Maze of Love
Film Rating: 8/10
The Rules of the Game, a French film directed by Jean Renoir, tackles every taboos of a romantic relationship. Renoir tickles his audience from the beginning with his flirtatious love triangle among Christine, (played by Nora Gregor), Robert (Christine’s husband played by Marcel Dalio), and Octave (played by Jean Renoir himself) that sets the overall vibe of the film -- a tragic multi-leveled infidelity tackled in a very comedic way. The comedic aspect of telling the narrative by Renoir gave a light view of the disastrous relationship patterns of the characters involved despite how heavy each individual act of infidelity is. Additionally, the film intertwined the different social classes through the pairs of lovers and depicted the borders that hinders their relationship.
For a 1939 film, it’s long takes are fascinating and very much utilized. The setting involves a lot of mirrors, hallways, and spaces that allowed different long takes to take place. Despite having semi static setups for the shoots, Renoir took advantage of the spacious setting with the use of blockings placing his actors well in different scenes providing a more detail to the story in a very aesthetically pleasing manner.
Overall, the story can be so confusing because of the nature of flirtations in the movie. Paying close attention to detail between characters should be done. Otherwise, you’ll get behind the narrative if you zoned-out.
