The Rules of the Game (1939), originally known for its French title, La Règle Du Jeu, was directed by Jean Renoir. It is known for its depiction of the upper-class French society and their dissonance to the ‘real world’ that surrounds them that is on the cusp of World War 2. It mainly follows Christine, a young woman who failed to show up for André after he completes an incredible flight. This begins the spiral of unraveling events that reveals French society, and its habits of having husbands and wives, with lovers on the side.
Lisette (played by Paulette Dubost) is the young maid of Christine. She holds herself as a humorous and devoted woman to Christine and her needs. Ironically enough, it appears that Lisette loves Christine more than either of the men in her life. She even brushes off topics of conversation that refer to her husband, Schumacher, or her other lover, Octave, in preference to listening to Christine speak about her own feelings and life. The viewer is shown this immediately with how attentive Lisette is to Christine, and how uncaring she is when her husband is mentioned. This continues throughout the film until the ‘love affairs’ start playing a larger issue within the plot.
Despite still being a larger character of the film, Lisette is still a minor character in the sense that she is “…reduced, much of the time, to fleeting moments or undeveloped functions within [the] film…” (Straw para. 3). Her character does not get the chance to develop much; besides in her devotion to Christine being slightly affected by Christine’s own actions. Lisette reacts to the things that occur around her, but the story does not center on her love affairs besides in how they affect Christine. This distinction is what separates minor to major characters, especially within a film with as large of a cast as The Rules of the Game (1939). Lisette does not get nearly as much screen time as Christine does, and the viewer does not follow her day to day life unless it is to set up for something that will later affect Christine in the plot. It could, arguably, be said that it is Lisette who causes André’s untimely death. However, it is worth noting this is only because she has a reaction, like any lover would, and begs Octave to stay with her instead of running away with Chrinstine. Ultimately, it was Octave’s choice, which led to André’s fate and left Lisette as only another character that existed to move the plot along; despite the potential her character had with her initial devotion to Christine. Still, she is critical to the story, like most minor characters are. Without her, the film would have lacked humour, friendship, and drama.
Work Cited
Straw, Will. “Introduction.” Screen, vol. 52, no. 1, 2011, pp. 78–81, https://doi.org/10.1093/screen/hjq057.
The Rules of the Game. Directed by Jean Renoir, Nouvelles Éditions de Films, 1939.
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