Rules of the Game

Rules of the Game

14 June 2010

The film Rules of the Game is a very in depth and unique art that thematically portrays characters playing with the notion of moral codes. What is truly unique about the film is how its literal focus is on appearances all the while showing how reality really is. The characters run around the mansions, in and out doors, through the woods playing musical lovers pushing the limits of morality and the rules of society while not really changing anything at all; they are stuck and defined by their roles After reading Jean-Paul Sartre’s example of “bad faith” it becomes obvious that many of the characters are acting out this form of self deception. A few examples of this is the pilot who loves in his head but does not acknowledge the reality of the situation, or the servant who chases another man’s wife around but really has no intention of catching her. There is one character in particular, Christine, who represents bad faith in an undeniable self deceiving way.

Christine, like the young woman on the date, floats through the film never denying or acknowledging the advances of her multiple “loves.” In the opening scene the pilot announces on the air his love for her and half way through his confession she switches the radio off. She knows he is enamored with her, but she laughs it off like it was someone else’s reality. In this moment she made the conscious choice to ignore his advances, after all, they are still just words. The pilot is so distraught he attempts to end his existence while Christine exists in the moment, flirting with her husband. Her old friend Octavo stops in to explicably warn her about how her flirtatious actions cause certain reactions. She laughs this off not conceding that she...

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...use. Christine is one of them; she is not leaving, not following her desires but obediently submitting to her husband’s request. This is definitely self-deceit for Christine is truly denying who she is; instead, she is acting out the role that she believes is necessary to maintain order in her society.

It is ironic that the film is named Rules of the Game because the characters run around in fits of chaos trying to change the rules, but in the end nothing changes. The servant never catches the woman; the “other” woman does not get the husband to leave his wife and the conductor, Octavo, leaves at the end of the show. The video camera focuses narrowly on each of the characters, personifying their defined roles and attempts to break free. They are contained by a prison of delusions and immoral impulses, not accepting that humans have control over their existence.