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The Rules of the Game (1939)

Saturday, November 21st, 2026
4:00 pm
Details
110 mins | France | French w/ subtitles
Category
Screening Room @VTIFF
Film Type
Feature Film
Cost
$12 general admission | $6 student | Member benefits may apply
Location
The Screening Room @VTIFF
60 Lake Street, 1st Floor
Burlington, VT

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Director
Jean Renoir
Sponsors
Vermont Arts Council, Lake Champlain Chocolates, John M. Bissell Foundation

One of the greatest films ever made, The Rules of the Game is a scathing critique of corrupt French society cloaked in a comedy of manners, as a weekend of goings-on at a country château riles a group of haut-bourgeois acquaintances. Subjected to cuts after the violent response at its premiere, the negative was destroyed during World War II, and wasn’t reconstructed until 1959. The film currently sits at #13 on the 2022 Sight & Sound list of best movies of all time, though it spent decades at #3; They Shoot Pictures Don’t They has it at #5.