The Rules of the Game (Jean Renoir 1939) w/ John Pennington

Mar 9

Felicia is joined by John Pennington to discuss how Jean Renoir controlled chaos on the heels of an impending world war in his film The Rules of the Game (1939).

We chat about how the blocking and framing is incredibly important in this film, and how collaborating with his actors led to memorable interpretations of his script.

This is the series opener and I’m very excited to share this episode with you as it’s one of my all time favourite films and I think a perfectly encapsulation of his work.

Send us your thoughts on the episode by sending us a message on any of our social platforms or by email: seeingfacesinmovies@gmail.com

Find John here:

Letterboxd: @jtothep83

IG: @jtothp83

Listen to our previous episodes here:

The Brood (David Cronenberg 1979)

Sources:
Renoir, J., & Cardullo, B. (2005). Jean Renoir: Interviews. University Press of Mississippi.

Renoir, J., & Denny, N. (2004). My life and my films. Da Capo Press.

https://www.criterion.com/current/top-10-lists/201-roger-corman-s-top-10

https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/308-the-rules-of-the-game-everyone-has-their-reasons

https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/4613-staging-in-jean-renoir-s-the-rules-of-the-game

https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/2069-the-rules-of-the-game-tributes

https://unaffiliatedcritic.com/2021/01/the-rules-of-the-game-1939/

https://cinemafromthespectrum.com/2016/12/03/the-rules-of-the-game-review/