librarian cinephiles. The film was banned by the war era France for "having an undesirable influence over the young". Its extensive use of deep-focus and long shots, stressing depth of vision, effective mise en scène with a kinetic camera was fairly bold and pioneering for 1939. Many directors have praised The Rules of the Game citing it as an inspiration for their own work. It has been listed in Sight & Sound's top ten films poll for every decade from 1952 (its inception) to the 2012 list (in 2022 it fell to #13.) Renoir’s satire and critique of the upper-middle class wealth, power and privilege showcases irony and subtle wit at every turn. Criterion's 4K UHD package is the ultimate - one of the most important of the year. Our highest recommendation!